In order to offer higher education courses of study, providers must be registered with TEQSA and meet the requirements of the Higher Education Standards Framework (HES Framework). The HES Framework includes specific requirements regarding student wellbeing and safety, which include the need for:

• a safe learning environment to be promoted and fostered
• support services for students who need assistance with personal circumstances which may be having an adverse effect on their education
• formal complaints handling policies and procedures.

We continue to work with stakeholders from across the sector including students, providers, advocacy groups and the Australian Government, to ensure our response to this issue is based on the best available information.

How is TEQSA ensuring higher education providers are complying with these requirements?

Regulatory assessments

All Australian higher education providers are required to apply to TEQSA to renew their registration at least once every 7 years. During this process, TEQSA assesses providers’ operations to ensure they are meeting the requirements of the HES Framework. The requirements include but are not limited to, supporting student wellbeing and safety.

Providers who are found to be in breach of standards face regulatory actions that range from requesting information to placing conditions on registration and, in the most serious of cases, cancelling registration.

Our regulatory decisions regarding Australian higher education providers can be found on the National Register of Higher Education Providers.

Sector guidance

We have worked with the sector, students, and advocacy groups to produce guidance material on what we will expect to see when assessing providers’ compliance with student wellbeing and safety requirements of the HES Framework during our regulatory assessments.

• Guidance Note: Wellbeing and Safety
• Good Practice Note: Preventing and responding to sexual assault and sexual harassment in the Australian higher education sector
• Our Watch: Resource links (PDF, 226 KB)

Work is presently underway to further update these resources.

Where can I seek help?

University students

Universities Australia initiative lists the contact details for counselling and support services at Australian universities. You can access this list from Universities Australia’s Where to seek support at your university webpage.

Higher education provider students

All higher education providers should provide access to student support services.

ReachOut.com also provides support to survivors of sexual assault and sexual harassment and has compiled a list of state-based support services. This list can be accessed from ReachOut.com’s Sexual assault support webpage. 

Complaints to TEQSA

TEQSA accepts complaints about higher education providers’ compliance with the legislation we administer.

However, TEQSA is not a complaints resolution body and typically does not have a role in addressing individual complainants’ request or grievances. Under the TEQSA Act our function and powers prioritise broader systemic issues.

If you need to make a complaint about the way in which a provider has responded to an incident of sexual assault or sexual harassment, please complete our online complaint form.

Overview

TEQSA is the national regulator of higher education in Australia, an independent agency that was established under the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (TEQSA Act).

We protect the interests of students and the reputation and standing of Australian higher education.

Our approach to quality assurance and regulation is:

• standards-based, risk-reflective and transparent
• positioned to promote and facilitate a culture of effective self-assurance as an integral part of a provider’s operations
• only intervening to the extent necessary to achieve our regulatory purpose
• based on a model of regulatory partnerships, with individual providers and the sector overall.

Compliance frameworks we regulate

In addition to the TEQSA Act, we are primarily responsible for regulation by ensuring providers comply with:

• the Higher Education Standards Framework, including the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 (Threshold Standards)
• the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act) and associated instruments (ESOS Framework).

Compliance with the Threshold Standards

All providers are expected to comply with the Threshold Standards to manage their higher education activities and risks. This includes for matters such as the adequacy of facilities, staffing levels, support services, and academic and corporate governance.

• Read more information about the Threshold Standards and our guidance to the sector

Compliance with the ESOS Framework

All providers who deliver higher education to overseas students studying in Australia, including ELICOS and Foundation Programs, are expected to comply with the ESOS Framework.

Providers offering higher education courses to overseas students must be registered on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS). CRICOS identifies both the providers and the courses that have been registered.

The ESOS Framework sets out the obligations relevant to these providers and focuses on the unique needs of overseas students studying in Australia.

• For more information about the ESOS Framework, see our ESOS Act page

How we regulate the higher education sector

We regulate the sector through:

• assessing risks to the sector via data collection and analyses
• registering and re-registering providers
• accrediting courses (where a provider does not have authority to self-accredit)
• sharing information with the sector about how to improve and maintain compliance
• monitoring compliance
• working with providers to return to compliance and taking action to enforce compliance if necessary. 

Further information

For detailed information about our regulatory approach, please access the following pages on our website:

• Application forms and support
• Compliance monitoring framework
• Corporate plan
• Course accreditation/renewal 
• CRICOS registration 
• Provider registration
• Risk assessment framework

There has been large growth in online study platforms in recent years. 

TEQSA is concerned some of these websites may promote, enable or supply academic cheating services (also known as contract cheating).

Under Australia’s anti-cheating laws, the promotion or sale of academic cheating services is illegal and subject to penalties of up to two years’ imprisonment or fines of up to $110,000.

TEQSA has become aware some of these websites are seeking to employ students to promote their services through on-campus activities and events.

There is a risk that students employed to promote a website could face criminal penalties if the website is found to be breaking Australian law.

What we’re doing about this

TEQSA is continuing to monitor and assess the operation of several online platforms to determine if they breach Australia’s anti-cheating law.

We have asked all higher education providers to consider their policies about which companies are permitted to promote their services to students, institutional policies in relation to use of these platforms and to ensure these policies are consistently enforced and communicated.

We’ve also asked all higher education providers to inform students about this risk.

What you can do

• Students offered a job to promote a company on-campus to other students should speak with their institution first to determine if the company is permitted to operate on their campus.
• Ensure you understand academic integrity and Australia’s anti-cheating laws. TEQSA’s resources for students are a great place to start.
• Never share your work online, as it may be sold by cheating services to other students.
• Do not buy or sell essays, assignments or other assessments online. This is a breach of academic integrity and selling these services is illegal under Australian law.

29 April 2021

TEQSA has been provided with examples of online study platforms seeking to employ Australian higher education students to promote their services to other students via on-campus events and activities.

TEQSA’s Higher Education Integrity Unit is concerned some of these websites may promote, enable or supply commercial academic cheating services (also known as contract cheating).

This is a concern shared by institutions, some of which have blocked student access to these platforms from their servers. 

Under Australia’s anti-cheating laws, the promotion or sale of academic cheating services is illegal and subject to penalties of up to two years’ imprisonment or fines of up to $110,000.

TEQSA is continuing to monitor and assess the operation of several online platforms to determine whether there has been a breach of Australia’s anti-cheating legislation.

There is a risk that students employed to promote a website could face criminal penalties should the website be found to be breaking Australian law.

TEQSA recommends: 

• providers take steps to ensure that only authorised and verified organisations are able to engage in promotional activities (on or off-campus) that leverage on your institution’s brand
• providers ensure that institutional policies are applied consistently. For example, if students are blocked from accessing a website through your servers, that same website should not be able to host an event on-campus
• relevant policies regarding authorised commercial activity on-campuses be shared with any third-party organisations that operate on-campus events, such as student association market days and also communicated to students
• higher education providers consider whether the use, or particular uses, of online study platforms constitute a breach of their institution’s policies and communicate any decision to their students
• providers consider informing students about the risks posed via employment with study platforms that promote or sell commercial cheating services. TEQSA has published advice for students that may form part of your communication to students
• providers remind students and staff about the importance of academic integrity and the risk posed by illegal cheating services
• downloading and sharing resources for students and academics from the TEQSA website.

Providers with any queries about this matter can email integrityunit@teqsa.gov.au.

Illegal cheating services are targeting legitimate Australian websites.

TEQSA has received evidence that some ‘edu.au’ websites have been compromised by malicious code, which redirects students to illegal cheating websites.

What we’re doing about this

TEQSA has informed all higher education providers of this risk and asked that action be taken to protect against this risk.

We’re also making use of Australia’s tough new laws to investigate illegal cheating websites and will soon be taking court action to block them.

What you can do

The type of malicious code these illegal cheating providers are inserting can result in what you think is a legitimate link taking you to a website operated by an illegal cheating service. This can make it difficult to detect. But there are some things you can do to protect yourself.

1. Check the URL of any page you click on and ensure it is the correct website.
2. When searching for academic support, use the search function within your institution’s website. Do not use a search engine.
3. Do not use any website that asks for payment from you in order to access ‘study support’ or which offers essay or assignment writing services.
4. Be wary when clicking links to any third-party website left in comments on a website or on social media pages.
5. Confirm that essay or other competitions are legitimate. Illegal cheating services sometimes hold fake contests in a bid to get student work to on-sell.
6. Never share your work online. This includes via social media or websites that ask for a sample of your work in return for ‘free’ support.
7. Report any suspect website link on your institution’s website to your institution’s website team.
8. Ensure you understand academic integrity. TEQSA’s resources for students are a great place to start.
9. The Australian Cyber Security Centre has more general information for individuals about staying safe online.

9 April 2021

TEQSA has been provided with examples of where Australian higher education provider websites appear to have been compromised by insertion of malicious code that redirects students to websites operated by illegal cheating services. 

The researchers who informed TEQSA have identified four key types of malicious code in their scan of the 'edu.au' domain:

• 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 contract cheating website within a provider’s website.
• Comment injection – comments inserted to propagate or provide links to contract 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 academic cheating companies then on-sell.

Such cyber security breaches on the 'edu.au' domain present a risk to student interests and the reputation of Australia’s higher education sector.

Provider actions

• TEQSA recommends your institution’s Chief Information Officer (or their equivalent) take immediate action to identify and remediate any malicious code insertions on your website or other online platforms.
• The Australian Cyber Security Centre has information on recommended mitigation strategies for Australian organisations, including a resource aimed at assessing security vulnerabilities and applying patches. 
• TEQSA also recommends providers remind students and staff about the importance of academic integrity and the risk posed by illegal cheating services. 
• TEQSA has developed dedicated suites of resources for academics and students to help strengthen academic integrity and combat illegal cheating services.
• TEQSA has also published advice for students on our website.
• Managing cyber security incidents helps ensure your institution remains compliant with the Higher Education Standards Framework, in particular, Standard 7.3.3 which requires providers to ensure information systems and records are maintained, securely and confidentially as necessary to “prevent unauthorised or fraudulent access to private or sensitive information, including information where unauthorised access may compromise academic or research integrity.”

Providers with any queries about this matter should email integrityunit@teqsa.gov.au.

The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Act 2011 (TEQSA Act) contains offences and civil penalty provisions relating to registered higher education providers and regulated entities. The offences and civil penalty provisions include where a:

• regulated entity offers a regulated higher education award and is not a registered higher education provider (section 105)
• regulated entity represents that it offers or confers a regulated higher education award and it is not a registered higher education provider (section 106)
• higher education provider offers a regulated higher education award that is not an honorary award, without requiring the completion of a course of study (section 107)
• regulated entity uses the word ‘university’ to represent itself, or its operations and it is not a registered higher education provider registered in a category that permits the use of the word ‘university’ (section 108)
• regulated entity falsely represents itself as a registered higher education provider (section 109)
• regulated entity falsely represents that it provides a course of study leading to a regulated higher education award (section 110)
• higher education provider falsely represents that a course of study is accredited (section 111)
• higher education provider provides all or part of a course of study leading to a regulated higher education award and the course of study is not accredited (section 112)
• person provides, offers to provide, or arranges for a third party person to provide, academic cheating services to a student (114A)
• person advertises academic cheating services to students (114B).

Failure to comply with a condition of registration or course accreditation may be a breach of a civil penalty provision (section 113 or 114). For more information about these provisions, providers and regulated entities should read the TEQSA Act.

More information about conditions that can be imposed under the TEQSA Act can be found on our Conditions of registration/accreditation page.