• Download the Statement of Regulatory Expectations: Compliance with workplace obligations (PDF, 180 KB)

This statement sets out TEQSA’s regulatory expectations of registered higher education providers to ensure they are meeting their obligations under workplace laws (as defined in section 12 of the Fair Work Act 2009) to their staff.

In particular, TEQSA expects that all providers will pay their staff correctly and comply with workplace laws and their industrial agreements.

The regulatory expectations outlined in this document focus on providers’ governance oversight and processes. Providers are expected to prioritise governance models that proactively ensure compliance with workplace obligations.

TEQSA’s regulatory expectations are consistent with:

• the provisions of the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 – most notably that a provider’s governing body is accountable for the provider’s operations (6.1.1)
• TEQSA’s ongoing concern that some providers have not taken full responsibility to meet their workplace obligations
• the Fair Work Ombudsman’s (FWO) finding that poor governance arrangements are a key trend in the sector leading to non-compliance with workplace obligations and the underpayment of wages.

TEQSA’s expectations do not exhaust the actions a provider may take to manage their risks. TEQSA recognises that providers may meet some of these expectations in different ways depending on their staffing arrangements, their industrial agreements, and the requirements of the legislation under which the provider is established. TEQSA’s expectations outline the minimal steps that governing bodies are expected to take to develop a process of continuous improvement to ensure they effectively mitigate risk around meeting their obligations under workplace laws.

TEQSA’s regulatory expectations

1. The provider’s governing body obtains independent advice as is necessary to identify and address potential risks related to obligations under workplace laws, including the risk of wage underpayment due to issues in payroll, employment and administrative systems.
2. The provider’s governing body defines, monitors and reviews roles or offices necessary to effectively manage potential risks to, and ensure compliance with, its obligations under workplace laws. Such roles or offices will include the management, monitoring and review of:
   
   1. payroll, record keeping and employment systems
   2. delegations of administrative roles and authority
   3. risk management policies and controls, risk appetite frameworks, and cyclical auditing frameworks
   4. financial viability and financial sustainability
   5. compliance with obligations under workplace laws.
3. The provider’s governing body assures itself and demonstrates that it is operating in compliance with its obligations under workplace laws, including in the operation of its payroll, record keeping and employment systems. In particular, the governing body can assure itself and demonstrate that:
   
   1. employees are paid correctly, in accordance with the terms of the provider’s industrial agreements
   2. it has considered any necessary independent advice for informed and competent decision making about meeting its obligations under workplace laws
   3. any recommendations from reviews or audits related to obligations under workplace laws have been considered and, where necessary, are being effectively actioned
   4. all delegated offices or committees responsible for ensuring compliance with obligations under workplace laws report clearly and regularly to the governing body
   5. there are mechanisms to ensure formal complaints regarding compliance with workplace laws can be received from staff, students or unions and action taken to address underlying causes
   6. the provider’s management of third-party contracts ensures compliance with obligations under workplace laws
   7. the provider has carefully considered and is addressing all concerns raised by relevant authorities regarding the provider’s compliance with workplace and employment matters, such as sector updates from TEQSA, audit reports by state audit offices, and guidance or direction from the FWO
   8. the provider has promptly informed and positively engaged relevant authorities such as TEQSA and the FWO on any issues identified by the provider
   9. the provider has developed a mature process of self-assurance to mitigate and manage any future wage underpayment matters.
4. The provider’s governing body takes active and ongoing responsibility for ensuring compliance with all workplace and industrial obligations. It assures itself that robust, fit-for-purpose systems are in place to prevent, detect, and respond to non-compliance, and that these systems are subject to regular oversight and review to manage risk over time. 

Regulatory scope and implementation of the expectations

This Statement of Regulatory Expectations applies to all higher education providers. TEQSA expects that all providers will actively work to demonstrate self-assurance in line with the expectations.

The expectations will be integrated into TEQSA’s regulatory activities, including registration and re-registration processes, and annual compliance and risk assessments. Where necessary, TEQSA will seek evidence of appropriate governance processes that mitigate risks of non-compliance with workplace obligations in accord with these expectations.

Reporting requirements for Australian Universities

Beginning in 2025, providers in the ‘Australian University’ provider category will be required to submit annual reports to TEQSA concerning the expectations. Annual reporting will be required for an initial period of 2 years.

The annual reports will comprise:

• an attestation by the Vice-Chancellor that the University has met the expectations
• an index of evidence to support the attestation.

TEQSA will communicate with Australian Universities to provide further details of the reporting requirements ahead of any deadlines for submission.

Restricting the annual reporting requirements to Australian Universities reflects the findings of the FWO that risks of non-compliance with workplace obligations have been concentrated within this part of the sector. Establishing an initial reporting period of 2 years for Australian Universities also reflects the principles of regulatory necessity, risk, and proportionality.

Depending upon the sector’s response to risks around workplace obligations, TEQSA may expand the reporting requirements.

Further information for providers in the Australian University category

TEQSA is finalising the reporting requirements and the 2025 submission date for providers in the Australian University category. We will share further updates with the sector later this year.

A Statement of Regulatory Expectations (SRE) is a regulatory tool TEQSA uses to address systemic ongoing or acute emerging risks to compliance with the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021.

A SRE is not a legislative instrument. 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 a 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.

Current Statements of Regulatory Expectations

Title	Date
Statement of Regulatory Expectations: Compliance with workplace obligations	28 May 2025
Statement of Regulatory Expectations: Student grievance and complaint mechanisms	3 October 2025

Related information

• Guides and resources

• Download the Statement of Regulatory Expectations: Student grievance and complaint mechanisms (PDF, 200 KB)

TEQSA’s regulatory work with the sector, consultations with students and stakeholder roundtables has identified important opportunities to strengthen higher education providers’ student grievance and complaint mechanisms. Amid protests on university campuses, students reported a wide range of challenges, including difficulties accessing grievance and complaint processes and concerns about a lack of transparency in how complaints were handled and progressed. These concerns echo the results from the 2021 National Student Safety Survey¹, indicating that pervasive and persistent issues are still affecting the sector.

This statement should inform the actions that registered higher education providers (providers) and their governing bodies take to assure themselves that they are meeting the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 (Threshold Standards) in relation to how they handle student grievances and complaints². Following the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s Better Practice Complaint Handling Guide³, TEQSA understands a complaint to be an implied or express statement of dissatisfaction where a response is sought, reasonable to expect or legally required.

TEQSA’s regulatory expectations are grounded in the provisions of the Threshold Standards, particularly that:

• support offered to students is informed by, and meets the needs of, student cohorts (Standard 2.3.3)
• a provider’s grievance and complaint mechanisms are capable of resolving grievances about any aspect of a student’s experience with the provider, its agents or related parties (Standard 2.4.1)
• all students have opportunities to provide feedback on their educational experiences, which informs institutional monitoring, review and improvement activities (Standard 5.3.5)
• a provider’s governing body exercises competent oversight of, and is accountable for, all of the provider’s operations, including grievance and complaint mechanisms, and wellbeing and safety (Standard 6.1.1)
• a provider can demonstrate, and the governing body assure itself, that it is operating effectively and sustainably. This includes monitoring complaints, allegations of misconduct, breaches of academic integrity, and critical incidents, and taking action to address underlying causes (Standard 6.2.1.j).

TEQSA recognises that providers will meet these expectations in different ways depending on their student cohort, operating environment, and the various legislative requirements under which they operate.

These regulatory expectations apply to all provider grievance and complaint mechanisms that address various aspects of student wellbeing and safety. These include, but are not limited to, grievances and complaints concerning:

• provider decisions and actions that affect students
• student and staff behaviour. 

TEQSA’s regulatory expectations

Student support

1. Student grievance and complaint mechanisms include the following:
   
   1. information about complaint policies and procedures is advertised, clearly written, and easily accessible, including for students with diverse needs
   2. complainants who lodge a formal complaint are provided with clear information concerning:
      
      1. the complaints process, the scope of what the provider can consider, how personal information is handled by the provider, and typical outcomes that may result from the complaint process
      2. a timeline for resolution, including potential factors that may foreseeably and reasonably cause delays
      3. how to access the National Student Ombudsman (NSO) and other available external avenues of complaint resolution.
   3. complainants can:
      
      1. lodge complaints through multiple channels, for example, by phone, email or in-person
      2. make anonymous or confidential complaints, and are informed of how anonymity or confidentiality may impact the investigation, consideration or outcome of their complaint.
   4. student complainants or respondents who require support through a complaint process are referred, or receive provider-facilitated referral where appropriate, to suitable support services
   5. during the formal complaint process, complainants and respondents are provided with updates on the progress of a case at agreed intervals
   6. decisions about formal complaints are promptly communicated to complainants and respondents in writing, subject to relevant privacy obligations, outlining the activities undertaken to manage the complaint, any outcomes of the complaint, the reasons for those outcomes, and further avenues for appeal or review.

Policies

2. Policies and procedures for grievance and complaint handling include the following:
   
   1. clear articulation of what constitutes a ‘complaint’, as distinguishable from other forms of contact providers may receive from students such as enquiries or feedback
   2. clear explanations of how complaints are handled consistently and the principles or processes adopted to ensure complaint handling is effective, consistent and fair
   3. processes for handling sensitive complaints (such as complaints concerning gender-based violence) are person-centred and trauma-informed⁴
   4. protections against the risk of reprisal or victimisation for students or staff raising grievances or complaints
   5. complaints concerning the behaviour of students or staff are assessed against policies that outline relevant matters such as academic and non-academic misconduct, rights of academic freedom and freedom of speech, and wellbeing and safety.

Staffing

3. The provider’s staffing profile for complaints handling includes the following. That:
   
   1. sufficient staff are employed to manage the volume and complexity of complaints the provider typically receives
   2. staff allocated to handle, and those responsible for making decisions about, student grievances and complaints have appropriate training, including in:
      
      1. trauma-informed and person-centred practice
      2. supporting culturally and racially marginalised persons⁵
      3. the provider’s policies and procedures around complaints-handling
      4. if their role requires, administrative decision making.
   3. the early resolution of complaints is supported through triaging and appropriate empowering of staff with responsibilities to handle grievances and complaints
   4. the transfer of complaints casework between staff is minimised
   5. appropriate mitigations and supports are in place to respond to the wellbeing and safety needs of staff handling grievances and complaints and action is taken to address underlying risks. 

Monitoring, review and improvement

4. Monitoring, review and improvement of student grievance and complaint mechanisms are routinely undertaken, including:
   
   1. cyclic review and benchmarking of policies, procedures and complaints-handling training is undertaken to ensure they are fit for purpose and identify opportunities for improvement
   2. students who have engaged with formal complaints services as a complainant or respondent are invited to provide feedback on their experience
   3. the student body is invited to genuinely contribute to reviews and proposed changes to policies and procedures for student grievance and complaint handling. Student feedback is genuinely considered by the governing body and a summary of the provider’s responses to student feedback is provided to students who have engaged in the consultation process
   4. de-identified complaints data (including handling data) is analysed at least once every 6 months to identify themes and opportunities for improvements
   5. identified themes or opportunities for improvement are reviewed by the executive to inform their consideration and responses to key risks and actions
   6. barriers to making complaints are identified and reasonable steps are taken to minimise or remove these barriers.

Governance and accountability

5. Expectations for governance and accountability include the following:
   
   1. a management culture that prioritises and resources complaints handling and values complaint data is promoted, with senior leaders demonstrating a firm commitment to review, design, manage and deliver processes and policies to improve grievance and complaint mechanisms
   2. the governing body assures itself that the provider (and contracted third parties) meet the current expectations and their obligations around student grievance and complaint management and maintaining the wellbeing of staff (including staff involved in complaints-handling)
   3. the governing body reviews a report of de-identified complaints data at least once every 6 months and can assure itself that any underlying causes of identified trends or issues are being adequately addressed. The report of de-identified complaints data reviewed by the governing body should:
      
      1. include analysis of complaint trends, identification of underlying causes, and actions taken to address underlying causes
      2. list the review and improvement activities undertaken related to complaint handling, including identification of areas for improvement, and actions taken to improve service delivery, and clearly identify delegations of authority and accountability.

Application of this statement

This statement of regulatory expectations applies to all higher education providers. TEQSA expects that all providers will actively work to demonstrate self-assurance in line with the expectations.

TEQSA acknowledges that some providers may have additional obligations under the:

• National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018
• Higher Education Support Act 2003
• Higher Education Provider Guidelines 2023

TEQSA’s regulatory approach

TEQSA expects all higher education providers to review their student grievance and complaint mechanisms and implement necessary improvements. As part of their review process, providers should recognise that high or increasing complaint volumes do not necessarily imply systemic problems. For example, increased awareness of a provider’s complaint system will likely result in an increased volume of complaints.

Complaints are a valuable source of information to improve a provider’s operations. Providers should undertake regular and careful examination of complaints data and take appropriate actions to address underlying causes. An effective grievance and complaint mechanism is essential for this process.

As part of any regulatory activity, including re-registration or compliance assessments, TEQSA may require evidence of credible plans and demonstrable progress towards meeting these expectations. Providers must demonstrate that their governing body is maintaining appropriate oversight and assuring itself that the provider is meeting the Threshold Standards with regard to student grievances and complaints. When assessing compliance, TEQSA will also consider information from the National Student Ombudsman.

Annual reporting for Australian Universities

TEQSA expects that providers in the ‘Australian University’ provider category voluntarily publish annual complaints data. This recommendation is separate from the regulatory expectations set out above.

It is recommended that reports be publicly available and published in alignment with the provider’s publication of their annual report. For providers that do not already publish their complaints data, reporting should commence with publishing data for the 2026 calendar year. Care should be taken to ensure appropriate definitions of complaints and enquiries to avoid complaints being classified as enquiries in reported data.

At a minimum, TEQSA recommends that providers publish de-identified reports that set out:

• the total number of complaints received during the reporting period
• the number of each type of complaint, grouped in a transparent and accountable manner
• the number of complaints resolved
• the median timeframe to resolve complaints
• the number of unresolved complaints, including any outstanding complaints from previous reporting periods, and the average time since receipt of outstanding complaints
• the provider’s key performance indicators for managing complex complaints.

TEQSA may consider alternate reporting mechanisms with individual Australian Universities, or for all providers in the ‘Australian University’ provider category, subject to review of providers’ adoption of voluntary reporting.

Depending upon the sector’s response to risks around student grievances and complaints, TEQSA may expand the reporting requirements.

Review

This statement will be reviewed by TEQSA no later than 31 December 2026.

Notes

1. Results - National Student Safety Survey.
2. TEQSA recognises that providers may use the terms ‘grievances’ and ‘complaints’ in different ways, but we expect that providers will demonstrate a distinction between informal and formal complaint processes. For the purposes of this document, providers should also assume that, where relevant, reference to ‘grievance and complaint processes’ or ‘complaint handling processes’ also encompass appeals processes.
3. Better Practice Complaint Handling Guide.
4. A policy or procedure that is ‘person-centred’ aims to ensure a complainant’s needs and preferences are at the centre of decisions made in response to its disclosure. A policy or procedure that is ‘trauma-informed’ applies core principles of safety, trust, choice, collaboration and empowerment, aims to minimise the risk of re-traumatisation of a complainant, and promotes recovery and healing to the greatest extent possible.
5. Persons who are culturally and racially marginalised are those who experience disadvantage because of their ‘cultural background, migration status, race or ethnicity’ (Australian Human Rights Commission: Speaking from experience, 2025, p. 5). Given the diversity of students in Australia’s higher education sector, appropriate training to support culturally and racially marginalised persons needs to be self-determined at the local level by relevant individuals and communities (The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2021–2031; Lowitja Institute: Cultural Safety in Australia, 2024).

 

The annual report outlines our activities and performance during each financial year. The TEQSA Act requires that the report is presented to Parliament.

2024-25

TEQSA’s Annual Report for 2024-25 was tabled in Parliament on Friday 3 October 2025.

• Access the annual report on the Australian Government Transparency Portal
• Download PDF version (6.6 MB)

Previous annual reports

2023-24

2022-23

2021-22

2020-21

2019-20

2018-19

2017-18

2016-17

2015-16

2014-15

2013-14 

2012-13 

2011-12 

10 September 2025

The Provider Portal will be unavailable due to regular planned maintenance during the period:

• 7:00pm Fridays until 7:00am Saturdays (AEDT)

Maintenance will occur weekly, at the same time, until further notice. 

Please do not access the Provider Portal during the outage period.

Should you have any questions, please reach out to our Provider Enquiries team at providerenquiries@teqsa.gov.au or 1300 739 585.

TEQSA confirms that Engineering Institute of Technology Pty Ltd:

1. is registered under the TEQSA Act as an Institute of Higher Education until 29 November 2030
2. has the authority to self-accredit its courses of study at AQF levels 6-9 in the broad field of education 03 Engineering and Related Technologies leading to higher education awards, as a consequence of its successful application to self-accredit courses of study under section 41 of the TEQSA Act.

Please visit the EIT website for a list of courses offered by the institution.

About

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TEQSA Talks

Thursday 19 March 2026 from 2:00-3:00pm (AEDT) 
  

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Video recordings and presentation slides

TEQSA Talks #3, 2025: 24 September 2025

TEQSA Talks #2, 2025: 24 July 2025

TEQSA Talks #1, 2025: 20 March 2025

TEQSA Talks #3, 2024: 3 October 2024

TEQSA Talks #2, 2024: 4 July 2024

• Presentation slides - update from Dr Mary Russell, TEQSA CEO (PDF, 220 KB)

TEQSA Talks #1, 2024: 17 April 2024