The TEQSA Act is the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011, the Commonwealth law that created TEQSA as the national regulator of higher education and gives it the power to register providers, accredit courses, impose conditions, require information, take enforcement action and be held to account for its decisions. Everything TEQSA does to a provider traces back to a section of this Act, and everything a provider is obliged to do for TEQSA is either in the Act or in the Threshold Standards made under it.
This guide walks through the Act part by part, in plain language, and points out the sections a provider's board, CEO and company secretary need to know by number. It draws on fifteen years of TEQSA registration work in which the Act has been amended repeatedly while its architecture has stayed the same.
What the TEQSA Act is for, and the three principles it binds TEQSA to
The Act opens with its objects in section 3, which include providing for national consistency in the regulation of higher education, protecting and enhancing its quality and reputation, and protecting students. Part 2 then sets out three basic principles that TEQSA must follow in exercising its powers: regulatory necessity in section 14, reflecting risk in section 15, and proportionate regulation in section 16.
Those principles matter more than providers usually realise. They are the legal basis for the risk-based assessment that now shapes renewal of registration, under which TEQSA does not require evidence against every standard but focuses on a provider's compliance history, annual data and the strength of what it submits. They are also the argument a provider can make when it believes TEQSA has asked for more than the risk justifies. The principles do not stop TEQSA acting; they require it to explain why the action fits the risk.
The Threshold Standards sit under the Act, not beside it
Part 5 of the Act provides for the Higher Education Standards Framework, which the Minister makes as a legislative instrument on the advice of the Higher Education Standards Panel. The current instrument is the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021. The Act says a provider must meet the Standards; the Standards say what meeting them looks like. Neither works without the other.
This is the distinction that our plain-English guide to the TEQSA Threshold Standards and our article on the role of TEQSA standards in Australian higher education both turn on. Guidance notes, application guides and TEQSA's policies are a third layer below both, and they are not law. When a provider is told that something is "required by TEQSA", the right question is whether it is required by the Act, by the Standards, or by guidance, because the consequences of not doing it differ at each level.
Part 3: registration, conditions, renewal and change of category
Part 3 is the part providers live in. Division 1 covers applying for registration: section 18 allows an entity to apply, and section 21 sets the matters TEQSA must be satisfied of before it registers, including that the applicant meets the Threshold Standards and that the applicant and the people who make or participate in decisions affecting its affairs are fit and proper. Registration is for a period of up to seven years.
Division 2 sets the conditions of registration. Some are imposed automatically by the Act, including the continuing requirement in section 25A to remain fit and proper and the obligation in section 29 to notify TEQSA of material changes. Section 29 requires notification of events that would significantly affect the provider's ability to meet the Threshold Standards, and of events that require the National Register to be updated, and TEQSA's material change notification policy sets the deadline at fourteen days after the provider would reasonably be expected to have become aware. Other conditions TEQSA may impose case by case under section 32, and providers may apply to vary or revoke them.
Division 3 covers renewal under section 36, which must be applied for at least 180 days before registration ends and repeats the fit and proper test. Division 4 covers changing provider category under section 38, the mechanism by which an Institute of Higher Education becomes a University College or an Australian University. Division 5 covers applying for self-accrediting authority under sections 41 and 42, and Division 6 withdrawal. Part 3A, added later, provides for authorisation to deliver courses offshore.
Part 4: accreditation of courses
Part 4 does for courses what Part 3 does for providers. Section 45 makes clear that a provider without self-accrediting authority may only offer a course of study that TEQSA has accredited. Division 2, sections 46 to 51, covers applying for accreditation, with TEQSA required to be satisfied that the course meets the Threshold Standards. Division 3 allows conditions on accreditation, and Division 4 covers renewal under sections 55 to 57.
The practical consequence of Part 4 is that course accreditation is a decision about a specific course meeting specific standards, not a general endorsement of the provider. A provider that changes a course materially after accreditation, by reducing its duration or altering its learning outcomes, is offering a different course from the one accredited, which is why major course changes appear on TEQSA's list of material changes under section 29.
Parts 6 and 7: information, enforcement and sanctions
Part 6 gives TEQSA the power to require information. Division 1, from section 63, allows TEQSA to require a person to give information or produce documents, and later divisions provide for authorised officers, monitoring and entry to premises. This is the legal basis for a request for further information during assessment and for a compliance assessment between assessments. A provider cannot decline to answer.
Part 7 is enforcement, and it is graduated. Division 1 provides administrative sanctions, from section 98: TEQSA may impose or vary conditions, shorten a registration or accreditation period, or cancel registration or accreditation, with procedural steps that generally include notice and an opportunity to respond. Division 2 creates offences and civil penalty provisions, including offering or conferring a higher education award without registration, and later divisions provide for infringement notices, enforceable undertakings and injunctions. In my experience TEQSA uses the lower rungs of that ladder far more often than the higher ones, and a provider's compliance history under Part 7 is one of the risk factors the Act's own principles tell TEQSA to weigh.
Fit and proper persons, and why the Act keeps returning to them
The fit and proper test appears at registration in section 21, as a continuing condition in section 25A, and again at renewal in section 36. The matters TEQSA considers are set out in a Determination made under the Act, first in 2018 and amended in 2025, and explained in TEQSA's guide to fitness and propriety. They include compliance with the law, financial record, management history in regulated entities, any false or misleading information given to a regulator, and public confidence.
The test attaches to the provider and to every person who makes or participates in making decisions affecting the whole or a substantial part of its affairs. That reaches directors, senior executives and, in a private provider, often the owner. The Act treats a change in those people as a material change, which is why a new CEO or a change of ownership must be notified within fourteen days. Our article on TEQSA standards as a key component of Australia's higher education landscape explains how the fit and proper test connects to the governance standards.
Review of decisions, the National Register, and the Act's amendments
Part 10 deals with administrative law. Section 183 lists the reviewable decisions, which include refusing registration or accreditation, imposing conditions and cancelling, and sections 184 to 187E provide for internal review by TEQSA and for external merits review. Part 11 establishes the National Register of Higher Education Providers, the public record of every registered provider, its category, its conditions and its accredited courses.
The Act has been amended many times since 2011, most visibly to introduce the four provider categories that took effect on 1 July 2021, to add offshore authorisation and tuition protection, and to strengthen enforcement. The architecture has not changed. A provider that understands Parts 3, 4 and 7, knows sections 21, 25A, 29 and 36 by number, and can tell the difference between the Act, the Standards and guidance is better placed than most.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the TEQSA Act?
The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 is the Commonwealth law that established TEQSA as the national higher education regulator and gives it powers to register providers, accredit courses, impose conditions, gather information, enforce compliance and have its decisions reviewed.
Are the Threshold Standards part of the Act?
No. The Standards are a separate legislative instrument, the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021, made by the Minister under Part 5 of the Act. The Act requires providers to meet the Standards; guidance notes sit below both and are not law.
Which sections should a provider's board know?
Section 21 on the registration decision and fit and proper persons, section 25A on the continuing fit and proper condition, section 29 on material change notification, section 36 on renewal, section 38 on change of category, and the enforcement provisions from section 98.
Can a provider challenge a TEQSA decision?
Yes. Section 183 lists reviewable decisions, including refusals, conditions and cancellations, and Part 10 provides for internal review by TEQSA followed by external merits review. Internal review carries a fee, currently $1,100 on TEQSA's fee schedule.
Dr Brendan Moloney is CEO of Darlo Higher Education, Australia's largest specialist TEQSA consultancy. He holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne, is a Cambridge University Press author on governance in higher education, and has advised private providers on registration and course accreditation for more than fifteen years.