TEQSA Statement of Regulatory Expectations: Compliance with workplace obligations
TEQSA has today published the Statement of Regulatory Expectations: Compliance with workplace obligations.
Many providers have notified the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) and TEQSA that they have identified instances where they have underpaid staff and have not met their obligations under their enterprise agreements. These are serious instances of providers not meeting their obligations, and TEQSA notes extensive work has been undertaken by a number of providers to pay amounts owing to affected staff.
However, work is also needed to address the underlying contributing factors and minimise the chance of recurrence in the future. TEQSA has worked closely with the FWO to identify system-level actions and improvements that are needed for providers to reasonably manage these risks. TEQSA's expectations about these system-level responses are set out in the Statement of Regulatory Expectations: Compliance with workplace obligations.
A Statement of Regulatory Expectations (SRE) is not a legislative instrument. It is a new regulatory tool that TEQSA has adopted to inform providers' response to significant systemic, ongoing or emerging risks to compliance with the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021.
A SRE clearly sets out TEQSA’s expectations of the types of actions, improvements and monitoring that providers should be putting in place to understand and manage a key issue or risk. It provides a level of detail to clearly and transparently communicate TEQSA's expectations. It should be used by providers to assess their systems, processes and monitoring and to take corrective or improvement actions where needed. A SRE may also set out TEQSA's expectations about the type of information that the senior executive and governing body should receive to inform their active oversight and accountability for the issue.
By publishing an SRE, TEQSA is giving the sector greater transparency around how TEQSA interprets the standards and what we will look for through our compliance activities to assure providers continue to meet the Threshold Standards.
The Statement of Regulatory Expectations: Compliance with workplace obligations was endorsed by the TEQSA Commission in March 2025. Publication was delayed due to TEQSA's obligations during the caretaker period while the federal election was underway.
In addition to the FWO, TEQSA also consulted with the Department of Education, Universities Australia, the National Tertiary Education Union and the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association in developing this statement.
The Statement of Regulatory Expectations: Compliance with workplace obligations applies to all registered higher education providers. However, those in the ‘Australian University’ provider category will be required to provide an annual attestation to TEQSA from their Vice-Chancellor, along with an index of supporting evidence, in relation to mechanisms to manage and assure compliance with workplace obligations. This is because evidence from the FWO and information provided to TEQSA shows providers in this category are more likely to be larger, more complex organisations with a greater risk of non-compliance.
TEQSA will engage with Vice-Chancellors in the coming weeks regarding the additional reporting requirements and the date for submission. TEQSA is also updating its registration and re-registration processes to reflect these expectations and will communicate this to applicants accordingly.