The self-assurance report is an opportunity for you to demonstrate the effectiveness of your institute’s self-assurance mechanisms. The report outlines how your governing body assures itself of the quality of higher education operations and compliance with the Threshold Standards. In particular, it should demonstrate to TEQSA how a provider monitors, manages and mitigates institutional risks.
In preparing your self-assurance report, TEQSA highly recommends demonstrating how your institute manages key sector risks in the following areas:
| Overseas student recruitment, admission, and support | TEQSA highly recommends that providers consider TEQSA’s Chief Commissioner’s letter to all providers and TEQSA’s sector alerts in relation to recruitment, admission, and support of overseas students, and provider responsibilities when using education agents. |
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| Student wellbeing and safety, including preventing and responding to gender-based violence and sexual harm | TEQSA highly recommends providers consider the Australian government’s Action Plan Addressing Gender-based Violence in Higher Education, and TEQSA’s notes on preventing and responding to sexual assault and sexual harassment in the Australian higher education sector and wellbeing and safety. |
| Threats to academic integrity, including contract cheating and artificial intelligence |
TEQSA highly recommends providers consider TEQSA’s good practice notes on addressing contract cheating to safeguard academic integrity and academic and research integrity, and TEQSA’s resources on artificial intelligence. TEQSA will consider each provider’s response to the Request for information: Addressing the risk of artificial intelligence as part of its assessment. |
| Cyber security and foreign interference | TEQSA highly recommends that providers consider the Australian Signals Directorate’s Strategies to mitigate cyber security incidents and TEQSA’s Compliance in focus: Cyber security. |
| Staffing arrangements and employment practices, including preventing and responding to wage underpayments and high turnover of academic leaders | TEQSA highly recommends that providers consider TEQSA’s Compliance in focus: Wage underpayments and commentary on HESF Domain 3: Teaching. |
| Student grievance and complaints mechanisms, including the quality and accessibility of information on a provider’s website | TEQSA highly recommends that providers consider TEQSA’s guidance note on grievance and complaint handling and commentary on HESF Domain 7: Representation, information and information management. |
In addition, in preparing your self-assurance report, you are expected to self-identify and address any significant risks specific to your institute’s individual circumstances. This should include, but is not limited to, how your institute manages risks associated with:
- regulatory history and compliance, including the management of conditions, voluntary undertakings, compliance assessments, or other adverse outcomes in recent regulatory assessments by TEQSA
- risks identified as high by TEQSA in its most recent annual Provider Risk Assessment (e.g. high rates of student attrition, casualisation of academic staff, etc)
- recent significant changes, including changes to senior leadership, ownership, third-party arrangements, courses, or organisational structure, or significant events, including media reporting or public attention surrounding an issue at the institute
- issues identified by other government and regulatory bodies (ASQA, the Department of Home Affairs, etc), or professional accreditation bodies.
Further information
For further information when preparing your application for renewal of registration, please contact TEQSA’s re-registration team at reregistration.enquiries@teqsa.gov.au.