The higher education sector has undergone extensive changes over the last few decades including changes to regulation. State-based regulation of higher education providers moved to the Australian Government in 2012, making the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) the independent statutory authority. The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (TEQSA Act) established the agency and the new national regulatory and quality assurance environment for Australian higher education.

What Helen Lawrance Consulting can do to assist you 

TEQSA Registration and Accreditation submissions

Preparing applications to become an Institute of Higher Education (IOHE) are time consuming and take staff away from their day to day roles. HLC can assist you with preparing your application in whatever way is most valuable to you.

  • Final proof of submission

  • Project managing and developing your submission

  • Writing policies and procedures (including suites of policies ready for purchase)

  • Setting up governance structures

  • Advice on submission preparation

  • Responding to TEQSA

  • Self-accrediting authority applications

Governance reviews

Governance reviews are a requirement of the Threshold Standards. HLC can assist with undertaking an independent, comprehensive review of your governance prior to your renewal of registration application. HLC is on the list of TEQSA approved consultants for these reviews. You will be provided with a very comprehensive report that helps you with governance improvements.

HLC will ensure that the requirements in TEQSA's Guidance Note are met and will also include assessment of good corporate governance practice according to the ASX Corporate Governance Council (2014) Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations 3rd edn (Good Governance Principles), and various guidelines issued by the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). This approach ensures that the review's deliverables will assess compliance with the Threshold Standards and good governance practice to promote improvement.  

Projects and mini reviews

Specific projects or reviews of current practice may assist with continuous improvement and compliance:

  • Policy review

  • Business and strategic planning

  • Risk management

  • Curriculum review processes

  • Learning and teaching

  • Benchmarking and continuous improvement

 

 

Benchmarking service

Would you like an effortless way to meet TEQSA’s benchmarking requirements?

It can be difficult to negotiate agreements with universities or other IOHEs and find the time to undertake comparative data activities against all of the requirements. HLC offers a benchmarking consortium of IOHEs including attrition and progression data benchmarking, and benchmarking of student satisfaction survey data (including qualitative data analysis).

This service supports compliance requirements, but more importantly assists to make genuine improvements to your higher education operations. Individual reports are prepared for each provider, without compromising confidentiality and commercial sensitivities.The format is useful for governance boards to easily identify areas for improvement and also see areas of strength. 

There is a significant emphasis on including information that  benefits providers in effecting continuous improvement.  

CRICOS and FEE-HELP applications

HLC can assist you in preparing these time consuming applications.

It is important to ensure that your CRICOS application meets the requirements of the ESOS Act and National Code.

Your FEE-HELP application must meet legislative requirements and maintain ongoing compliance, administrative and reporting requirements.

Mergers/acquisitions

HLC can assist with:

  • Compliance analysis

  • Due diligence reporting