Portfolio — 19 May 2026

Minister for Education Jason Clare used a visit to the ECU City campus in Perth — a 65,000-square-metre facility serving around 10,000 students daily — as the platform for a broad ministerial statement spanning higher education reform, research security, international student integrity, and several cross-portfolio policy positions [TA-260518-educat-f2c4c21375e1].

The campus visit itself carried symbolic weight: Clare pointed to vertical urban campuses as a model for 21st-century learning infrastructure, and framed the ECU site as evidence that Australia's higher-education participation has fundamentally shifted, with 80 percent of young Australians now completing high school and roughly half of people in their thirties holding a university degree [TA-260518-educat-f2c4c21375e1].

The centrepiece policy announcement was the Universities Accord, which Clare described as the vehicle for expanding equitable access through regional university study hubs and free bridging courses. He confirmed that legislation will guarantee Commonwealth Supported Places for students from low-income families or regional areas who meet academic criteria — locking in access entitlements rather than leaving them subject to annual funding decisions [TA-260518-educat-f2c4c21375e1].

Clare also cited recent budget measures that cut student debt by 20 percent for three million Australians, positioning the debt reduction and the access guarantees as complementary demand-side interventions.

On international students, Clare attributed tightened admissions controls to the Department of Home Affairs, framing the changes as targeting merit-based selection and genuine study intentions. This cross-portfolio framing — Home Affairs administering integrity measures while Education holds the policy settings — is notable for tracking purposes, as it signals that ministerial accountability for international student volumes sits across two portfolios [TA-260518-educat-f2c4c21375e1].

Research security received separate treatment. Clare announced a new Australian Research Council framework alongside updated Higher Education Threshold Standards scheduled for implementation in July. The Threshold Standards update in particular has regulatory significance, as it sets the compliance baseline for registered higher education providers [TA-260518-educat-f2c4c21375e1].

The minister also addressed several questions that fell outside the Education portfolio proper. He defended the government's position on the GST and negative gearing. He described the National Gas Reservation Policy as modelled on Western Australia's existing scheme and said the state would not be adversely affected.

He pointed to Western Australian infrastructure commitments — the Perth City Deal, additional housing funding, and the Anketell Road project — as evidence of continued federal investment in the state [TA-260518-educat-f2c4c21375e1]. These responses suggest the Perth visit included a media availability canvassing broader federal-state and budget-related questions beyond the Education brief.