What is a notification?
Under subsection 44G(1) of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (TEQSA Act), providers with authorisation to provide Australian courses offshore must notify TEQSA if certain events or changes in circumstances occur or are likely to occur.
Under subsection 44G(3) of the TEQSA Act, authorised providers must notify TEQSA of these events or changes to their offshore delivery arrangements (offshore changes) as soon as they are aware or would reasonably be expected to be aware of the change, and no later than 90 days before the event or change is to occur or is likely to occur.
These obligations are in addition to those under section 29 of the TEQSA Act regarding material changes.
Notifications do not constitute an application for approval to implement changes, as approval is not required. However, TEQSA will follow up if it considers there is a risk of non-compliance with the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 (Threshold Standards).
Notification types
Providers must notify TEQSA if:
- an Australian course delivered by the provider is to be delivered offshore wholly or partly by another entity (offshore third-party agreement) 44G(1)(a)
- an Australian course delivered by the provider is to be delivered offshore at a new premises (offshore add location) 44G(1)(b)
- the provider is to commence delivering an Australian course offshore (offshore add course) 44G(1)(c)
- the provider is to cease delivering an Australian course offshore (offshore remove course) 44G(1)(d).
How to submit notifications
Notifications are to be submitted via the Provider Portal. Where appropriate, providers are encouraged to provide targeted evidence in support of a notification.
TEQSA may request additional information to help contextualise and understand a notification.
Information to be included in notifications
Offshore third-party agreement
Where an Australian course delivered by the provider is to be delivered offshore wholly or partly by another entity, providers are to notify TEQSA including the following information (44G(2)):
- the date the third-party agreement (TPA) is to come into effect
- the name(s) of the Australian course(s) of study to be delivered with the third party
- the address of the offshore premises where the Australian course(s) are/are to be delivered
- the name of the other entity the agreement is with
- details of the event or change; these may include:
- the rationale for the TPA, including how you have assured yourself of your compliance with the Threshold Standards, and how your own policies and procedures will be maintained under the arrangement
- due diligence you have undertaken
- key aspects of the TPA including the responsibilities of each provider.
Where you are entering into an offshore third-party agreement and commencing delivery of an Australian course at a new offshore premises, also submit an Offshore add location notification.
Where a change to an existing offshore third-party agreement that may significantly affect your ability to meet the Threshold Standards is to occur, has occurred or is likely to occur, including discontinuation of an offshore third-party agreement, please submit a material change notification.
Offshore add location
Where an Australian course delivered by the provider is to be delivered offshore at a new premises, providers are to notify TEQSA including the following information (44G(2)):
- the date delivery is to commence at the new offshore premises
- the name(s) of the Australian course(s) of study to be delivered at the new offshore premises
- the address of the new offshore premises where the Australian course(s) are to be delivered
- where applicable, the name of the other entity the Australian course(s) are to be delivered by or with at the new offshore premises
- details of the event or change; these may include:
- the rationale for relocating or adding a new delivery site, including how you have assured yourself the location is suitable to deliver the intended courses, to the intended number of students, while ensuring adequate provision of resources
- in the case of a relocation, how you have assured yourself impacts to students from the change are appropriately managed.
The level of detail in the notification should be commensurate with the anticipated impact of the change on students. TEQSA expects more detail to accompany a more impactful change; less detail may accompany a less impactful change.
Where you are commencing delivery of an Australian course at a new offshore premises and entering into an offshore third-party agreement, also submit an Offshore third-party agreement notification.
Where delivery of Australian courses at an offshore location is to cease, please submit a material change notification.
Offshore add course
Where the provider is to commence delivering an Australian course offshore, they are to notify TEQSA including the following information (44G(2)):
- the date delivery of the course is to commence
- the name(s) of the Australian course(s) of study to be delivered
- the address(es) of the offshore premises where the Australian course(s) are to be delivered
- where applicable, the name of the other entity the Australian course(s) are to be delivered by or with
- details of the event or change; these may include:
- AQF level and qualification type
- field(s) of education, including broad, narrow, and detailed field codes
- language the course will be delivered in if other than English
- where applicable:
- TEQSA course ID
- details of any work-based training component
- details of professional accreditation of the course(s).
Offshore remove course
Where the provider is to cease delivering an Australian course offshore, they are to notify TEQSA including the following information (44G(2)):
- the date delivery of the course is to cease
- the name(s) of the Australian course(s) of study affected
- the address(es) of the offshore premises where delivery is to cease
- where applicable, the name of the other entity the Australian course(s) are delivered by or with
- details of the event or change; these may include:
- evidence of communication to students regarding cessation of delivery
- steps taken to assure compliance with the Threshold Standards
- evidence of approval of the change by the Academic Board and/or Governing Board
- transition/teach out arrangements with details of strategies to mitigate disadvantage to students who are impacted by these changes.
Where cessation of delivery of an Australian course offshore coincides with cessation of delivery of the course onshore, this change will be communicated internally, and submission of a material change regarding cessation of onshore delivery will not be necessary.
Where you intend to cease delivery of an Australian course accredited by TEQSA, but there will still be students enrolled in the course beyond its current accreditation period, please submit an application for course accreditation in teach out.
Contact
If you have any questions about the notification process, please email tne@teqsa.gov.au.