TEQSA

1. TEQSA The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency

2. Who is TEQSA? TEQSA is Australia's independent national regulator of the higher education sector. Their mission is to “aim to create a smarter future for Australia - by upholding standards for students.” Their vision is “To maintain and enhance quality, diversity and innovation in the Australian higher education sector through nationally consistent regulation and quality assurance.”

3. TEQSA Act 2011 • The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011(TEQSA Act) establishes TEQSA as an agency.

4. Objects of the TEQSA Act are: • to provide for national consistency in the regulation of higher education • to regulate higher education using a standards-based quality framework and principles relating to regulatory necessity, risk and proportionality • to protect and enhance Australia’s reputation for and international competiveness in higher education, as well as excellence, diversity and innovation in higher education in Australia • to encourage and promote a higher education system that is appropriate to meet Australia’s social and economic needs for a highly educated and skilled population • to protect students undertaking, or proposing to undertake higher education by requiring the provision of quality higher education • to ensure that students have access to information relating to higher education in Australia.

5. TEQSA exercises its functions in line with the following values: • Accountability • Transparency • Independence • Integrity • Professionalism • Improvement • Consultation

6. Higher Education Standards Framework • The Standards Framework comprises five domains: Provider Standards, Qualification Standards, Teaching and Learning Standards, Information Standards and Research Standards • The Provider Standards and Qualifications Standards are collectively the Threshold Standards, which all providers must meet in order to enter and remain within Australia’s higher education system.

7. How does TEQSA assess providers? • TEQSA will undertake both compliance assessments and quality assessments. • Compliance assessments involve assessing a particular provider’s compliance against the Threshold Standards for registration as a higher education provider. • TEQSA may conduct quality assessments across the whole higher education sector, a sample of providers, or a single provider.

8. TEQSA's international strategy • Informs international confidence in Australian higher education regulation and quality assurance, and supports the recognition of qualifications, employability of graduates and mobility of students. • Provides information to international agencies, governments and networks about the rigour of the Australian regulatory system. • Applies a rigorous approach to offshore provision of higher education, and develops cooperative relationships with overseas regulatory and quality assurance agencies, governments and other related bodies.

9. International Agreements • TEQSA has entered into agreement with the following overseas regulatory and quality assurance agencies: Memorandum of Cooperation with the Council for Private Education, Singapore Memorandum of Arrangement with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency Memorandum of Cooperation with the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, United Kingdom Memorandum of Cooperation with the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications Collaborative project with the European Network for Quality Assurance (ENQA)

10. What does TEQSA do for students? Two of the objects of the TEQSA Act make clear that TEQSA must: • protect students by requiring the provision of quality higher education • ensure that students have access to information relating to their experience.

11. This means that before any institution can operate as a higher education provider in Australia, it must demonstrate to TEQSA that it meets minimum national standards of quality, known as the Threshold Standards.  TEQSA also protects the interests of international students under the Education Services for Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act) and the National Code. Information about these is available on the CRICOS website.

12. National Register of higher education providers All registered providers are listed on the National Register of higher education providers. The Register has key information about a provider’s status. It lists each provider’s legal and trading name/s; Australian Business Number (ABN); head office address and website details. 

13. The National Register also shows: • the provider’s registration category • how long the provider is registered • whether or not the provider can accredit its own courses (this is generally the case for universities) • the names of each course of study accredited by TEQSA; and  • the date by when these courses must be reaccredited. 

14. ESOS Act 2000 • TEQSA is a designated authority under the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act). • TEQSA now has responsibility under the ESOS Act for the following providers: Higher education providers registered under the TEQSA Act English Language Intensive Course for Overseas Students (ELICOS) providers if they have an entry arrangement with at least one registered higher education provider.

15. CRICOS • CRICOS is the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students. • Under the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act), TEQSA is the designated and delegated authority for higher education providers registered under the TEQSA Act, for providers of Foundation Programs and for providers of ELICOS courses of study in a pathway arrangement with a registered higher education provider. • TEQSA is required to approve those higher education providers, and providers of Foundation Programs and ELICOS courses of study who wish to deliver courses on CRICOS.