Updated material change notifications policy and guidance
TEQSA recently reviewed and updated our Material Change Notification (MCN) Policy and guidance to clarify reporting requirements, reduce duplicated reporting and eliminate the need for further information requests.
Of particular note, changes which require reporting under the ESOS Act only need to be reported through the MCN mailbox, instead of reporting to both the ESOS/CRICOS mailbox and the MCN mailbox (materialchanges@teqsa.gov.au).
We’re also asking providers to include in the notification information about the risk identified and the mitigation steps the provider is taking to either ensure continued compliance or return to compliance. This will assist TEQSA’s prompt assessment and reduce the need to request further information. In the case of course changes, providers should include a statement explaining how it has determined that the changes do not warrant a new course application.
Not every change requires reporting. The updated guidance includes examples of changes that should be reported to TEQSA and changes that shouldn’t.
And to make sure that we are able to assess and action material changes notifications promptly, particularly when notifications result in updates to the National Register, providers should ensure that all changes are sent to the MCN inbox (materialchanges@teqsa.gov.au) with a 'cc' to the Case Manager, rather than being embedded in other correspondence to TEQSA.
With the extensive revision of the TEQSA provider portal scheduled for completion in 2023, we intend to further streamline this process to ease the administrative burden on providers.