The government is now operating in accordance with caretaker conventions, pending the outcome of the 2025 federal election.
Our 8th annual conference on 13 November is exploring the theme of Navigating tomorrow: Anticipating challenges, embracing change. Join us for Australia's only truly sector-focused event in the award-winning Grand Ballroom at Sofitel Melbourne on Collins, in the heart of the Treasury precinct and Fitzroy Gardens. A virtual attendance option is also available.
This year, we're delighted to welcome Professor Braden Hill, of Edith Cowan University, as our Master of Ceremonies, and Productivity Commission Chair, Danielle Wood, for our keynote panel discussion. The Hon Jason Clare MP, Minister for Education, will also attend to give the Minister's Welcome Address. A conference program of inspirational speakers will explore a range of topics including the rapid transformation in technology, demographics and global pressures facing providers, students and the Australian community, and the opportunities and risks that will help the sector prepare for a dynamic future in higher education.
In planning this year’s conference we’ve listened to your feedback and enhanced the networking sessions, including an exclusive Welcome Reception at Sofi's Lounge on Tuesday 12 November and the traditional post-conference cocktail event on Wednesday 13 November. A half day of pre-conference seminars is also scheduled on 12 November.
See the conference website for more details, including early bird tickets and discounted accommodation offers.
Prepared in accordance with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2013 (PGPA Rule), TEQSA’s Corporate Plan sets out our priorities for the four reporting periods from 2024-25 to 2027-28.
The PDF version of the document is available above. An HTML version is available on request.
4 November 2022
TEQSA is reminding all higher education providers of their obligations for monitoring the performance of education agents and ensuring that international students are genuine and engaged with learning.
There have recent media reports outlining the alleged misuse of student visas, including education agents working to secure visas for non-genuine students.
Education providers delivering to overseas students are responsible for ensuring that their education agents act ethically, honestly and in the best interest of overseas students and uphold the reputation of Australia’s international education sector.
Providers are also required to monitor student engagement throughout a course of study.
These obligations are set out in standards 1.3.4, 1.3.5, 7.1.1, 7.1.4 and 7.1.5 of the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021, and standard 4 of the National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018 (the National Code).
TEQSA does not regulate education agents. As per the TEQSA Act, it regulates all registered providers that offer higher education qualifications in or from Australia, as well as some standalone ELICOS providers.
TEQSA monitors providers’ compliance with the requirements of the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 and associated legislative framework (the ESOS framework).
Under standard 4 of the National Code, registered providers are responsible for ensuring that their education agents act ethically, honestly and in the best interest of overseas students and uphold the reputation of Australia’s international education sector.
In particular, higher education providers delivering to overseas students must:
All higher education providers must ensure that:
Standard 1.3.4:
Processes that identify students at risk of unsatisfactory progress and provide specific support are implemented across all courses of study.
Standard 1.3.5:
Trends in rates of retention, progression and completion of student cohorts through courses of study are monitored to enable review and improvement.
Standard 7.1.1:
Representation of the higher education provider, its educational offerings and charges, whether directly or through agents or other parties, is accurate and not misleading.
Standard 7.1.4:
Agents and other parties that are involved in representing the higher education provider are bound by formal contracts with the provider, their performance is monitored and prompt corrective action is taken in the event or likelihood of misrepresentation or unethical conduct.
Standard 7.1.5:
Representations, whether expressed or implied, about the outcomes associated with undertaking a course of study, eligibility for acceptance into another course of study, employment outcomes or possible migration outcomes are not false or misleading.
Standard 4.1:
The registered provider must enter into a written agreement with each education agent it engages to formally represent it, and enter and maintain the education agent’s details in PRISMS.
Standard 4.2:
The written agreement must outline:
Standard 4.3:
A registered provider must require its education agent to:
Standard 4.4:
Where the registered provider becomes aware that, or has reason to believe, the education agent or an employee or subcontractor of that education agent has not complied with the education agent’s responsibilities under standards 4.2 and 4.3, the registered provider must take immediate corrective action.
Standard 4.5:
Where the registered provider becomes aware, or has reason to believe, that the education agent or an employee or subcontractor of the education agent is engaging in false or misleading recruitment practices, the registered provider must immediately terminate its relationship with the education agent, or require the education agent to terminate its relationship with the employee or subcontractor who engaged in those practices.
Standard 4.6:
The registered provider must not accept students from an education agent if it knows or reasonably suspects the education agent to be:
To help international students build their understanding of academic integrity and the responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (gen AI), language translations of key resources are available.
We work closely with international higher education quality assurance and regulatory agencies and participate in global forums, as part of our work to protect and enhance the integrity, quality and reputation of Australian higher education. TEQSA seeks to work collaboratively with overseas regulatory and quality assurance agencies to protect and enhance the quality and integrity of higher education.
To request a delegation visit, please use our contact form. Please submit your request at least two months in advance of the proposed date and include:
TEQSA will let you know if we are able to meet your request within 15 days of receiving your completed request.
International organisations wishing to invite a TEQSA representative to speak at their event should use our speaker request form. Please note that TEQSA requires at least 28 days advance notice of any request and that TEQSA is not able to provide speakers for all requested events. TEQSA will let you know if we are able to meet your request as soon as possible after receiving your completed request.
TEQSA is presently reviewing our approach to memorandums of understanding with international organisations. Please use our contact form to enquire about current or prospective MOUs (including renewals).
The Global Academic Integrity Network is a consortium of education quality and integrity agencies worldwide joining forces to fight the rise of commercial academic cheating services targeting students. Founded by Quality and Qualifications Ireland and TEQSA, the network aims to tackle commercial cheating operations, protecting students, qualifications and the integrity of national education systems.
The Department of Education and Training approached TEQSA in mid-2016 to manage a project focused on the quality assurance of online higher education for countries in the APEC region. The project deliverables include the development of a Discussion Paper and Toolkit, a workshop on the Toolkit with representatives from a range of APEC economies followed by a limited number of validations in Indonesia, Vietnam and Mexico and finalisation of the discussion paper and toolkit. This work was completed in 2017.
The toolkit was developed to share Australia’s lessons with our colleagues in quality assurance agencies in the global fight against contract cheating and other threats to academic integrity. It applies the principles of quality assurance to creating strong frameworks that support academic integrity.
TEQSA led the development of the toolkit which was funded by a grant from the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE).
The compliance report provides details of TEQSA's compliance activities in 2023 and key learnings for providers.
The PDF version of the document is available above. An HTML version will be made available on request.
This report outlines our compliance priorities for the upcoming year, as well as our compliance and enforcement activities for the previous year.
The report also includes compliance in focus guidance to support higher education providers in meeting their obligations.
Under the Compliance Monitoring Framework, we set compliance priorities within agreed risk tolerance parameters approved by TEQSA’s Commission.
These priorities guide our compliance monitoring activities for the greatest regulatory impact to protect students and the quality, integrity and reputation of the sector.
Our compliance priorities are reviewed on an annual basis to ensure they remain relevant and reflective of risk in the sector and are published in the annual compliance report.
Issues relating to the wellbeing and safety of students (including those who are vulnerable or under 18) with particular focus on systemic failures to:
Issues affecting academic quality, focusing on:
Issues that put the integrity of the sector at risk, with a focus on fraud and criminality, including:
Issues that impede the delivery of quality higher education including:
Issues with information security, including those related to:
Issues that affect a provider’s present and projected financial sustainability and viability, with a particular focus on:
As part of our annual compliance report, TEQSA publishes advice to support providers in meeting their HES Framework obligations.
The Compliance Monitoring Framework supports our regulatory oversight of providers’ compliance and enhances community confidence that the quality of Australian higher education is maintained.
The framework assists TEQSA to perform its core regulatory functions and powers under the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011, Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 and subordinate legislation and is informed by our statements about our Approach to Quality Assurance and Regulation and Compliance and Enforcement.
Figure 1: Key elements of TEQSA’s compliance monitoring cycle
The framework is reviewed by TEQSA’s Commission annually, or where there is significant change affecting the sector, to ensure it reflects changing regulatory risks and remains effective.
TEQSA’s broad compliance monitoring activities provide us with insight into emerging and current risks to the sector, as well as common risks to provider quality assurance practices.
This assists us to identify and focus on the areas of non-compliance that pose the greatest risk to students and the quality, integrity and reputation of the higher education sector.
TEQSA monitors and identifies risk through a number of interconnected and complementary activities, including:
We set compliance priorities within agreed risk tolerance parameters, approved by TEQSA’s Commission, to guide our compliance monitoring activities for the greatest regulatory impact to protect students and the quality, integrity and reputation of the sector. These are reviewed on an annual basis to ensure they remain relevant and reflective of risk in the sector and are published in the annual compliance report.
As a risk-based regulator, TEQSA’s prioritisation model, based on the compliance priorities, is an essential component of our approach to compliance monitoring. It involves a robust triage process to promptly identify those issues that pose the greatest risks. This helps to prioritise TEQSA’s work and determine how best to allocate our resources.
The Compliance Priorities, annual provider risk assessment and other information and intelligence sources feed into the development of an Annual Compliance Program. This is a proactive and forward-looking plan to target current, systemic and emerging risks. This targeted approach provides assurance that priority risk areas are being managed in the sector.
TEQSA has a range of regulatory tools and statutory powers to address non-compliance. Our regulatory response is guided by the Compliance and Enforcement Policy, which documents principles for undertaking enforcement activities and supporting processes and procedures.
Where we identify that a provider is not complying (or is at substantial risk of not complying) with its obligations, our level of regulatory response will: reflect the level of risk identified, be proportionate to the issues we seek to address, be tailored to the individual circumstances so as to achieve the most effective compliance outcome.
Information gained from compliance monitoring activities and lessons learned from the action and response flow back into monitoring and assessment activities as regulatory intelligence.
We work across government, sharing resources, information and findings, where it is relevant to the functions and powers of other agencies. This joined up approach reduces duplication of effort and increases our knowledge base.
We communicate information about our compliance monitoring activities to raise awareness and inform, which in turn helps the sector build capability through lessons learnt. We do this by tailoring and publishing education and guidance based on findings from compliance monitoring activities and through our annual compliance report. We also consult with the sector and key stakeholders, including peak bodies, to assist the sector to develop solutions to problems.
The Compliance Monitoring Framework is underpinned by the following contemporary best-practice regulatory principles:
| Principle | Commitment |
|---|---|
| Risk-based | TEQSA’s regulatory approach is proactive and responsive in identifying, assessing and responding to risk, and prioritising and targeting resources toward specific groups or behaviours that pose the greatest risk of harm to students, quality and the reputation of the higher education sector. |
| Proportionate | TEQSA’s regulatory response is proportionate to the problem that it seeks to address. |
| Necessary | TEQSA will not burden regulated entities any more than is reasonably necessary in the circumstances, and will seek opportunities for reducing the administrative burden of regulation and avoiding duplication where possible. |
| Collaborative | TEQSA works in partnership with the sector to support the delivery of quality education and protect the interests of students. TEQSA also works collaboratively with other regulators and stakeholders who share responsibility for ensuring quality in the sector. |
| Evidence-based | TEQSA makes informed and considered decisions, based on the best available evidence, that withstand scrutiny. |
| Intelligence-led | TEQSA effectively uses information and data to predict risk and inform decision-making about how to manage key compliance risks. |
| Outcomes-focused | Regulatory practice and decision-making are driven by a desire to achieve good regulatory outcomes. This includes intervening to address risk early. Progress against outcomes is measured by sector continuous improvement and progress towards enhancing sector self-assurance. |
| Lawful | TEQSA undertakes compliance activities within its powers, in accordance with the regulatory principles. |
| Fair | TEQSA undertakes compliance monitoring activities in accordance with its policies and processes, including those related to privacy, security, and records management. This is done in a manner that is procedurally fair, impartial and ethical. TEQSA commits to timely engagement with providers. |
| Transparent | TEQSA is committed to maintaining and enhancing transparency and accountability in the sector and contributing to public trust and confidence. In deciding whether to make TEQSA’s compliance and enforcement actions public, TEQSA will balance transparency with the matters outlined in the Public Disclosure Policy. |
| Focused on building capability | TEQSA’s activities support regulated entities to meet their obligations and build their capability towards a compliance culture. |
Compliance monitoring approach