Tertiary Education

This bill replaces Queensland's old overseas students law, creates a new statutory regime for international secondary student exchange programs, and sets up the legal framework for the new senior assessment system and ATAR that began with Year 11 students in 2019. It also makes minor amendments to home education rules, school councils and school terminology.

This bill modernises the governance of Queensland's seven public universities. It removes the power for universities to make statutes, requires each to publish a policy for electing staff and student representatives, loosens delegation rules, and imposes new disclosure duties on governing body members. It also lets James Cook University reshape the size and composition of its council.

This bill delivers reforms across Queensland's education and arts portfolios. It reduces red tape for non-state schools, creates a legal framework for programs that re-engage disengaged students, expands international delivery of the Queensland Certificate of Education, modernises governance of five arts statutory bodies, and introduces anti-scalping protections for QPAC ticket resales.

This bill improves Queensland's workers' compensation scheme based on a major independent review, strengthens protections for apprentices and trainees, and requires Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander representation on the TAFE Queensland Board. It also repeals the redundant Commonwealth Games Arrangements Act 2011.

This bill abolishes the Queensland Training Assets Management Authority (QTAMA) and returns control of the state's vocational training assets - such as TAFE campuses and equipment - to the Department of Education and Training. It delivers the Government's 'Rescuing TAFE' election commitment so that TAFE Queensland has priority access to state-owned training facilities rather than competing for them on commercial terms.

This bill creates Jobs Queensland, a new independent body that advises the state government on what skills Queensland will need, how to plan for future workforce needs, and how the apprenticeship and traineeship system should work. It is intended to give industry, unions, and regional Queensland a stronger voice in shaping training priorities.

This bill replaces Queensland's gene technology law with a new Act that automatically applies the Commonwealth's gene technology laws as Queensland laws. It lets the Queensland Government 'opt out' of specific Commonwealth changes by regulation if needed, and carries over existing GMO licences and approvals.

This bill modernises Queensland's regulation of schools that teach overseas students, introduces external exams for senior high school students, updates home education rules, and fixes an error that stopped regional shops from opening on Easter Saturday.

This bill reduces the QUT Council from 22 to 15 members to improve governance efficiency and align with national best practice guidelines. It cuts the number of government-appointed and elected positions while increasing Council-appointed additional members, and requires student representation to include both an undergraduate and a postgraduate student.

This bill creates an independent Training Ombudsman for Queensland to handle complaints about vocational education and training, apprenticeships, and traineeships. The Ombudsman is an independent statutory position appointed by the Governor in Council and backed by a public service office, with powers to investigate, refer, and report on complaints.