Governor-General assents to ten Acts on sanctions, universities and mobile coverage

The Governor-General, acting in the name of His Majesty, has assented to ten Acts of Parliament, numbered 95 to 104 of 2026, spanning autonomous sanctions, higher education, aged care, telecommunications, illicit tobacco enforcement and anti-doping. The assents were given on 16 and 26 October 2026 and notified for general information in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette of 28 October 2026 under reference C2026G00704. The notice records that the Bills had already been passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives in the Parliament assembled.

The notification appears as a Government Notices item headed “Acts of Parliament assented to – Act Nos 95 to 104 of 2026” and is signed by C. A. Surtees, Clerk of the House of Representatives. It states that Her Excellency the Governor-General, in the name of His Majesty, assented to the undermentioned Acts, setting out for each one both its short title and the principal statute it amends.

Royal assent is the step that converts a Bill passed by both chambers into an Act of Parliament, and the gazette entry is the public record of the date on which each assent was given. The list is split across two sittings a week and a half apart: three Acts on 16 October 2026 and seven on 26 October 2026.

Sanctions, health insurance and the Universities Accord

The first tranche, assented to on 16 October 2026, comprises three Acts:

• Autonomous Sanctions Amendment (Iran and Syria) Act 2026 (No. 95 of 2026), amending the Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011.
• Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measures) Act 2026 (No. 96 of 2026), amending the Health Insurance Act 1973.
• Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Act 2026 (No. 97 of 2026), described in the notice as an Act to amend the law in relation to higher education.

The Universities Accord Act is the most sweeping of the three by subject matter, touching the higher education law as a whole rather than a single statute. The sanctions amendment is the only foreign policy measure in the batch, amending the Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011 with reference to Iran and Syria; the health insurance amendment deals with incentive payments under the Health Insurance Act 1973.

Aged care, communications and illicit tobacco

Seven further Acts were assented to on 26 October 2026, the larger of the two tranches:

• Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Commissioner and Other Measures) Act 2026 (No. 98 of 2026).
• Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Act 2026 (No. 99 of 2026), amending the Telecommunications Act 1997.
• Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Act 2026 (No. 100 of 2026), amending the law relating to telecommunications.
• Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Illicit Tobacco Enforcement Modernisation and Other Measures) Act 2026 (No. 101 of 2026), amending the Customs Act 1901 and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Two of these pair a substantive policy Act with a companion measure: the consumer safeguards amendment rewrites obligations under the Telecommunications Act 1997, while the Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation Act creates a separate obligation in the telecommunications portfolio. The tobacco measure is the only one in the batch to amend the Customs Act 1901 and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 together, pairing border enforcement with proceeds-of-crime powers.

Student ombudsman levy and anti-doping

The remaining three Acts complete the 26 October tranche:

• National Student Ombudsman Levy Act 2026 (No. 102 of 2026), an Act to impose a levy on higher education providers.
• Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Amendment (National Student Ombudsman Levy) Act 2026 (No. 103 of 2026), amending the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011.
• Sport Legislation Amendment (World Anti-Doping Code Implementation) Act 2026 (No. 104 of 2026), amending the Sport Integrity Australia Act 2020 and the National Sports Tribunal Act 2019.

Read together with Act No. 97, the levy Acts give the batch a distinctly higher education character: three of the ten measures concern universities, with one imposing the levy and another adjusting the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency framework that will administer it. The anti-doping Act is the closing item of the series and touches both sports integrity institutions at once.

What the notice means

The practical effect for operators and regulated entities is that the ten Acts are now law as of their assent dates, and the gazette notice supplies the authoritative date for each. For universities and higher education providers the levy and accord measures arrive simultaneously; for telecommunications carriers, aged care providers, tobacco importers and sporting bodies, the relevant commencement and transitional arrangements sit in the Acts themselves rather than in this notice. The entry is signed by the Clerk of the House of Representatives and registered on 28 October 2026, closing the assent cycle for Acts 95 to 104 of 2026.

Source: Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, Government Notices C2026G00704, 28 October 2026, Section I (official reference: C2026G00704).