IEAA Agent Quality Research Project

This report presents the findings of IEAA’s Agent Quality Research Project, undertaken in partnership with Edified in late 2025.

The role of international education agents is critical to the recruitment of quality international students to study in Australia. As the global education landscape continues to be increasingly competitive, it is essential that this channel is respected and supported by effective quality assurance.

Australia has robust legislation in place to protect the rights of international students, however, an important and under-researched area of this legislative framework is the regulation of commercial education agents. IEAA’s Agent Quality Research seeks to fill this gap and presents three policy options—each building on the previous in both effort and impact—to strengthen agent quality, accountability and transparency.

IEAA acknowledges the work of Edified who were commissioned to undertake this project in 2025.

In addition, IEAA acknowledges the work of the Steering Committee for this project:

  • Jon Chew (Co-Chair), IEAA Vice President and Navitas
  • Rishen Shekhar (Co-Chair), IEAA Board
  • Bronwyn Bartsch, IEAA Board and the Australian Catholic University
  • Mike Ferguson, IEAA Board and Charles Sturt University
  • Jana Perera, IEAA Board and the Manufacturing Industry Skills Alliance
  • Claire Field, Claire Field & Associates

Suggested Citation

Edified, Agent Quality Research, International Education Association of Australia (IEAA), 2026.

Published: March 2026