The TEQSA standards criteria are the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021, a legislative instrument with seven Part A domains covering students, learning environment, teaching, research, quality assurance, governance and information, and a Part B setting provider categories and self-accrediting authority. A provider must meet every applicable standard to be registered and to stay registered, and each standard is written in the present tense as something the provider does, not something it intends.
This article is a compact domain-by-domain summary of what each section requires. For depth on any domain, our plain English guide to the Threshold Standards is the pillar; this piece draws on fifteen years of TEQSA registration work to say what each domain asks for in practice.
Where the TEQSA standards criteria come from
The standards are made under the TEQSA Act 2011 and published on the Federal Register of Legislation as the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021. They are law. Guidance notes explain how the regulator reads particular standards, but they are not themselves Threshold Standards, and an application is assessed against the instrument. Our short piece on where the TEQSA standards are found covers the documents and their status.
Domains 1 and 2: students and the learning environment
Domain 1, Student Participation and Attainment, follows the student through the course. Section 1.1 requires admission criteria that give students a reasonable prospect of success, and 1.2 requires credit and recognition of prior learning that does not compromise outcomes. Section 1.3 requires orientation, early identification of students needing support, and equivalent progression opportunities regardless of background, mode or place. Section 1.4 requires learning outcomes at the right AQF level, assessment capable of confirming them, and demonstrated achievement on completion. Section 1.5 requires qualifications and certification that are legitimate, AQF-compliant and protected against fraud.
Domain 2, Learning Environment, covers what surrounds the course. Section 2.1 requires facilities and electronic services fit for purpose and continuously available. Section 2.2 requires policies and support for diversity and equity. Section 2.3 requires a safe environment, including for wellbeing, critical incidents and, for international students, the obligations under the ESOS framework. Section 2.4 requires accessible complaints and appeals processes, including access to an independent third party.
Domains 3 and 4: teaching and research
Domain 3, Teaching, is where course accreditation is mostly decided. Section 3.1 requires a full course design specification, content engaging advanced knowledge and current scholarship, coherent progression, and outcomes achievable in any mode. Section 3.2 requires sufficient staff, an academic profile capable of leading inquiry at the course's level, and staff qualified one AQF level above the award or equivalent, with supervision for those who are not. Section 3.3 requires learning resources tied to the outcomes, accessible LMS provision, no unexpected barriers, and learning support consistent with mode and cohort.
Domain 4, Research and Research Training, applies only to providers that conduct research or offer research training. Section 4.1 requires research to be conducted with integrity and in accordance with a code of conduct. Section 4.2 requires research training with qualified supervision, adequate resources and progress monitoring. A teaching-only Institute of Higher Education usually records Domain 4 as not applicable, though scholarship expectations still arise under 3.2.
Domain 5: institutional quality assurance
Domain 5 is the machinery that keeps the other domains true over time. Section 5.1 requires course approval and accreditation by a process with academic scrutiny independent of the staff who deliver the course, and re-approval at least every seven years. Section 5.2 requires policies and action on academic and research integrity, including misconduct processes. Section 5.3 requires monitoring of student outcomes, comprehensive review of each course, external referencing of outcomes and assessment under 5.3.4, and demonstrated improvement. Section 5.4 requires the provider to remain responsible for any course delivered with or through another party.
In my experience Domain 5 is where the difference between a document and a system shows most clearly. The TEQSA standards criteria here cannot be met by a policy suite; they are met by a course review actually conducted, a benchmarking exercise that actually happened, and an academic board that acted on both.
Domains 6 and 7: governance and information
Domain 6, Governance and Accountability, is the foundation TEQSA reads first. Section 6.1 requires a governing body with the independence, expertise and authority to direct the provider, managed conflicts of interest, and fit and proper persons. Section 6.2 requires that body to assure itself the provider is operating effectively and sustainably, including financial viability, risk management, tuition safeguards and prompt correction of compliance lapses. Section 6.3 requires academic governance with authority over academic quality, usually an academic board, that reports to the corporate body.
Domain 7, Representation, Information and Information Management, covers what the provider says and keeps. Section 7.1 requires accurate representation of the provider and its courses, including in marketing and by agents. Section 7.2 requires students to receive accurate information about courses, fees, obligations and support before and during enrolment. Section 7.3 requires secure and accurate records of enrolment, progression and awards, and records sufficient to demonstrate compliance with the whole framework.
Part B: categories and self-accrediting authority
Part B1 sets the criteria for the four provider categories: Institute of Higher Education, University College, Australian University and Overseas University. Part B2 sets the criteria for self-accrediting authority. A provider is registered in one category and, unless it holds self-accrediting authority, has each course accredited by TEQSA against Part A. The wider role of the framework is discussed in our article on TEQSA standards as a component of the higher education landscape.
How to use this summary
Read the instrument itself before you rely on any summary, including this one. Then map every standard to evidence of operation, not existence: the minutes, data and records that show the standard being met in the present tense. That mapping is what a self-assurance report indexes and what an assessor tests.
Download the Threshold Standards Map
— a one-page map of all seven domains and Part B to the documents and data that evidence each, drawn from our TEQSA registration and governance work with private providers. Get the map
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Frequently asked questions
How many domains are in the Threshold Standards?
Part A has seven: Student Participation and Attainment, Learning Environment, Teaching, Research and Research Training, Institutional Quality Assurance, Governance and Accountability, and Representation, Information and Information Management. Part B covers provider categories and self-accrediting authority.
Are TEQSA guidance notes part of the standards?
No. Guidance notes explain how TEQSA reads particular standards and are useful, but they are not legislative instruments. Registration and accreditation decisions are made against the Threshold Standards themselves.
Does every standard apply to every provider?
Most do. Domain 4 applies only to providers conducting research or research training, and some provisions apply only where a circumstance exists, such as third-party delivery under 5.4 or professional accreditation under 3.1.5. Everything else applies to every registered provider.
What does "present tense" mean for compliance?
The standards describe what a provider does now, not what it plans. TEQSA therefore looks for evidence that each standard is operating, such as minutes, data and records, rather than policies that describe how it would operate.
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.