EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Issued by the authority of the Minister for Education

Higher Education Support Act 2003

Higher Education Support (Other Grants) Amendment (Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund) Guidelines 2025

AUTHORITY

Section 238-10 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (the Act) provides that the Minister may make Other Grants Guidelines to, amongst other things, provide for matters necessary or convenient to be provided in order to carry out or give effect to Part 2-3 of the Act in relation to grants payable under that Part.

Under subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, where an Act confers a power to make, grant or issue any instrument of a legislative or administrative character (including rules, regulations, or by‑laws), the power shall be construed as including a power exercisable in the like manner and subject to the like conditions (if any) to repeal, rescind, revoke, amend, or vary any such instrument. The amendments to the Higher Education Support (Other Grants) Guidelines 2022 (the Principal Instrument) made by the Higher Education Support (Other Grants) Amendment (Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund) Guidelines 2025 (the Amendment Instrument) rely on this provision.

PURPOSE AND OPERATION

The Amendment Instrument amends the Principal Instrument to specify a new program under which grants can be made, being the Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund, an initiative for improving the delivery of initial teacher education (ITE) courses in Australia.

The Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund is being established in response to the Strong Beginnings: Report of the Teacher Education Expert Panel, released on 6 July 2023, which made recommendations to enhance the link between performance and funding of ITE, improve the quality of practical experience in teaching, and improve postgraduate ITE courses for mid-career teacher entrants. This included the establishment of a Transition Fund (Recommendation 6) to support embedding of core content in ITE programs, and the establishment of an Excellence Fund (Recommendation 7) to support higher education providers identified as high performing, fast improving or excellent in a particular aspect of ITE delivery to take a leadership role in fostering improved performance across the sector.

The Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund will have positive effects for ITE students by boosting the quality of providers’ ITE courses and better equipping students for their careers in the classroom. Further, it will also have benefits for the education sector and society more broadly by contributing to the number of confident, effective teachers in classrooms and consolidating high-quality teaching practice across Australia.

As with the Strong Beginnings (Transition) Fund (which was established in 2024 through amendments to the Principal Instrument), the Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund is established as a grant program under Part 2-3 of the Act relying on subitem 11(a) in the table in subsection 41-10(1) (i.e. grants for activities that assure and enhance the quality of Australia’s higher education sector). The Amendment Instrument also makes consequential amendments to section 67 of the Principal Instrument to specify bodies corporate that are eligible for grants made for the purposes of item 11 in the table in subsection 41-10(1) of the Act.

COMMENCEMENT

The Amendment Instrument commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.

CONSULTATION

The department consulted on arrangements for the Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund with the ITE Quality Assurance Oversight Board (the Board), the expert advisory body responsible for overseeing the implementation of the recommendations from the Strong Beginnings: Report of the Teacher Education Expert Panel. The arrangements for the Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund in the Amendment Instrument are consistent with the advice provided by the expert advisory board.

Open consultation was also undertaken through the Teacher Education Expert Panel Discussion Paper in early 2023, that indicated broad stakeholder support for funding to encourage improvement and demonstrate the quality and delivery of ITE courses through cross-sector partnerships and collaboration.

STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

Higher Education Support (Other Grants) Amendment (Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund) Guidelines 2025

The Higher Education Support (Other Grants) Amendment (Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund) Guidelines 2025 (the Amendment Instrument) is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

Overview of the Legislative Instrument

The Amendment Instrument amends the Higher Education Support (Other Grants) Guidelines 2022 (Principal Instrument) to specify a new program under which grants can be made, being the Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund, an initiative for improving the delivery of initial teacher education (ITE) courses in Australia.

The Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund is being established in response to the Strong Beginnings: Report of the Teacher Education Expert Panel, released on 6 July 2023, which made recommendations to enhance the link between performance and funding of ITE, improve the quality of practical experience in teaching, and improve postgraduate ITE courses for mid-career teacher entrants. This included the establishment of a Transition Fund (Recommendation 6) to support embedding of core content in ITE programs, and the establishment of an Excellence Fund (Recommendation 7) to support higher education providers identified as high performing, fast improving or excellent in a particular aspect of ITE delivery to take a leadership role in fostering improved performance across the sector.

The Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund will have positive effects for ITE students by boosting the quality of providers’ ITE courses and better equipping students for their careers in the classroom. Further, it will also have benefits for the education sector and society more broadly by contributing to the number of confident, effective teachers in classrooms and consolidating high-quality teaching practice across Australia.

As with the Strong Beginnings (Transition) Fund (which was established in 2024 through amendments to the Principal Instrument), the Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund is established as a grant program under Part 2-3 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (the Act) relying on subitem 11(a) in the table in subsection 41-10(1) (i.e. grants for activities that assure and enhance the quality of Australia’s higher education sector). The Amendment Instrument also makes consequential amendments to section 67 of the Principal Instrument to specify bodies corporate that are eligible for grants made for the purposes of item 11 in the table in subsection 41-10(1) of the Act.

Human rights implications

The Amendment Instrument engages the following rights:

• the right to work – Article 6 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); and
• the right to education – Article 13 of the ICESCR.

Right to work

The Amendment Instrument engages the right to work as set out in Article 6 of the ICESCR. Article 6(1) of the ICESCR recognises ‘the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain [their] living by work’ and that the State will ‘take appropriate steps to safeguard this right’. Article 6(2) cites ‘technical and vocational guidance and training programmes, policies and techniques to achieve steady economic, social and cultural development and full and productive employment under conditions safeguarding fundamental political and economic freedoms to the individual’ as steps to be taken by a State Party to achieve the full realisation of the right contained in Article 6(1).

The Amendment Instrument makes amendments to the Principal Instrument to include the Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund, an initiative for improving the delivery of ITE courses in Australia. The provision of funding to higher education providers for the purposes of improving ITE courses and sharing knowledge in respect of ITE may, in turn, reduce early career attrition of ITE students. The Amendment Instrument supports the right to work by providing funding to improve ITE courses, helping to prepare teachers for long, successful and rewarding careers in teaching and learning.

Right to education

Article 13(2)(c) of the ICESCR provides that ‘higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education’.

The Amendment Instrument supports the right to education by providing funding to higher education providers to improve ITE courses so that future teachers receive better training and are more adequately prepared for their careers in the classroom. This may help to address course attrition in ITE.

Conclusion

The Amendment Instrument is compatible with human rights because it supports the right to work and the right to education.

Minister for Education, the Hon Jason Clare MP

HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPORT (OTHER GRANTS) AMENDMENT (STRONG BEGINNINGS (EXCELLENCE) FUND) GUIDELINES 2025

EXPLANATION OF PROVISIONS

Section 1: Name

1.   This section specifies the name of the instrument as the Higher Education Support (Other Grants) Amendment (Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund) Guidelines 2025 (the Amendment Instrument).

Section 2: Commencement

1.   This section provides that the Amendment Instrument commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.

Section 3: Authority

1.   This section provides that the Amendment Instrument is made under section 238-10 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (the Act).

Section 4: Schedules

1.   This is a technical provision that explains that each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to the Amendment Instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.

Schedule 1 – Amendments

Higher Education Support (Other Grants) Guidelines 2022

Item 1: Section 4

1.       Item 1 inserts a new definition in section 4 of the Higher Education Support (Other Grants) Guidelines 2022 (the Principal Instrument) to provide that the ‘Initial Teacher Education Quality Assurance Oversight Board’ means the expert advisory body appointed by the Minister to oversee a systematic approach to assessing and improving the quality, consistency and outcomes of initial teacher education (ITE) programs.

Item 2: At the end of Part 8A

1.       Item 2 inserts a new Division into Part 8A of the Principal Instrument, which specifies the Strong Beginnings (Excellence) Fund (Excellence Fund) as a new grant program, and outlines the program objectives, eligible bodies corporate and extra conditions of eligibility, provides that grants under the program are made in respect of a year, and determines conditions that apply to grants made under the program.
2.       New section 63F sets out the program objectives of the Excellence Fund.
3.       New subsection 63F(1) provides that the Excellence Fund is specified as a program for the purpose of assuring and enhancing the quality of Australia’s higher education sector, under subitem 11(a) of the table in subsection 41-10(1) of the Act.
4.       New subsection 63F(2) sets out the objectives of the Excellence Fund, which are to support select higher education providers to share best practice and foster improved performance across the sector, and to build the capability of the higher education sector in the delivery of ITE and strengthen the overall quality of ITE programs in Australia.
5.       New section 63G specifies the bodies corporate that are eligible to receive a grant under the Excellence Fund and the extra conditions of eligibility that need to be met in order to receive a grant under the Excellence Fund.
6.       This section provides that a Table A provider and a body corporate specified in subsection 67(1) is eligible to receive a grant if it:
   • delivers ITE courses (as defined in section 4 of the Instrument);
   • has demonstrated that it has met all conditions specified in section 63E for the Strong Beginnings (Transition) Fund in Division 1 of Part 8A of the Principal Instrument, if the body received a grant under that program;
   • has demonstrated that it has met the requirements of the Accreditation Standards and Procedures with respect to core content for its ITE courses; and
   • has not refused to participate in any quality assurance processes related to the implementation of core content for its ITE courses by the Initial Teacher Education Quality Assurance Oversight Board (noting that not all providers have been asked to participate in these processes).
7.       New section 63H provides that grants under the Excellence Fund are made in respect of a year.
8.       The notes under this section explain that grants are subject to approval by the Minister under section 41-20 of the Act and grant amounts for the program are determined in writing by the Minister.
9.   New section 63I sets out the conditions that apply to grants under the Excellence Fund.
10.   New subsection 63I(1) provides that the grant recipient must use the grant to achieve the program objective set out in section 63F.
11.   The note under this subsection provides that the Minister has the power under subsection 41-25(2) of the Act to impose further conditions on grants, including imposing a requirement that the grant recipient use the grant funding in relation to certain priority areas.
12.   New subsections 63I(2) to (4) impose conditions in relation to reporting.
13.   Subsection 63I(2) provides that the grant recipient is required to provide an interim report and a final report, within the timeframe specified by the Minister under subsection 41-25(2) of the Act.
14.   Subsections 63I(3) and (4) require the grant recipient to include, at a minimum, specific information in the interim and final reports.

Item 3: Section 67

1.   Item 3 repeals and replaces section 67 to update the list of specified bodies corporate in subsection 67(1) that are specified as eligible to receive grants for the purposes of item 11 of the table in subsection 41-10(1) of the Act.
2.   Item 3 also makes minor changes to subsection 67(2) to address typographical errors, but the eligible bodies corporate listed in that subsection are unchanged.