Australian universities are entering a new accountability cycle. The Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) is negotiating its first mission-based compacts for 2027, and each one carries measurable performance indicators tailored to the institution. For most universities, the hardest part isn't choosing the indicators. It's having trustworthy student experience data, by cohort and campus, often enough to show progress.
This guide explains what the compacts mean for student experience data, where the national surveys fall short for internal decisions, and how to run an institutional survey program that produces compact-ready evidence every term.
TL;DR: ATEC's 2027 mission-based compacts require measurable, mission-specific indicators, with annual outcome assessment from 1 January 2028. National QILT results arrive once a year and can't explain why a cohort is struggling. Universities that run their own frequent, equity-segmented student experience surveys can evidence progress on retention and equity well before the first assessment.
What are ATEC mission-based compacts?
ATEC mission-based compacts are individually negotiated agreements between ATEC and each eligible provider. They connect the university's own mission with system-wide priorities and outcomes for students and communities, and each includes commitments and performance indicators matched to the institution's focus, size and student cohort.
The timeline matters. ATEC describes the 2027 compacts as foundation agreements, with drafts submitted and negotiations continuing through late 2026, and the next full compact period planned for 2028 to 2031. The ATEC Act requires compacts to include measurable indicators and the methods for assessing them, and an amendment assented on 16 October 2026 sets ATEC's annual assessment of outcomes against compacts to begin on 1 January 2028.
In practice: universities have roughly one academic year to build the evidence base their indicators will be judged on.
Why does student experience data matter for compacts?
Student experience data matters because most compact priorities are student outcomes. ATEC's interim priorities for the foundation compacts include equity, First Nations participation and success, and quality teaching. Each of those is easier to evidence, and to improve, when you know how specific groups of students experience teaching, support and belonging.
Retention shows why. The ACSES 2026 retention update found overall domestic undergraduate retention of 86.1% for the 2023 commencing cohort, but low-SES retention of 80.9%, and First Nations students had the lowest retention of any group across every year studied. Funding is following the gap: Needs-based Funding started on 1 January 2026, paying per-student support for eligible low-SES, First Nations and regional-campus students.
The issue isn't whether a university cares about these students. It's whether it can show, with data, which interventions are working for them.
Where do QILT surveys fall short for internal decisions?
The national QILT Student Experience Survey is essential for benchmarking. In 2025, 76.5% of undergraduates and 77.8% of postgraduate coursework students rated their overall educational experience positively, from more than 320,000 responses. But it wasn't designed to steer a single university's term-by-term decisions.
Three gaps stand out:
- Timing. SES runs once a year and results publish months later. The 2026 survey closed on 11 October, so its findings won't help a student who disengages in week four of Semester 1.
- Granularity. Institutional cuts by course, campus, delivery mode and equity group are often too small to act on, especially for regional campuses and First Nations cohorts.
- The "why". A satisfaction score tells you a problem exists. It rarely tells you whether the cause is timetabling, assessment load, financial stress or a lack of belonging.
That's why leading institutions treat QILT as the scoreboard and their own survey program as the playbook.
How do you build a compact-ready student experience survey program?
A compact-ready program captures the right questions, at the right moments, linked to the right student context. Five steps get you there:
- Map indicators to questions. For every compact indicator touching students, define two or three survey items that predict it, such as sense of belonging, intention to continue, and access to support.
- Survey at transition points. Run short pulse surveys in weeks 3 to 5 of first semester, at census date and before re-enrolment, when early-leaving risk peaks.
- Segment by equity group. Link responses to student records (low SES, First Nations, regional, disability, first in family) so you can compare experience across the groups your compact names, with privacy controls and minimum cell sizes.
- Close the loop. Route results to the faculty, course or service that owns the fix, and publish "you said, we did" updates so students keep responding.
- Report on a cadence. Build a dashboard that rolls results up to the indicator level for your compact reporting, and down to course level for action.
Teams that already run course evaluations through their LMS can extend the same workflow. QuestionPro's academic research and survey tools connect with Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard and Brightspace, so surveys reach students where they already learn.
What does good evidence look like by 2028?
Good evidence is consistent, segmented and tied to action. When ATEC begins annual assessment in 2028, the strongest universities will be able to show three things for each student-facing indicator: a baseline from 2026 or 2027, a trend from repeated measurement, and a documented intervention linked to any change.
A practical evidence pack for one indicator might include:
| Evidence element | Example for a retention indicator |
|---|---|
| Baseline | Week 4 belonging score for low-SES commencing students, Semester 1 2027 |
| Trend | Same measure each semester, compared with non-equity students |
| Driver analysis | Open-text themes on workload, finances and timetabling |
| Intervention | New peer mentoring for regional-campus commencers |
| Outcome | Change in intention to continue and in actual re-enrolment |
This is the difference between saying "we support equity students" and showing it. You can compare QuestionPro plans for universities to see which survey, dashboard and integration features fit a program like this.
Turn student feedback into the evidence your compact asks for.
Frequently asked questions
When do ATEC mission-based compacts start?
The foundation mission-based compacts apply to 2027, with negotiations running through late 2026. The next compact period is planned for 2028 to 2031. Under an amendment assented on 16 October 2026, ATEC's annual assessment of outcomes against compacts begins on 1 January 2028.
Can we use QILT data as our compact evidence?
QILT data is valuable for national benchmarking and many universities will reference it, but it publishes annually and is often too coarse for course, campus or equity-group decisions. Most institutions pair it with their own frequent student experience surveys to show progress and explain the drivers behind results.
How often should universities survey students?
Survey at the moments that predict outcomes rather than on a fixed annual cycle. A common pattern is a short pulse in weeks 3 to 5 of first semester, a check-in near census date, end-of-unit course evaluations, and a pre-re-enrolment survey. Keep each pulse to five minutes to protect response rates.
How do we protect student privacy when linking survey data to records?
Use a platform that supports role-based access, data residency options and anonymised reporting. Link responses to student records only through secure identifiers, apply minimum reporting cell sizes for small equity groups, and tell students clearly how their feedback is used. This keeps the data useful without exposing individuals.
Conclusion
ATEC's mission-based compacts move Australian universities from describing their commitments to evidencing them. Retention and equity gaps are well documented, funding now follows disadvantaged students, and annual assessment begins in 2028. National surveys will keep their place as the benchmark, but they can't tell you in time which students need help, or why.
The universities best placed for 2028 will be those that build an institutional student experience program now: segmented, frequent and tied to action. If you'd like to see how that works in practice, book a short demo with our higher education team.
