People asking where are TEQSA standards published usually expect to find them on TEQSA's website, but the standards themselves are a legislative instrument, the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021, and the authoritative text lives on the Federal Register of Legislation at legislation.gov.au. TEQSA publishes guidance about the standards; it does not make them, and the two should never be confused.
This article explains where to find the Threshold Standards, how they are structured, what TEQSA's guidance notes add, and how the standards sit alongside the Australian Qualifications Framework and the National Code for international students. It is written from fifteen years of TEQSA registration work in which I have watched many providers cite the wrong document.
Where are TEQSA standards actually published?
The current standards are the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021, a legislative instrument made by the Minister under the TEQSA Act. The register entry F2021L00488 holds the compilation in force, and the "latest" link always resolves to the current version. Print it from there, cite it from there, and check there when a colleague quotes a standard you do not recognise.
The standards were made by the Minister under the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011, which establishes TEQSA and sets out registration, the fit and proper person test, material change and the renewal and category provisions. Our overview of the TEQSA Act walks through the parts a provider actually needs. The Act and the standards are the two documents with legal force; everything else is commentary.
How the Threshold Standards are structured
The instrument has two parts. Part A contains seven domains, each divided into sections of numbered standards. Domain 1 is Student Participation and Attainment, covering admission, credit, orientation and progression, learning outcomes and assessment, and qualifications. Domain 2 is Learning Environment, Domain 3 is Teaching, covering course design, staffing and learning resources, and Domain 4 is Research and Research Training.
Domain 5 is Institutional Quality Assurance, covering course approval, academic and research integrity, monitoring and review, and delivery with other parties. Domain 6 is Governance and Accountability, with corporate governance at 6.1, corporate monitoring at 6.2 and academic governance at 6.3. Domain 7 is Representation, Information and Information Management. Part B contains the provider category standards at B1 and the criteria for self-accrediting authority at B2. Our article on TEQSA standards, criteria and requirements goes through each domain in more detail.
How to read a standard
Every standard is written in the present tense. Standard 6.3, for instance, does not say a provider will establish academic governance; it describes academic governance that exists and operates. That grammatical point is the most important reading instruction I can give, because TEQSA assesses whether the standard is met now, with evidence of operation, not whether the provider intends to meet it.
The second instruction is to read the whole section, not the single standard. Standards within a section cross-refer, and an assessor reads them together. The third is to read Part B alongside Part A, because the category standards add requirements that Part A does not contain. Our plain-English guide to the Threshold Standards translates each domain for a non-specialist reader.
What TEQSA's guidance notes add and what they do not
TEQSA publishes a series of guidance notes on topics such as academic governance, corporate governance, staffing, academic integrity and third-party arrangements. They explain how TEQSA interprets a standard and what evidence it typically looks for. I recommend reading the relevant note before drafting any part of an application.
They are not, however, Threshold Standards. A guidance note is not law, it does not bind TEQSA's decision-makers in the way the instrument does, and an application that cites a guidance note as though it were a requirement shows the assessor that the author has not read the instrument. The correct practice is to cite the standard and use the guidance note to understand what evidence will satisfy it.
The AQF and where it fits
The Australian Qualifications Framework, published at aqf.edu.au, defines the ten qualification levels and their descriptors. It enters the Threshold Standards by reference: Standard 1.5 requires qualifications to meet the AQF, and Standard 3.1 requires course design consistent with the level at which the qualification is offered. A master's degree by coursework must therefore meet the AQF level 9 descriptor, and a bachelor degree the level 7 descriptor, as a matter of the Threshold Standards.
In practice this means a course designer needs the AQF open beside the Threshold Standards, because the learning outcomes an assessor checks against Standard 1.4 are derived from the AQF descriptor for the level.
The National Code and international students
Providers that enrol overseas students on student visas are also bound by the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 and the National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018, both on the Federal Register of Legislation. The National Code's eleven standards cover marketing, agents, written agreements, enrolment, younger students, support, course progress, transfers, deferrals and cancellations, complaints and appeals, and additional registration requirements.
These sit beside the Threshold Standards rather than inside them. A provider with CRICOS registration answers to both sets, and TEQSA assesses both, but a question about where are TEQSA standards on, say, student support has two answers: Standard 2.3 of the HESF for all students and Standard 6 of the National Code for overseas students.
My advice on keeping the documents straight
Keep four links and know which is which: the Threshold Standards and the TEQSA Act on legislation.gov.au, the guidance notes on teqsa.gov.au, and the AQF at aqf.edu.au. Cite the instrument, use the guidance, design to the AQF, and add the National Code when overseas students are involved. A provider that does this consistently writes applications an assessor can follow.
Download the Darlo Threshold Standards Map
— a one-page map of every domain, section and standard with its source document, drawn from our TEQSA registration and governance work with private providers. Get the map
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Frequently asked questions
Are the TEQSA standards on TEQSA's website?
TEQSA's website links to them and publishes guidance notes about them, but the authoritative text of the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 is on the Federal Register of Legislation at legislation.gov.au.
What is the difference between the HESF and the Threshold Standards?
None in practice. The Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 is the full name of the legislative instrument; HESF and Threshold Standards are the two common abbreviations for the same document.
Are TEQSA guidance notes legally binding?
No. Guidance notes explain how TEQSA interprets the standards and what evidence it looks for, but they are not Threshold Standards and do not have legal force. Applications should cite the standard itself.
Where is the AQF published?
The Australian Qualifications Framework is published at aqf.edu.au, separately from the Threshold Standards, which incorporate it by reference through Standards 1.5 and 3.1.
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.