Bill 3: Private Vocational Training Amendment Act, 2025
Bill Sponsor: McDougall
Bill Type: Government Bills
Amendments: No
Money Bill: No
Documents: Bill 3
First Reading
October 28, 2025 passed 65
Second Reading
October 30, 2025 adjourned 135-37 November 4, 2025 adjourned 187-93 November 5, 2025 passed 215-16
Committee of the Whole
November 18, 2025 passed 334-37
Third Reading November 19, 2025 passed 371-73
Royal Assent November 26, 2025 outside of House sitting
Comes into Force on proclamation SA 2025 c17 4/22/2026 5:18 PM
WHO GAINS POWER
- The Director gains broad new authority to register, condition, suspend and cancel both registrations and licences — separately and independently
- The Director can now issue stop orders, interim injunctions and court enforcement orders against non-compliant schools
- Inspectors gain expanded powers: enter campuses, question anyone, photograph, record and retain records
- The Director can publish information about registrants — or require registrants to publish it themselves
- The Director can set standard credentials and program quality standards across the vocational training sector
- The Director is shielded from lawsuits and cannot be compelled to testify about their own decisions
WHO LOSES POWER
- Private vocational schools (now called "registrants") face a two-layer compliance system — registration AND a licence per program — either of which can be suspended or cancelled independently
- Schools lose the ability to transfer ownership without Director approval — a change of control automatically suspends registration and all licences
- Third-party recruiters are now regulated; schools are responsible for recruiter compliance
- Students cannot waive their rights under the Act — any such waiver is void
WHO GAINS MONEY
- The Student Protection Fund is established to refund students when a school fails — funded by mandatory payments from all registrants
- The Director can charge fees for administering the Act
- The Fund earns and retains its own income
WHO LOSES MONEY
- Registrants must make ongoing payments into the Student Protection Fund, plus interest and penalties for late or missed payments
- Schools face fines for non-compliance — and continuing offences rack up additional daily fines
- Schools absorb the cost of compliance: student contracts, posted certificates, recruiter oversight and record-keeping
THE CATCH
- "Vocational training" now explicitly includes online delivery — schools that previously operated in a grey zone are now fully captured
- The Director's decisions are shielded from most legal challenges — judicial review is available but narrowly scoped and time-limited to 90 days
- Existing licensees are automatically grandfathered as registrants, but must comply with the new two-layer system going forward
- The Act comes into force by Proclamation — no fixed date