Re-registration and re-accreditation 26 May 2016

Renewal of registration and accreditation

Report on renewal of registration and renewal of accreditation of one higher education course of study for Academies Australasia Polytechnic Pty Ltd.

TEQSA has renewed the registration as a higher education provider, under subsection 36(1) of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (TEQSA Act), Academies Australasia Polytechnic Pty Ltd (AAPoly) for a period of two years to 26 May 2018 in the provider category of Higher Education Provider.

TEQSA has, under subsection 32(1) of the TEQSA Act, imposed four conditions on the registration of AAPoly as a higher education provider.

Condition 1

Within six (6) months of the notice of decision, AAPoly must provide to TEQSA its latest approved Strategic Plan together with evidence of approval by the Board of Directors and communication to relevant internal and external stakeholders.

Condition 2

Within six (6) months of the notice of decision, AAPoly must provide to TEQSA an approved Risk Management Policy and Plan that: establishes the policies and procedures for how AAPoly identifies, monitors and treats risks consistent with its Risk Register; and sets out who is responsible for the management of the policy and each of the identified risks, and the frequency of review of identified risks.

Condition 3

By 31 January 2017, AAPoly must provide to TEQSA, minutes of meetings of its Board of Directors for the 2016 calendar year that demonstrate its oversight of AAPoly's higher education operations including the Board of Director's deliberations and any actions taken in relation to: risk management, strategic planning and monitoring progress against the plan, the Academic Board's quarterly progress reports and performance data.

Condition 4

By 31 January 2017, AAPoly must provide to TEQSA, a report endorsed by the Academic Board on the progress of implementation of its Teaching and Learning Plan.

TEQSA has renewed the accreditation, under section 56 of the TEQSA Act, of the Bachelor of Tourism and Hospitality Management (BTHM) course of study offered by AAPoly, for a period of two years until 26 May 2018.

TEQSA imposed the following condition on the renewal of accreditation of the BTHM under subsection 53(1) of the TEQSA Act:

Condition 1

By 30 September 2016, AAPoly must provide TEQSA with evidence of its benchmarking agreement(s) to enable AAPoly to compare its performance on student learning outcomes and graduate outcomes with other higher education providers, and by 31 March 2017, AAPoly must provide TEQSA with a report that provides evidence of the activities implemented under those agreements.

Main Reasons for Decision

As part of the renewal of registration process, TEQSA has assessed the registration and course accreditation for the BTHM submitted by AAPoly against the Threshold Standards for Provider Registration and Course Accreditation.

TEQSA considers that the decision to apply conditions to AAPoly's registration and the accreditation of its course is consistent with the basic principles for regulation in Part 2 of the TEQSA Act, as AAPoly is at risk of not complying with a number of the Threshold Standards.

• The broad issues which relate to the AAPoly's registration and accreditation of its course include:

  a) Provider Registration Standards (PRS) 3.1, 3.4, 3.6 and 3.8, in relation to AAPoly's corporate governance, including risk management and strategic planning

  b) Provider Category Standard (PCS) 1.3, in relation to teaching and learning arrangements at AAPoly

  c) PRS 5.6 and Provider Course Accreditation Standard (PCAS) 5.5, in relation to the benchmarking of academic standards and academic performance.