EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Determination of Fees No. 2 of 2013
Issued by the authority of the Chief Commissioner of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA)
Subject: Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011
Determination of Fees No. 2 of 2013
Authority
Subsection 158(1) of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (the Act) allows TEQSA to determine, by legislative instrument, fees that TEQSA may charge for things done in the performance of its functions.
Subsection 158(3) of the Act further allows TEQSA to determine other matters relating to the payment of fees. In particular, paragraph 158(3)(c) permits TEQSA to determine the circumstances in which fees may be waived.
Purpose and operation
The purpose of the instrument is to determine the fees that TEQSA may charge for things done in the performance of its functions and when the fees may be waived. While the instrument revokes Determination of Fees No. 1 of 2013, the content of this instrument is largely identical to the previous instrument, except for the inclusion of a discretion to waive certain fees in the event that a registered higher education provider’s higher education operations are transferred to another person or body (including a body politic or a body corporate).
In recognition of the position that TEQSA may not need to undertake a full assessment of an application for registration and accreditation in these circumstances, when deciding whether to exercise the discretion contained in the new provision, TEQSA will consider matters including:
- Changes to academic and corporate governance
- Changes to the financial viability
- Changes to delivery arrangements for a course of study
- The period remaining on the transferring provider’s registration and accreditation
On 29 January 2012, TEQSA assumed regulatory responsibility for functions that were previously performed by the states and territories in relation to the matters dealt with by the Act.
TEQSA has determined the fees based on a decision by the Australian Government that TEQSA is to function on a partial cost recovery basis. As the determination of these fees necessarily predated the commencement of TEQSA’s regulatory activities, the determination of the fees is based on TEQSA’s estimate of the costs associated with particular activities, such as staff time, travel and associated costs, and considering historic comparative data and modelling of future costs. TEQSA also considered the fees charged by other agencies, including the state and territory accrediting authorities and the former Australian Universities Quality Agency. TEQSA will review these fees commencing in 2013 having regard to the collected data on costs for performing TEQSA’s functions following commencement of TEQSA’s regulatory activity.
TEQSA has responsibility for a broader range of activities than predecessor agencies and has therefore taken a different approach to structuring its fees. TEQSA will only charge for certain activities. Activities including compliance, monitoring and enforcement will not attract a fee. Nor are there any annual charges required to be paid to TEQSA such as those that may have been charged previously by the state and territory authorities (providers registered on CRICOS will also to pay an annual registration charge under the Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Act 1997.
Description of the provisions
The Instrument has two Schedules.
Schedule A of the Instrument sets out the fees payable. The Schedule includes fees that are specifically referred to in the Act, such as fees to accompany particular applications (for example applications for registration as a higher education provider under the Act: see subsection 18(3)).
Schedule A also includes other fees for services provided by TEQSA in performing its functions. TEQSA’s functions are listed in section 134 of the Act and include functions that are conferred on TEQSA by or under any other Commonwealth Law. Relevantly, TEQSA is a designated authority for the purposes of the ESOS Act and has been delegated responsibilities under the ESOS Act from both the Minister and Secretary of the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIISRTE). The Instrument sets out fees payable for services provided by TEQSA as a designated authority. The following matters are relevant to the fees for services provided by TEQSA as a designated authority under the ESOS Act:
- these fees are in addition to any fees for applications made to TEQSA under the TEQSA Act.
- TEQSA will usually recommend that any applications under the ESOS Act for registration to provide an additional course of study be registered for a duration which ends on the same date as any CRICOS registration for that provider. This means that a provider will usually only need to make one application for re-registration to provide all courses of study.
- TEQSA will not charge a fee for an application for registration to provide a course in a state where the provider is already registered to provide that course in another state.
Schedule B of the instrument sets out the circumstances in which fees payable under Schedule A may be waived under paragraph 158(3)(c) of the Act. The Schedule allows for certain fees to be waived when an applicant was approved as a higher education provider by a government accreditation authority at 29 January 2012 but was not yet offering or conferring a course of study. The Schedule also allows for the renewal of accreditation application fee to be waived for courses of study where no new enrolments are permitted and the provider ceases to provide the course at the conclusion of the first teaching period that commences after the date on which the provider’s current accreditation for the course is to end. In addition the Schedule includes discretion to waive certain fees in the event that a registered higher education provider’s higher education operations are transferred to another person or body including a body politic or a body corporate.
Consultation
TEQSA previously consulted in relation to the development of the Determination of Fees No. 1 of 2012 and details of the consultation arrangements undertaken are set out in the explanatory statement to that instrument.
Given that only a small number of courses offered by a small number of higher education providers are likely to be affected by the changes made in this instrument in relation to the waiver of fees, and the changes are required to be made urgently for the purposes of addressing circumstances that have not previously been considered, TEQSA did not consider it necessary to undertake further consultations.
TEQSA is reviewing these fees and will consider any further relevant information available at that time, including feedback from higher education providers. TEQSA will also consult with higher education providers and other stakeholders as part of the review to ensure that these stakeholders have a further opportunity to inform the approach to the development of TEQSA’s fee arrangements.
Commencement
This Determination is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 and will commence on the day after registration on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.