EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Register) Guidelines 2012
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
Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Register) Guidelines 2012
Authority
Section 204 of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (the Act) allows TEQSA to make, by legislative instrument, Register Guidelines that set out the information that TEQSA must include on the National Register of Higher Education Providers (National Register). Subsection 204(b) gives TEQSA the authority to include matters necessary or convenient for maintaining and establishing the National Register in the Register Guidelines.
Purpose and operation
Subsection 198(1) of the TEQSA Act requires TEQSA to establish and maintain a register of higher education providers, known as the National Register of Higher Education Providers (National Register). The purpose of the instrument is to set out the information that TEQSA must enter on the National Register in respect of each registered higher education provider.
Under subsection 198(4) of the Act, TEQSA may enter details on the National Register that are not contained in the Register Guidelines. The details this instrument requires TEQSA to include on the National Register are details TEQSA has already included on the Register under subsection 198(4) of the Act. This instrument has been made to give certainty to providers, students and other stakeholders in relation to the details TEQSA must place on the National Register.
Paragraph 198(1)(b) states that National Register must include details of registered higher education providers whose registration has been cancelled, other than for a reason set out in the Register Guidelines. It is TEQSA’s intention to include details of all higher education providers whose registration has been cancelled on the National Register, so a provision addressing paragraph 198(1)(b) is not included in this instrument.
Description of the provisions
Section 5 of the instrument states the details TEQSA will enter on the National Register for each higher education provider registered by TEQSA.
Section 6 sets out the information TEQSA will enter on the National Register for each registered higher education provider whose registration has been cancelled.
Section 7 contains a statement that TEQSA will enter on the National Register for each higher education provider with self-accrediting authority. The statement explains that courses accredited pursuant to a higher education provider’s own self-accrediting authority will not be included on the National Register.
Section 8 states the details that TEQSA will enter on the National Register for each course of study accredited by TEQSA.
Consultation
As part of the consultation TEQSA conducted in relation to this instrument, the Chief Commissioner of TEQSA announced publicly at a provider briefing session on August 17 2012 that TEQSA was accepting submissions from stakeholders on the content of a draft of the Register Guidelines from 17 August until 3 September 2012. A Draft of the Register Guidelines and details on how to make a submission to TEQSA were also placed on TEQSA’s website on 17 August 2012 with a statement that TEQSA would accept submissions on the Guidelines until 3 September 2012. TEQSA did not receive any submissions on the Register Guidelines during the consultation period.
When drafting this instrument TEQSA had regard to the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) developed by the Australian Qualifications Framework Council and TEQSA liaised with State and Territory Government Accreditation Authorities in relation to the content of their registers of higher education providers.
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
This statement is prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
The instrument does not engage any of the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011. Accordingly, the instrument is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.
Commencement
This instrument 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.