Australian Academy of Commerce Pty Ltd and Australian Skills Quality Authority

The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) made several decisions concerning the Australian Academy of Commerce Pty Ltd, including cancelling its National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act registration, rejecting its renewal applications for CRICOS and NVR registration, and refusing to add certain VET and ELICOS courses to its CRICOS registration. The Academy applied to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) for a review of these decisions and sought a stay of their operation.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether to grant a stay of ASQA's decisions pending the substantive review, and if so, on what conditions. The Tribunal was required to consider the desirability of a stay for the purpose of securing the effectiveness of the hearing and determination of the application for review, and whether the review would be rendered nugatory without a stay. The interests of any persons who might be affected by the review were also a key consideration.

The Tribunal reasoned that it was not its role to conduct a "mini trial" or predetermine the merits of the substantive review. However, it was incumbent upon the Applicant to establish facts or the possibility of legal error that might lead to a different outcome. The Tribunal considered material provided by the Applicant, including a review of its compliance steps, and noted the potential impact on approximately 540 international students and 28 employees if a stay were not granted. While acknowledging the students' stated desires to continue their studies, the Tribunal also noted ASQA's duty to protect students and the integrity of the vocational education system, particularly in light of evidence indicating non-compliance with numerous standards.

On 3 June 2020, ASQA affirmed its earlier decision to cancel the Applicant's NVR registration, with the cancellation to take effect from 20 July 2020. The Applicant applied for review on 10 July 2020, simultaneously seeking a stay. An interim stay order was granted by consent on 20 July 2020, staying the implementation of all reviewable decisions until the Tribunal's decision on the stay application. The Tribunal ultimately granted a stay, subject to conditions including that the Applicant must not enrol any students in VET courses, market or advertise its VET courses, or issue any VET Confirmation of Enrolment.