Joint sector alert sends a clear compliance message to Australian higher education and VET providers

There are two national quality-assurance regulators for tertiary education in Australia. TEQSA (Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency) is the regulatory body for Australian higher education while ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) is responsible for the vocational education and training (VET) sector.

There is some overlap between the two in that they jointly regulate institutions that provide programming across higher education and VET, and they share jurisdiction over CRICOS-registered providers (the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students) delivering courses to international students.

All that to say that the interests of the two regulators are naturally aligned in a number of ways. But even so it was still noteworthy when they issued a joint alert to the sector earlier this month with some important cautions regarding onshore student transfers.

The alert essentially represents a warning about how some providers and/or their agents may be handling onshore transfers. The joint message sets out plainly that:

"TEQSA and ASQA are aware of concerns that some advertising by registered providers appears inconsistent with the intent of the ban on the payment of education agent commissions in relation to onshore transfers.

"Both agencies view any attempts by providers or education agents to bypass this restriction as unacceptable and providers who are not adequately managing these risks or not meeting the relevant Standards may be subject to a compliance assessment and/or regulatory action."

The caution speaks directly to a new rule that was introduced in January 2026, and that came into force on 31 March 2026. Under the new rule education agents are no longer permitted to receive commissions from Australian schools and universities when an international student already in Australia (an “onshore student”) transfers from one institution to another without having completed their course with the previous provider.

The rule appears in revisions to the National Code of Practice – formally, the National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students Amendment (Education Agent Commissions) Instrument 2026 – and was part of a package of amendments to the Education Services for Overseas Students Act (ESOS) that were passed in November 2025.

The joint TEQSA-ASQA alert goes on to say that the two regulators have specific concerns in the following areas:

• Recruitment or incentive arrangements that preserve commission-based behaviour (for onshore transfers)
• Practices that encourage and facilitate unnecessary transfers of students from other providers
  Insufficient provider oversight of education agents
• Providers failing to declare their arrangements with third parties facilitating student transfers
• Improper management of data around agent activities and student enrolment, including inaccurate or delayed reporting
• Weak governance, controls, monitoring or recordkeeping practices around recruitment and student enrolment
• Providers with poor risk management practices in respect of accepting higher risk students who have transferred from another provider and do not appear to be academically prepared for their new course.

The alert goes on to outline the expectations that the regulators have for providers with respect to compliance with rules around onshore transfers in particular, and for compliance on the part of the provider and its agents in general.

Further, all providers are advised to review their current practices:

"Providers need to be able to demonstrate, through robust governance oversight, that their arrangements, practices and controls are consistent with the recent changes to the National Code preventing the payment of education agent commissions in relation to onshore overseas student transfers."

In support of this, TEQSA and ASQA expect all providers to undertake a check of their current processes and practices. This may include, but is not limited to:

• Reviewing agreements with education agents and other third parties
• Checking what education agents are promoting in-market
• Reviewing admissions and transfer practices to ensure they do not contravene the ban on onshore transfers
• Demonstrating compliance through clear policies, monitoring, and recordkeeping

The instruction concludes with a more specific caution that, "Providers who are not adequately managing these risks or not meeting the relevant Standards may be subject to a compliance assessment and/or regulatory action."

The joint alert makes it clear otherwise that TEQSA and ASQA already have some basis for concern around onshore transfers and that providers can expect greater scrutiny. Further, having provided this guidance to higher education and VET providers, both regulators are expecting providers to take action but also to anticipate further compliance checks or other interventions going forward.

Regular readers will appreciate that this is not strictly an Australian story. Rather, the direction of travel is clear across markets: providers should expect greater scrutiny of international recruitment and there is a clear expectation on the part of regulators that providers will be proactive in implementing effective quality checks and oversight of their recruitment programmes.

For additional background, please see:

• "Australia introduces new rules restricting agent commissions for onshore student transfers"
• "Narrowing bands of compliance: How the UK’s new RAG system will impact international student recruitment"
• "Who decides about quality? Education agents and the question of increased regulation"