Both national regulators, TEQSA (Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency) and ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) have recently released their latest corporate plans, providing instructive insights into their priorities for the international education sector.
The first thing to note is that the TEQSA Corporate Plan 2025-29 and ASQA Corporate Plan 2025-26 cover the four-year period 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2029, regardless of the different titles, as a requirement of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act).
TEQSA Corporate Plan 2025-29
TEQSA’s three objectives are consistent with previous corporate plans:
- Promote and support good practice and effective self-assurance across the sector
- Identify, analyse, and respond to risks to the sector
- Ensure compliance with applicable legislation through effective and efficient regulation
On international education, TEQSA notes that it has “observed significant risks in Australia’s international education sector” and highlights three key concerns:
- providers recruiting students who are not prepared for their course of study, or who do not genuinely intend to study in Australia
- providers using unethical education agents that do not act in the best interests of students
- providers failing to adequately inform prospective students about life in Australia, including information about accommodation and the cost of living
On Transnational Education (TNE), TEQSA notes an expansion of TNE and of third-party delivery arrangements, which involve specific risks and complexity requiring “attention by providers and TEQSA”. (Side note: TEQSA has already flagged that it will be releasing an updated TNE Toolkit).
“TEQSA continues to maintain a close watch of these arrangements to ensure the Threshold Standards are upheld to protect the interests of students and the integrity, quality and reputation of Australian higher education”.
TEQSA alludes to the Government’s plan to amend the Education Services for Overseas Students Act (ESOS Act) in 2025-26 (TKN 170726) and the recently released consultation paper on possible changes to the TEQSA Act (TKN 090925), saying that:
“A key consideration for TEQSA in the coming year will be ensuring our regulatory approach remains responsive to sector risks and aligns with any legislative changes. This may require the recalibration of our policies, approach and agency resourcing.”
The reference to agency resourcing is an interesting one, watch this space…
ASQA Corporate Plan 2025-26
In its new Corporate Plan, ASQA has combined is former five strategic objectives into three:
- Our regulatory approach is transparent, accountable, and evidence-based, responding proportionately to risk and enabling provider self-assurance and continuous improvement.
- We engage, collaborate and partner with stakeholders to improve regulatory outcomes.
- Our people and operations are supported and highly skilled to deliver and continuously improve.
On the international VET sector, AQSA says that to protect integrity and quality it will “continue to undertake regulatory activity as that sector responds to government measures to support managed growth and sustainability”.
“In 2025-26, we will continue to monitor and respond to the sector’s adjustment to sustainability measures, including by responding to changes in provider behaviour where they may pose an integrity threat, providing enhanced support functions for impacted students, and supporting providers to diversify and continue to meet their regulatory obligations.”
(Sustainability measures being the National Planning Level and New Overseas Student Commencements).
ASQA also discusses TNE, noting that the delivery of VET offshore presents unique challenges. It says that it will progress initiatives to “strengthen and improve our approach to the regulation of the delivery of Australian VET offshore” as well as work with international counterparts to deepen its understanding of other regulatory environments.
Taken together, the two corporate plans highlight that both regulators are focussing on the Government’s policy agenda of integrity, quality, and sustainability — onshore and offshore. Providers can expect more scrutiny of recruitment practices, third-party delivery and transnational education arrangements, as well as closer alignment with forthcoming legislative changes.
