Overview

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.

Framework elements

Identify

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:

• TEQSA’s annual provider Risk Assessment Framework, a tool to identify risk, which provides a snapshot of each higher education provider, including regulatory history 
• assessments for renewal of TEQSA and CRICOS registration and accreditation
• compliance assessments and investigations, and enforcement action
• information and intelligence from various sources, including peak and professional accreditation bodies, other government agencies, concerns and material change notifications
• sector-wide thematic analyses and consultation/engagement with key stakeholders.

Prioritise

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.

Action

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.

Learn

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. 

Inform

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.

Framework principles

The Compliance Monitoring Framework is underpinned by the following contemporary best-practice regulatory principles:

The circumstances

In 2023, TEQSA noted an increase in concerns from students about the availability and adequacy of support services and wellbeing services.

These included concerns that providers had left vacant student counselling and wellbeing officer positions, and that funding for on-campus support services withdrawn by providers during COVID-19 had not been restored. Additionally, we consulted with higher education students, which helped inform our compliance priorities for 2024 and highlighted their concerns, including:

• lack of wellbeing and support services available for students
• lack of awareness amongst students and staff about the availability of support services and complaint handling mechanisms
• inadequate level of staffing and staff training to ensure students are provided with accurate and timely advice
• mismanagement of conflicts of interest when handling complaints.  

Our role

TEQSA expects providers to meet their obligations under the HES Framework, which includes specific requirements regarding student wellbeing and safety.

These include the need for a safe learning environment to be promoted and fostered, support services for students, formal complaints handling policies and procedures, and compliance with relevant legislation including Commonwealth, state and territory laws.

Relevant sections and standards of the HES Framework include Sections 2.3, 2.4 and 6.2, and Standards 6.1.4 and 7.2.1.

Providers also have statutory obligations to provide for the support of international students who are studying in Australia under the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act), with its associated National Code.

Our focus

TEQSA focuses on:

• providers’ compliance with their own policies and procedures
• the extent to which providers take steps to identify and mitigate risks associated with wellbeing and safety
• whether providers have adequate levels of oversight to address the issues relating to the wellbeing and safety of students and staff.  

What providers can do

We encourage providers to:

• engage with staff and students in developing strategies relating to wellbeing and safety, including strategies relating to gender-based violence
• have mechanisms to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies and framework, which in turn inform continuous improvement
• ensure adequate level of staffing, and that the first points of contact for students and staff responsible for providing support and managing complaints have the required training for their respective roles
• increase awareness amongst students and staff about options for wellbeing support services and complaint handling mechanisms, relevant policies and procedures, including student obligations and expected standards of behaviour.

Resources

• TEQSA: Guidance note on wellbeing and safety
• TEQSA: Guidance note on grievance and complaint handling
• Our Watch: Resource links
• Orygen Institute: University Mental Health Framework
• ACT Ombudsman and Commonwealth Ombudsman: Complaint handling at Universities: Australasian Best Practices Guidelines
• Universities Australia: Guidelines for University Responses to Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment
• Universities Australia: Primary Prevention of Sexual Harm in the University Sector – Good Practice Guide 

TEQSA publishes compliance in focus resources to support providers in meeting their obligations under the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 (HES Framework).

The resources below contain information on best practice and links to other useful information to assist providers in ensuring their continued compliance with the HES Framework.

2024

• Compliance in focus: Student wellbeing and safety
• Compliance in focus: Education agent monitoring

2023

• Compliance in focus: Academic integrity
• Compliance in focus: Change of ownership
• Compliance in focus: Cyber security

2022

• Compliance in focus: Identifying students at academic risk
• Compliance in focus: Professional accreditation
• Compliance in focus: Wages underpayment

The circumstances

In 2023, TEQSA observed an increase in risks to compliance in the recruitment of overseas students and the monitoring of education agents.

This included a large increase in the number of overseas students who, after being recruited by education agents, were refused a visa, failed to commence, or left the provider before completing their course of study.

This raised concerns that providers were not meeting their obligations under the National Code and HES Framework to recruit responsibly and to ensure their education agents were acting ethically, honestly and in the best interests of students.

Our role

TEQSA expects each provider to vigilantly monitor the conduct and performance of the education agents it engages to formally represent it. Further, providers are expected to develop mature processes for evaluating student performance and outcomes to inform its recruitment activities.

• Standard 4.1 of the National Code requires providers to enter into a written agreement with each education agent.
• Standard 4.3 of the National Code expects providers to ensure education agents act honestly and in good faith, and in the best interests of the student.
• Standards 4.4 and 4.5 of the National Code require providers to take immediate corrective action where an education agent or its subcontractor has not complied with its obligations, or terminate its relationship if the education agent has engaged in false or misleading recruitment practices.
• Standard 4.6 of the National Code requires providers to not accept students from an education agent that has engaged in dishonest recruitment practices, or facilitated the enrolment of an overseas student that is not bona fide or that the agent believes will not comply with visa conditions.
• Standard 7.1.1 of the HES Framework requires providers to ensure that representation of the higher education provider, its educational offerings and charges, whether directly or through agents and other parties, is accurate and not misleading.
• Standard 7.1.4 of the HES Framework requires providers to ensure that 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.  

Our focus

In 2023, TEQSA’s assessments identified significant risks to compliance in the monitoring of education agents for numerous providers, including universities.

TEQSA sought information from each of these providers to better understand their processes for monitoring education agents, and their response to the elevated risk.

Some providers were able to address TEQSA’s concerns by demonstrating that robust and effective self-assurance mechanisms were in place. This included evidence that the provider had identified issues independent of TEQSA’s assessment, had taken steps to understand the root cause of the problems, and was in the process of implementing measures to address them.

Importantly, these providers were able to demonstrate that their governing bodies had sufficient and effective oversight of these risks and the actions to address them.

In contrast, some providers were unable to adequately address TEQSA’s concerns, and further regulatory intervention was required. TEQSA is working closely with the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Education, and the Australian Skills Quality Authority to continue to monitor risks in the recruitment of overseas students and provider management of education agents.

Providers are expected to be able to demonstrate that they have effective processes and mechanisms in place for monitoring their education agents.  

What providers can do

We encourage providers to:

• independently identify issues related to the recruitment of overseas students and the monitoring of education agents and take reasonable steps to understand the issues once identified
• take sufficient and immediate corrective action when poor performance by education agents is identified
• take comprehensive steps to address the root causes of identified issues, rather than implementing superficial or temporary measures
• develop mature monitoring and review processes for their education agents, informed by student progression, performance, and feedback
• implement quality assurance measures to address risks at an institutional level prior to the matter being raised by TEQSA.  

Resources

• TEQSA: Sector alert on the recruitment, admission, and support of overseas students
• TEQSA: Sector alert on provider responsibilities when using education agents
• TEQSA: Guidance note on corporate governance