Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda

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TERTIARY EDUCATION QUALITY AND STANDARDS AGENCY BILL 2011

                                 2010 - 2011







               THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA







                                   SENATE




          TERTIARY EDUCATION QUALITY AND STANDARDS AGENCY BILL 2011




                    SUPPLEMENTARY EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM



             Amendments to be moved on behalf of the Government




  (Circulated by authority of the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills,
                        Jobs and Workplace Relations)









GENERAL OUTLINE

The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Bill 2011 (the Bill)
establishes the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) and
a new national regulatory and quality assurance environment for Australian
higher education.

On 10 May 2011, the Senate's Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
Legislation Committee released its report on the TEQSA Bill. Among other
things, the Committee recommended that:

    . the Bill be amended to provide that universities have the authority to
      self-accredit courses of study, except where TEQSA limits or removes
      that authority consistent with the basic principles of regulation
      stated in Part 2 of the TEQSA Bill (Recommendation 1)
    . the definition of Threshold Standards in section 5 be amended so that
      it does not include 'any other standards made under paragraph
      58(1)(e)' (Recommendation 4)
    . the Bill be amended to provide for a nine month maximum period for
      TEQSA to accredit a course under subclause 49(2) and a further nine
      months under subclause 49(3) (Recommendation 6)
    . clause 167(2)(b) of the Bill be amended to include reference to the
      interests of staff working in the higher education sector
      (Recommendation 5).

Amendments 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 give effect to Recommendation 1
concerning the authority of universities to self-accredit courses of study.

Amendments 4, 5, 6, 16 and 17 give effect to Recommendation 4 concerning
amending the definition of Threshold Standards.

Amendments 14 and 15 give effect to Recommendation 6 to reduce the time
limits within which TEQSA must make decisions on accrediting courses.
Amendments 7 and 8 make similar reductions to the time limits within which
TEQSA must make decisions on applications for registration as higher
education providers.

Amendment 19 gives effect to Recommendation 5 concerning amending subclause
167(2) of the Bill so that the membership of the Higher Education Standards
Panel includes the interests of staff working in the higher education
sector.  Amendment 18 amends paragraph 167(2)(a) to require the Minister to
ensure that Panel members collectively possess appropriate knowledge and
experience in higher education and the development of quality standards.


Amendment 20 corrects a typographical error in the table of reviewable
decisions in clause 183.


FINANCIAL IMPACT

There is no direct financial impact on Government revenue arising from
these amendments.
NOTES ON AMENDMENTS

Amendments 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13


In response to Recommendation 1 of the report of the Senate's Education,
Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Committee (the Committee),
these amendments explicitly provide that universities have the authority to
self-accredit courses of study, except where TEQSA limits or removes that
authority consistent with the basic principles of regulation stated in Part
2 of the Bill.

Amendment 1 recognises the self-accrediting authority of universities in
the simplified outline of the Bill.

Part 4 of the Bill covers the accreditation of courses of study where
either a higher education provider is a non self-accrediting entity, or the
provider is not authorised to self-accredit a particular course of study.
Amendment 13 replaces clause 45 in Part 4 to make it clear that higher
education providers that are registered in the Australian university
provider category have the authority to self-accredit courses of study.
Such providers must also either be established under or recognised by a
Commonwealth or State or Territory law, or registered as a company under
Part 2A.2 of the Corporations Act 2001 (subclause 45(1)).

Subclause 45(2) clarifies that TEQSA retains the power to impose conditions
to restrict or remove the authority to self-accredit from a provider,
however in doing so TEQSA must consult with the provider and comply with
the principles for regulation specified in Part 2 of the Bill. Subclause
45(3) makes it clear that subclause 45(1) does not limit the authority of a
provider that is not registered in the Australian university provider
category to self-accredit courses of study if authorised to do so by TEQSA
(pursuant to clause 41 of the Bill).

Amendments 2 and 3 amend the simplified outline at clause 4 of the Bill to
reflect that Australian universities have the authority to self-accredit
courses of study and that TEQSA regulates higher education using principles
relating to regulatory necessity, risk and proportionality, and using a
standards-based quality framework.  The language used highlights the basic
principles of regulation to which TEQSA must adhere to at all times when
carrying out its regulatory activities, as well as the fact that, even
though universities are self-accrediting, they will still be subject to
regulatory action underpinned by the basic principles.

Amendment 11 provides, for the avoidance of doubt, that if TEQSA removes a
university's authority to self-accredit a specific course of study, the
accreditation of that course of study is cancelled. When making a decision
to remove a self-accrediting provider's authority to self-accredit, it
would be open to TEQSA to make the removal of the provider's authority to
self-accredit take effect on a date such that the provider would have, in
the meantime, the opportunity to apply to TEQSA, under Part 4, for TEQSA to
accredit that course of study effective from the date on which the removal
of the provider's authority to self-accredit the course of study took
effect.

Amendments 9, 10 and 12 are consequential to amendment 11 and make minor
technical amendments to clause 33 and the heading to Division 1 of Part 4.




Amendments 4, 5, 6, 16 and 17

In response to Recommendation 4 of the report of the Committee, these
amendments remove the Minister's authority to make any 'other standards
against which providers can be assessed'. The Committee considered this
authority to be excessively broad.

Amendment 16 removes paragraph 58(1)(e) which establishes the authority.
Amendments 4, 5, 6 and 17 are consequential amendments to amendment 16.




Amendments 7, 8, 14 and 15

Under clause 49 of the Bill, TEQSA is required to make a decision with
respect to an application by a provider for a course to be accredited
within 12 months of receiving the application. If TEQSA is satisfied that,
for reasons beyond its control, a decision cannot be made within that
period, it may extend this period for a further 12 months.

The Committee agreed with representations from the Australian Council for
Private Education and Training that the maximum 24 month period was too
long and recommended that the 12 month periods be reduced to 9 months
(Recommendation 6).

Amendment 14 changes the requirement in paragraph 49(2)(a) for TEQSA to
make a course accreditation decision from within 12 months to within 9
months. Amendment 15 reduces the maximum extension to that period to 9
months (subclause 49(3)).

Similarly, amendments 7 and 8 amend clause 21 of the Bill to reduce the
decision making period and maximum extension for TEQSA to make a decision
on an application for registration as a higher education provider from 12
months to 9 months.





Amendment 18

The Bill as introduced does not specifically state that members of the
Higher Education Standards Panel should have experience or expertise in the
higher education setting. Although not all panel members necessarily need
to be drawn from the higher education sector, stakeholders have expressed
concern that the Bill did not specify the type of experience required.

This amendment will amend subclause 167(2) to require the Minister to
ensure that the Panel members collectively possess appropriate knowledge
and experience in higher education and the development of quality
standards.





Amendment 19

In its report, the Committee recognised the role of staff in the higher
education sector and recommended that, in developing the Higher Education
Standards Framework, the Higher Education Standards Panel should have
regard to the interests of staff (as well as the interests of students and
States and Territories).

Amendment 19 amends subclause 167(2) to insert the interests of higher
education provider staff into the list of matters that the Minister must
have regard when appointing Panel members.





Amendment 20

Amendment 20 corrects a typographical error in the table of reviewable
decisions in clause 183 relating to decisions under section 38 (once the
Bill is enacted) to change the category in which a registered higher
education provider is registered.