Accreditation 4 May 2018

Course accreditation

Report on accreditation of two higher education courses of study offered by Australian College of the Arts Pty Ltd

On 4 May 2018, a delegate of TEQSA:

• Accredited, under section 49 of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (TEQSA Act), the following courses offered by Australian College of the Arts Pty Ltd, for a period of four years until 4 May 2022:
  • Bachelor of Arts (Interior Design)
  • Diploma of Arts (Interior Design)
• Imposed, under section 53 of the TEQSA Act, two conditions on the accreditation of the Bachelor of Arts (Interior Design) and Diploma of Arts (Interior Design).

Condition 1:

Australian College of the Arts Pty Ltd must not enrol students in or commence delivery of the Bachelor of Arts (Interior Design) or Diploma of Arts (Interior Design) until TEQSA notifies the provider that TEQSA is satisfied that the provider has appointed a suitably qualified Program Leader.

The appointee must possess:

• a qualification equivalent to AQF Level 9 in interior design, interior architecture or a related discipline
• demonstrated experience in the leadership of academic staff, and
• demonstrated experience in overseeing the delivery of higher education courses.

Condition 2:

Not later than four weeks prior to the commencement of each teaching period for the Bachelor of Arts (Interior Design) and Diploma of Arts (Interior Design), in relation to each staff member at each location proposed to teach one or more units in the Courses, Australian College of the Arts Pty Ltd must provide TEQSA with:

• the name of each staff member intended to deliver each unit in the Courses
• the units proposed to be taught and delivery location
• each staff member's qualifications in the discipline of the course being taught, and
• if a staff member does not hold a qualification in a relevant discipline at least one AQF level above the course in which they are teaching, details of the basis on which Australian College of the Arts Pty Ltd determined that the staff member holds professional experience equivalent to such a qualification

Main reasons for the decision

TEQSA made these decisions in light of risks that the courses submitted by Australian College of the Arts Pty Ltd may not meet, or continue to meet, the following provisions of the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2015:

1. Section 3.2 of Part A in relation to Staffing and the extent to which the staffing complement is appropriate and the extent to which the staff who teach students in the course of study are appropriately qualified in the relevant discipline, and whether they have a sound understanding of current scholarship and/or professional practice in the discipline that they teach.
2. This is the first course to be taught by Australian College of the Arts Pty Ltd with a focus on Interior Design.

TEQSA's assessment considered Australian College of the Arts Pty Ltd's arrangements for delivery at all Australian sites.