TEQSA has today alerted all Australian higher education institutions to an emerging cyber security risk.

TEQSA Chief Executive Officer Alistair Maclean said researchers from the United States have provided evidence to TEQSA of instances where Australian higher education websites on the ‘edu.au’ domain appear to have been compromised by companies working on behalf of commercial cheating service operators.

“Cyber security breaches on the ‘edu.au’ domain present a risk to student interests and the reputation of Australia’s higher education sector,” Mr Maclean said.

“The researchers who informed TEQSA have identified four key types of malicious code in their scan of the ‘edu.au’ domain that serve to re-direct students to an illegal cheating service site.”

The type of malicious code identified by the researchers included:

• Search query redirect – code inserted into a provider’s website to redirect students to a cheating service website from specific URLs. 
• Content injection – embedding a link to a commercial cheating service website within a provider’s website.
• Comment injection – comments inserted to propagate or provide links to commercial cheating services in discussion forums (especially in WordPress).
• Compromised recomposition – fake scholarship/essay contests inserted into provider websites, designed to harvest original student work that the commercial cheating services then on-sell.

Mr Maclean said TEQSA had written to all registered higher education providers outlining actions they should take to protect their websites against this emerging integrity risk, and published advice for students.

“Academic integrity and cyber security are two areas of focus for TEQSA’s Higher Education Integrity Unit,” Mr Maclean said.

“We know higher education providers also take these matters seriously – and we greatly appreciate the ongoing collaboration and partnership from across the sector in responding to these risks.”

The Australian Cyber Security Centre also has information on recommended mitigation strategies for Australian organisations, including a resource aimed at assessing security vulnerabilities and applying patches.

Media enquiries 

Bryan Allchin, Assistant Director, Communications: comms@teqsa.gov.au, 0437 143 012

The latest episode of the TEQSA Talks podcast series is now available.

In this podcast, we chat with Dr Helen Gniel, the newly appointed Director of the Higher Education Integrity Unit.

Dr Gniel outlines the unit’s role, its early focus and her interest in integrity issues.

• Listen to the podcast
• Other TEQSA podcasts and webinars

The recording of the latest instalment in our Quality Assurance Webinar Series is now online.

In this webinar, TEQSA Chief Commissioner, Professor Nick Saunders discusses the ‘Path to Self-Accreditation with Professor Kevin Petrie, Vice Chancellor, Avondale University College and Professor Jane Fernandez, Provost, Excelsia College, Adjunct Professor, Avondale University College and Founding Convenor, HEPP-QN.

The panellists discuss approaches to achieving self-accreditation, benefits that can be realised and answer questions from attendees.

The Quality Assurance Webinar Series is a new TEQSA initiative for 2021 to share higher education quality assurance and regulatory information with TEQSA Experts and quality managers within providers, industry and professional accrediting bodies.

This is the second instalment in the series. Changes to the format were implemented for this webinar to reduce the impact of bandwidth restrictions on attendees, following feedback from the previous webinar. 

If you have further questions about topics raised in this webinar, please email onlinelearning@teqsa.gov.au. We will then publish the answers on our website.

• View the webinar video recording (opens in YouTube)

TEQSA is seeking sector feedback on the beta-release of a new Guidance Note on Admissions (coursework).

The beta-release of this guidance note includes information about how providers can ensure admissions policies, practices and standards align with the Higher Education Standards Framework.

Like all TEQSA guidance notes, this resource is intended to provide guidance only. The final version will not be a definitive or binding document.

You can provide feedback until 31 March 2021 by emailing standards@teqsa.gov.au.

• View the guidance note and make a submission

TEQSA and English Australia have renewed their Memorandum of Understanding. 

English Australia is the peak body for the English language sector of international education in Australia, representing more than 120 colleges.

TEQSA Chief Executive Officer, Alistair Maclean, said the renewed Memorandum of Understanding will support ongoing collaboration between the two organisations.

“TEQSA and English Australia have been working together for several years to share information to protect the quality of higher education,” Mr Maclean said.

“I’m pleased to renew this agreement given the importance of continued collaboration between TEQSA and the sector as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact.”

English Australia Chief Executive Officer, Brett Blacker, also welcomed the signing of the renewed agreement.

“This renewed MoU will support the ongoing collaboration between TEQSA and English Australia, supporting our members to share information and continue contributing to regulatory discussions,” Mr Blacker said.

TEQSA’s new Higher Education Integrity Unit is continuing to take shape, with the appointment of Dr Helen Gniel as the unit’s new director. 

Dr Gniel brings a wealth of experience to the role following a 20 year career in Australia's higher education sector as a scientist, academic, and quality assurance professional. 

Since 2018, Dr Gniel has served as the Senior Advisor, Quality and Standards at Monash University. Prior to her appointment at Monash, Dr Gniel worked as a Senior Assessment Manager at TEQSA and an academic at the Australian National University.

Dr Gniel said she was looking forward to continuing her work with Australia's independent quality assurance agency for higher education. 

"TEQSA has an important and valued role in Australia's higher education sector, and I am looking forward to working collaboratively with providers and across government to ensure the integrity of Australia's world-class higher education sector," she said.

Dr Gniel will commence at TEQSA in January 2021.

A new report from TEQSA has outlined the experiences of Australian higher education students during the transition to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Foundations for good practice: The student experience of online learning in Australian higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic report was based on a thematic analysis of summaries of student experience surveys conducted by 118 Australian higher education providers in the first half of 2020.

TEQSA Chief Commissioner Professor Nick Saunders said the report showed students had identified positives and negatives about the switch to online modes of delivery.

“Our analysis showed students were genuinely understanding and appreciative of efforts by providers and academics to rapidly switch to online learning at the start of the pandemic.  A significant number were also positive about the increased flexibility online study offered, the level of online support offered by institutions and technology making it easier for students to learn,” Professor Saunders said.

“However, students did also raise several concerns including a reduction in interactions with academics and peers, IT issues, assessment changes, feelings of isolation and reduced motivation and difficulty with the translation of some subject areas to online delivery.

“TEQSA’s analysis also found that a number of students, particularly those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, reported they were affected by the closure of campus libraries as their home was not a conducive environment for study.”

Professor Saunders said TEQSA would continue to work with Australia’s higher education sector to assure the quality of the online student experience as campuses gradually re-opened.

“Most providers have already acted upon the findings of these surveys at an institutional level, and TEQSA will continue to share learnings and good practice resources around the online student experience with the sector,” Professor Saunders said.

Professor Saunders thanked the 118 providers that shared their summaries of student experience surveys with TEQSA, and Dr Lin Martin AO for her work on the report. 

The full report is available on the TEQSA website, along with a range of Online Learning Good Practice resources for higher education providers.

Media enquiries 

Bryan Allchin, Assistant Director, Communications: comms@teqsa.gov.au, 0437 143 012

TEQSA has welcomed the appointment of Emeritus Professor Peter Coaldrake AO as TEQSA’s next Chief Commissioner.

Professor Coaldrake’s appointment was announced earlier today by Minister for Education, the Hon Dan Tehan MP.

Professor Coaldrake has a distinguished record in higher education, having served as Vice-Chancellor and CEO of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) from 2003 to 2017. 

A dual Fulbright scholar, he is also a former chair of both Universities Australia and the governing board of the OECD’s then higher education group IMHE.  

In October 2018 Professor Coaldrake was appointed by the Education Minister to conduct a review into the Higher Education Provider Category Standards.

In June this year, he was appointed to the TEQSA Commission, where his extensive leadership experience and comprehensive understanding of Australia’s higher education sector, quality assurance and regulatory standards has greatly supported TEQSA’s work.

TEQSA CEO Alistair Maclean congratulated Professor Coaldrake on his appointment.

“I welcome the appointment of Professor Coaldrake as TEQSA’s next Chief Commissioner, and look forward to working with him to ensure TEQSA continues to be an effective regulator that upholds the quality of higher education and protects student interests,” Mr Maclean said.

“On behalf of TEQSA, I would like to acknowledge and thank our retiring Chief Commissioner Professor Nick Saunders AO for his leadership and many contributions to TEQSA, Australian and international higher education during his time as TEQSA Chief Commissioner.”

Professor Coaldrake will commence as TEQSA’s Chief Commissioner on 1 March 2021.

Media enquiries 

Bryan Allchin, Assistant Director, Communications: comms@teqsa.gov.au, 0437 143 012

Australia’s Minister for Education, the Hon Dan Tehan MP, has officially launched TEQSA’s new Academic Integrity Toolkit.

The Minister launched the new resource, which was developed with $150,000 in funding from the Australian Government, during an academic integrity webinar attended by more than 500 people from across the sector earlier today.

TEQSA Chief Commissioner Professor Nick Saunders, who also spoke at the launch event, noted the toolkit was a key part of TEQSA’s ongoing approach to engaging with the sector to support academic integrity.

“TEQSA considers academic integrity a key issue, recognising that breaches of academic integrity have broad and serious implications, in addition to the risks to the reputation of Australian higher education,” Professor Saunders said.

“The development of good practice in maintaining academic integrity remains a key focus for TEQSA and this new toolkit, with its strong focus on supporting the sector to prevent, detect and respond to commercial academic cheating services, will complement our existing resources.”

The new toolkit includes a guide to substantiating when contract cheating occurs, benchmarking tools, advice on policy and case studies from Australian higher education providers.

It was developed following a series of workshops in late 2019 and the sector was also consulted through the beta-release of the toolkit in June.

Professor Saunders also thanked the project team, comprising the late Professor Tracey Bretag from the University of South Australia, Dr Guy Curtis from the University of Western Australia, Dr Margot McNeill from the International College of Management Sydney and Dr Christine Slade from the University of Queensland, for their work.

• Visit the Academic Integrity Toolkit
• View the Academic Integrity Toolkit launch webinar video recording (opens in YouTube)