Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026

Senator FARUQI (New South Wales—Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens) (10:15): I'd now like to move Greens amendment (1) on sheet 4110: (1) Schedule 1, item 16, page 29 (lines 20 to 29), omit section 33-39, substitute: 33-39 Default deemed allocation A higher education provider's default deemed allocation for a year is 105% of the provider's *domestic student profile for the year (rounded up to the nearest whole number).

This amendment goes to overenrolment. One of the concerns raised by many universities was the bill's introduction of rigid enrolment caps where universities enrol over their allocation. This cap is problematic both because of the implications of student choice and the number of enrolments and because of its lack of flexibility.

Professor Andrew Norton's analysis found that, if this cap were in place in 2025, for instance, it would have permitted only half the overenrolments, at the cost of more than 20,000 places across the system. That would have been 20,000 students potentially cut out of higher education. This amendment expands the overenrolment buffer to 105 per cent of a provider's domestic student profile and allows for flexibility for universities to respond to student demand.

I welcome the government's support of this important amendment to protect student choice.