TEQSA has published the May e-News featuring latest news and regulatory updates for the sector.

This includes:

• the upcoming Masterclass about contract cheating and detection
• registrations open for our joint webinar with CRADLE about generative artificial intelligence
• Australian Universities Accord submissions
• our latest Compliance Report
• the TEQSA Conference
• cyber security tips

Read the May e-News or subscribe to our e-News mailing list.

Registrations are now open for the next webinar in our joint series with Deakin University’s Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE).

Join us online for the webinar, Implications of generative artificial intelligence (genAI) for higher education, on Monday 5 June, 2:00-4:00pm AEST.

Six months after the release of ChatGPT, an expert panel reviews the impact of genAI and how the much-hyped technology is unfolding in reality from the perspectives of institutional governance, regulation, academic integrity and educational technology research.

Expert speakers include Professor Rowena Harper, Professor Simon Buckingham Shum, Professor Phillip Dawson and Dr Helen Gniel.

TEQSA has undertaken major reviews of three guidance notes and has now extended the consultation period for the sector to provide feedback.

A public consultation period is currently open for each draft guidance note, with submissions accepted until 5pm on Tuesday 7 March 2023.

The draft notes are published on the Consultation page of our website:

• Guidance note: Academic governance
• Guidance note: Credit and recognition of prior learning
• Guidance note: Delivery with other parties

Please submit your feedback to PolicyandResearch@teqsa.gov.au.

More than 1700 people from across the higher education sector attended the first session in TEQSA’S new webinar series: Implications of generative artificial intelligence (AI) for higher education.

The webinars, which are being delivered in partnership with Deakin University’s Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE), explore what is known about generative AI, implications for learning, teaching and assessment and how such technologies might transform higher education into the future.

The first webinar, looking at the ethical, policy and management issues immediately raised by the presence of generative AI, was held on Wednesday 15 February 2023.

TEQSA Chief Commissioner, Professor Peter Coaldrake AO, said the advancement of AI applications such as ChatGPT presented both a risk and an opportunity for the sector, and TEQSA wanted to ensure providers and academics were supported in adopting best practice approaches.

“The rapid enhancement in AI presents significant opportunities to support learning and increase efficiency in a range of ways, but universities and colleges need to balance this with the risks that generative AI presents to academic integrity,” Professor Coaldrake said.

“This requires a deep rethink of approaches to teaching, learning and assessment practices and how higher education institutions are ensuring that students have attained the skills and knowledge they need to graduate with their awards.”

“This is a challenge facing the whole sector, and that’s why TEQSA is partnering with Deakin University on this webinar series to bring together experts to share best practice, helping to strengthen the higher education sector’s capacity to respond to generative AI.”

Professor David Boud, Co-Director of CRADLE, said his team’s long-standing research suggests institutions must ensure graduates can adapt to a world of AI.

“The development of generative AI technologies provides an important impetus for us to rethink our present assessment practices. ChatGPT is forcing us to address the question of whether some of our familiar forms of assessment should be used as much as we do at present,” Professor Boud said.

The webinars build on TEQSA’s partnership approach to building capacity within Australia’s higher education sector and working collaboratively to address emerging risks.

In 2020, we partnered with RMIT University to deliver a series of webinars supporting the rapid transition to online learning during the pandemic, and TEQSA continues to work in partnership with providers and academics to combat industrial-scale academic cheating.

Registrations are now open for the next webinar in the series:

Webinar 2: ChatGPT – how should educators respond?

This webinar explores the immediate significance of ChatGPT and Generative Artificial Intelligence for teaching and learning, with a discussion across topics such as the implications for: assessment design, feedback practices, writing tasks, student equity and teacher development.

It will be facilitated by Professor Margaret Bearman, CRADLE, Deakin University, with speakers:

• Rola Ajjawi, Professor of Educational Research at CRADLE, Deakin University
• Simon Buckingham Shum, Professor of Learning Informatics at the University of Technology Sydney, where he serves as Director of the Connected Intelligence Centre
• Dr Lucinda McKnight is an Australian Research Council Fellow undertaking a Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) project in digital writing, at Deakin University
• Sarah Howard is an Associate Professor of Digital Technologies in Education, at the University of Wollongong in Australia.

You can learn more about the speakers and register your attendance at Eventbrite.

All webinars in the series are free to attend, and recordings will also be made available.

Information about future sessions will be shared via the TEQSA and CRADLE websites and social media.

The Department of Home Affairs has announced that from 1 July 2023, student visa holders studying in Australia will be able to work up to 48 hours per fortnight.

This is 8 hours per fortnight more than under the previous work restrictions.

The existing waiver on working hours for student visa holders, which enables students to work unlimited hours, will end on 30 June 2023.

Student visa holders must still maintain their course enrolment, ensure satisfactory course attendance, and ensure satisfactory course progress.

Student visa holders who cancel their enrolment and stop attending classes, or fail to meet satisfactory course progress, may be in breach of their visa conditions.  

• Visit the Department of Home Affairs to learn more 

We've updated our Higher Education Good Practice Hub with new resources related to artificial intelligence (AI).

By sharing these resources, we aim to assist providers, academics and practitioners in navigating the challenges posed by AI.

Resources include webinars, articles and frameworks that cover topics such as policies, academic integrity, assessment design, considerations when incorporating AI in classes and engaging with students.

TEQSA welcomes further contributions and feedback from academics, experts and practitioners to ensure the continued relevance of materials.

• Visit the Artificial Intelligence page to view the resources or share a contribution