Contents > 1. Overview of Sector > 1.3 Quality

1.3 Quality

• Quality assurance framework
  • The Australian Qualifications Framework
  • The Australian Universities Quality Agency
  • Protection of term ‘university’
  • Graduate Skills Assessment
• Australian Universities Teaching Committee

Quality assurance framework

The quality assurance framework for higher education in Australia encompasses the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) and the varied roles of universities, State and Territory governments, the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) and the Commonwealth Government.

Australian universities are established under legislation with the authority to accredit their own programmes. They have primary responsibility for their own academic standards and quality assurance processes. The capacity to responsibly exercise this authority is among the criteria for recognition as a university in Australia.

Australian State and Territory governments have a number of responsibilities in respect of quality assurance in higher education, including the recognition of new universities, the operation of overseas higher education institutions in Australia, the accreditation of higher education courses offered by non self-accrediting providers and monitoring the delivery arrangements of higher education institutions where they involve other organisations. The National Protocols for Higher Education Approval Processes were endorsed by the Ministerial Council for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) in 2000 to ensure consistent quality assurance criteria and standards across Australia. The Australian States and mainland Territories agreed to the adoption of the Protocols and are currently amending their legislation to incorporate them.

The Commonwealth Government substantially funds universities, monitors and publishes performance data and provides the sector with a range of tools and incentives to enhance the quality of outcomes. Each year, universities in receipt of Commonwealth funding must submit an educational profile which outlines an institution’s strategies to achieve outcomes in a variety of key areas. As part of this process institutions are required to submit a Quality Assurance and Improvement Plan, an Indigenous Education and Equity Plan and, from 2002, a Research and Research Training Management Report. These are published by the Commonwealth.

Quality assurance in the Australian higher education sector is also supported by the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) and the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA). The AQF provides for agreed national guidelines for qualifications in schools, vocational education and higher education and maintains a public register of MCEETYA endorsed post-compulsory education providers and accreditation authorities. The AUQA is a new, independent national body that will monitor, audit and report on quality assurance in Australian higher education. The AUQA will commence its audits in 2002.

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The Australian Qualifications Framework

MCEETYA established the AQF in 1995. The AQF has two main roles:

• to provide for national articulation of awards offered in the Australian vocational education and training and higher education sectors (see figure 1.11); and

• to maintain a public register of self-accrediting higher education institutions, and accredited higher education courses of non-self-accrediting providers.

All universities that have been recognised or established by a MCEETYA Minister are listed on the AQF. Listing on the AQF Register indicates that MCEETYA vouches for the quality of the institution. State and Territory government accreditation authorities accredit higher education courses delivered by approved non self-accrediting providers, and these are listed on the AQF Register. More information on the AQF, including its public registers, can be found on the Internet at www.aqf.edu.au.

Figure 1.11: The Australian Qualifications Framework

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The Australian Universities Quality Agency

The Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) was established by MCEETYA in March 2000 to audit teaching, research and administration in Australian universities on a five-yearly cycle. The AUQA will also audit the processes of State and Territory higher education accreditation authorities.

The AUQA is responsible for:

• conducting quality audits of self-accrediting institutions and State and Territory accreditation authorities;

• publishing reports revealing the outcomes of these audits;

• reporting on the criteria for the accreditation of new universities and non-university higher education awards, as a result of information obtained during the audits of institutions and State and Territory accreditation processes; and

• reporting on the relative standards and international standing of the Australian higher education system and its quality assurance processes, as a result of information obtained during the audit process.

Audits of self-accrediting universities will assess the adequacy of the institution’s quality assurance processes in the areas of teaching, learning, research and management. The audits will investigate the extent to which institutions and agencies are achieving their missions and objectives. This will include assessment of the appropriateness and effectiveness of their quality assurance policies and processes. The AUQA audits will take into account universities’ international activities, commercial partnerships, franchising arrangements, academic standards and grievance procedures. They will also provide useful feedback to universities on the effectiveness of their quality assurance processes.

Audits of the State and Territory higher education accreditation authorities will pay particular attention to recognition and accreditation processes, the consistency of these processes with the National Protocols for Higher Education Approval Processes, and the consistency of their recognition and accreditation processes with other States and Territories.

The AUQA conducted three trial audits during 2001. These were at The University of New South Wales, Northern Territory University and the Queensland Office of Higher Education. They assisted in refining a draft audit manual and training auditors.

The first round of audits will commence in 2002 at the following institutions:

• The University of Adelaide;

• Australian Catholic University;

• Australian Maritime College;

• Ballarat University;

• Curtin University of Technology;

• Macquarie University;

• The University of Newcastle;

• Swinburne University of Technology; and

• University of Southern Queensland.

The Victorian accreditation authority, the Office of Higher Education, will also be audited.

AUQA audits will be based upon an initial self-assessment by the institution or agency, followed by a site visit by the audit panel. Universities and agencies will be asked to indicate how they intend to address the recommendations made in the audit report and will be expected to report on their progress at a later stage. Should an institution or agency receive a negative audit report, it is the responsibility of the governing body or relevant Department and Minister to determine appropriate action. In the unlikely event of failure to respond appropriately to negative reports, the Commonwealth may impose funding sanctions or the relevant State or Territory governments may take regulatory action.

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Protection of term ‘university’

The term ‘university’ is protected by legislation in Australia. The National Protocols specify that the title ‘university’ be protected in two ways:

• in business names/associations legislation, and under Commonwealth Corporations Law; and

• by establishment in all Australian jurisdictions of a legislative framework specifying consistent criteria and procedures by which an institution may use the title ‘university’.

On 15 October 2001, a regulation made under the Corporations Act 2001 transferred responsibility for the approval of the use of the word ‘university’ from the Minister for Financial Services and Regulation to the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs. With the November 10 machinery of Government changes this now means all applications by bodies wishing to trade under a title that includes the word ‘university’ will require prior assessment and approval from the Minister for Education, Science and Training.

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Graduate Skills Assessment

In 1999, the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) was commissioned by the Commonwealth to produce a test of generic skills that could be assessed at university entry and exit level.

Following consultation with university representatives and other stakeholders, the following areas were selected as the components of the initial test:

• critical thinking;

• problem solving;

• interpersonal understandings; and

• written communication.

The first three parts are assessed with a two-hour multiple-choice test. The writing test is sixty-five minutes long.

Administration, data collection, marking, data analysis and reporting routines have been developed and are being refined as part of phase two of development of the Graduate Skills Assessment (GSA). Twenty new items for each of the three multiple-choice components will be trial tested in each of the entry and exit tests, over the next three years until 2004. Eight new writing tasks will also be developed each year. The test is available nationally for cohorts of commencing students and graduating students but can also be administered, on request, for smaller scale use outside this annual cycle.

ACER is currently conducting a validity study on the GSA instrument. This was due for completion around March 2002. Further development of the test will take these findings into account.

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Australian Universities Teaching Committee

The Australian Universities Teaching Committee (AUTC) was formed in 2000 to carry on the work of its predecessor bodies, the Committee for Advancement of University Teaching (CAUT) and the Committee for University Teaching and Staff Development (CUTSD) in promoting quality and excellence in university teaching and learning. The strategic focus of the AUTC is mainly on large collaborative projects that will enhance teaching and learning across the university sector. The AUTC has nine projects currently in commission. Further details of current AUTC projects can be found at www.autc.gov.au. 

In addition to promoting teaching and learning improvement through its projects, the AUTC continues to support a visiting scholar programme, to sponsor the National Teaching Forum and to administer the Australian Awards for University Teaching.

In 2001, the AUTC Visiting Scholar was Dr Gary Poole. Dr Poole is the Director of the Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth, University of British Columbia and President of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Dr Poole’s programme of lectures in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Canberra was a worthy continuation of the efforts of the inaugural AUTC Visiting Scholar, Professor Alison Wolf, in 2000.

The fifth National Teaching Forum was held in Canberra on 3–4 December 2001. The theme of the 2001 Forum was ‘Disseminating Best Practice’. Participants had the opportunity to hear from the leaders of current AUTC projects as well as the finalists of the 2001 Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT).

The AAUT awards were established in 1997 by the Commonwealth Government and continue to celebrate and reward excellence in university teaching. Tables 1.8 and 1.9 list the individual and institutional winners of the 2001 awards, announced at a ceremony at Parliament House on 4 December 2001.

Table 1.8: Australian Awards for University Teaching, individual awards, 2001

Table 1.9: Australian Awards for University Teaching, institutional awards, 2001

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