Can I check if my education agent is authorised by an Australian college in 2026?

Plain-language guide · general information, not immigration advice

Yes. Section 21A of the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act) requires every registered provider to maintain a list of all of its education agents and to publish that list on its website, as well as in any other manner the regulations prescribe. As at the September 2026 version of the official text on the Federal Register of Legislation, failing to comply is an offence carrying 60 penalty units, and it is an offence of strict liability. So the list you are looking for is not a courtesy page — the legislation requires it to exist, in public, and to cover every agent the provider has.

That gives you a concrete verification step before you sign anything: match the exact name of the agency you are dealing with against the list the college itself publishes. If the name is not there, the college is not recording that business as one of its education agents.

Where is the college required to publish its agent list?

The obligation in section 21A(1) has two parts. First, the provider must maintain a list of all its education agents. Second, it must publish that list on its website and in any other manner prescribed by the regulations. Section 21A(2) separately allows regulations to prescribe further requirements that providers must meet in relation to their education agents, and section 21A(1)(c) requires providers to comply with those.

The practical reading is that the website is the guaranteed minimum, while the regulations can add further publication channels or conditions. Because regulations can change, treat the current official text as the reference point rather than any summary.

Separately, section 38(d) of the ESOS Act requires the National Code to contain standards for registered providers in connection with their dealings with education agents. Section 38(g) and (h) cover standards and procedures for making agreements with overseas students or intending overseas students and for the content of those agreements. This matters because the conduct standards that sit behind the name on the list live in the National Code, which is updated independently of the Act.

What does it mean if the agent is not on the list?

The section requires the list to contain all of the provider's education agents. So if a business does not appear, the provider is not holding that business out as one of its agents on the record it is legally obliged to keep.

Being careful about what that does and does not prove:

It is not a quality rating. The Act requires publication; these provisions say nothing about the government approving, auditing or ranking the agents on it. An appearance on the list is evidence of a relationship, not of competence.
It is strictly per-provider. The duty is on each provider to list its own agents. An agency that appears on one college's list may not appear on another's, and these provisions are built around each provider's own list rather than a single central register of agents.
Name mismatches are a real source of false alarms. A business may trade under a shortened or local-language name while being listed under its registered name, and large agencies sometimes work through sub-contractors. Compare the registered legal name and any trading names before drawing a conclusion.

Suppose an applicant is told by Agency X that it "represents" College Y, but X appears nowhere on Y's published list under any of its names. Under section 21A, College Y is required to list all of its education agents; the absence of X is therefore a strong signal that no agency relationship has been recorded, and it is a legitimate reason to pause before paying a deposit or handing over documents.

What happens to a college that does not publish a list?

Under section 21A(1A), a registered provider that fails to comply with subsection (1) commits an offence, with a maximum penalty of 60 penalty units. Note that the Act states the penalty in penalty units rather than a dollar figure; the dollar value of a penalty unit is set outside these provisions. Section 21A(1B) makes it a strict liability offence — the note points to section 6.1 of the Criminal Code for how strict liability works, meaning the fault elements do not need to be proved for the relevant elements of the offence.

There is also a regulatory consequence beyond the fine. The note to section 21A states that where a provider breaches the section, the ESOS agency for that provider may take action under Division 1 of Part 6 of the Act against the provider. In other words, a missing or incomplete list is not merely an administrative slip; it is something the provider's regulator can act on.

Does the list show how much commission the agent is paid?

No, and it is worth being precise about why. Section 21B is a reporting power, not a disclosure duty owed to students. It allows the Secretary to request a registered provider to give specified information about education agent commissions paid by, or on behalf of, the provider to one or more agents over a specified reporting period, in connection with recruiting accepted students.

The request itself must be in writing and must specify the reporting period, the day by which the information is due, the manner or form in which it is to be given (including, where required, entry into the computer system established under section 109), and any documents that must accompany it. The information requested may relate to one or more of:

the total amount in dollars given to each education agent;
the value and description of non-monetary benefits given to each education agent;
the number of accepted students recruited by each education agent.

The due day specified in the request must be at least 30 days after the request is given to the provider, and the provider must comply by that day or by any later day the Secretary allows. A provider that fails to comply with that requirement commits an offence carrying 60 penalty units, again on a strict liability basis; section 4K of the Crimes Act 1914 (continuing offences) does not apply to that offence. Providing false or misleading information in complying, or purporting to comply, is an offence under section 108 of the ESOS Act.

Item the ESOS Act deals with	Must it be published on the college website?	Where it is required
List of the provider's education agents	Yes	s 21A(1)(b)(i) — on the provider's website
Any additional publication channels	Only if the regulations prescribe them	s 21A(1)(b)(ii), s 21A(2)
Dollar amount of commission to each agent	No — only on the Secretary's written request	s 21B(1), (3)(a)
Value and description of non-monetary benefits	No — only on the Secretary's written request	s 21B(3)(b)
Number of accepted students recruited per agent	No — only on the Secretary's written request	s 21B(3)(c)

The takeaway is that commission transparency under these provisions runs to the regulator, not to the student's browser. A college can be fully compliant with section 21A and section 21B without ever posting a dollar figure next to an agent's name.

How should this fit into your decision?

Treat the published list as one verification input, not the whole decision. It answers a narrow question — whether the college records this business as its education agent — and it says nothing about the quality of advice, the terms of your written agreement, or what happens to your deposit if the arrangement falls apart. Those sit in the agreement standards contemplated by section 38(g) and (h) of the Act and in the National Code, which should be read in their current official version.

This article is general information about what the ESOS Act requires, not personalised legal, migration or financial advice, and it should not be used as a substitute for advice on your own circumstances. Legislation and its regulations can be amended, and the National Code is revised independently, so confirm the position against the current official text before relying on it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is every Australian college required to publish a list of its education agents?

Under section 21A of the ESOS Act, a registered provider must maintain a list of all its education agents and publish it on its website, plus any other manner the regulations prescribe. The duty attaches to registered providers under that Act, so the check is meaningful for any provider covered by it.

If the agent is not on the list, has someone broken the law?

These provisions place the duty on the provider, not on the agent. An unlisted operator's absence does not by itself prove an offence by that operator, but it does mean the provider is not recording them as one of its education agents — which is exactly the fact you were trying to establish.

Can an agent be authorised by one college and not another?

Yes. The obligation is on each registered provider to list its own agents, so authorisation is assessed college by college. An agency listed by one provider may have no recorded relationship with another, which is why a list from a different college proves nothing.

Does being on the list mean the government has approved the agent?

No. Section 21A requires publication of the agents the provider uses; it does not turn appearance on the list into an endorsement of the agent's competence, ethics or success rate.

Does the agent list have to disclose commissions?

No. Section 21B is a power for the Secretary to request commission information from a provider, covering dollar amounts, non-monetary benefits and recruited student numbers. It is a reporting obligation to the regulator, not a publication requirement on the college's website.

How long does a provider get to respond to a commission request?

The day specified in the request must be at least 30 days after the request is given to the provider, and the request must state that day in writing. The provider must comply by that day or by any later day the Secretary allows, and failure to comply is an offence of 60 penalty units.