Established early in 2000 following agreement by Australia’s Education Ministers, the Australian Universities Quality Agency 
(AUQA) is responsible for auditing the quality of Australian universities. It also audits those Commonwealth, State and Territory authorities responsible for accrediting universities and higher education courses offered by other providers. Its audit reports are publicly available on the AUQA website.
AUQA is an independent not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, established in the State of Victoria under the Corporation’s law. The company structure provides for each of the MCEETYA Ministers responsible for higher education to be a member of the company, and for the members to appoint a Board, which is responsible for carrying out the activities of the organisation, and for its financial performance and reporting.
The Board has a membership of:
- four persons elected by self-accrediting higher education institutions (largely universities);
- one person elected by non-self-accrediting higher education institutions;
- three persons appointed by the Australian Government;
- three persons appointed by the State and Territory Governments; and
- a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) .
The Chair of the Board is Professor Deryck M Schreuder, formerly vice-chancellor of the University of Western Australia, and the CEO or Executive Director of the AUQA is Dr David Woodhouse. The AUQA is jointly funded by contributions from all jurisdictions, with the Australian Government currently funding 50% of AUQA’s operating overheads. It has a small professional staff and does its work through expert accreditation and review panels.
The AUQA conducts audits of the activities of Australian universities in Australia and off-shore, on a five-year rolling cycle. The audits scrutinise the claims of institutions against their own missions and objectives. The process involves a self-assessment and a site visit. The agency also audits the activities of State/Territory accreditation authorities and their compliance with the National Protocols for Higher Education Approval Processes.