To protect the standing of Australian universities nationally and internationally, the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs agreed in March 2000 to a set of National Protocols for Higher Education Approval Processes, which included provision for tighter protection of the title ‘university’:
- in State/Territory business names and associations legislation, and under the Commonwealth Corporations Act 2001; and
- through the establishment, in all Australian jurisdictions, of a legislative framework specifying consistent criteria and procedures by which an institution may use the title ‘university’.
Commonwealth Corporations Act 2001
The word ‘university’ is protected under section 147 of the Act. Under this provision, anyone seeking to register a company name using the term ‘university’ requires the written approval of the Minister for Education, Science and Training. Guidelines for the use of the word ‘university’ in company names 
set out the procedures and the criteria which will normally be applied in considering applications.
Other legislation protecting the term ‘university’
Under the National Protocols, Australian mainland States and Territories are required to have legislation in place to protect the term ‘university’. The Australian Government is responsible for protecting the term in the External Territories, under Chapter 6 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 . To operate or purport to operate as a university without approval carries significant penalties.
Protection of the term ‘university’ in Australian domain names
au Domain Administration Ltd (auDA) is the policy authority and industry self-regulatory body for the .au domain space. It is responsible for developing and implementing domain name policy, including consumer safeguards. auDA, maintains a Reserved List Policy which includes words and phrases that are protected under Commonwealth legislation including the word ‘university’. Under auDA’s policy, anyone seeking to register a domain name including the word ‘university’ or an abbreviation thereof, must apply to the Department of Education, Science and Training for consent.
The Guidelines for use of the word ‘university’ in Australian domain names set out the criteria which will normally be applied in assessing applications. The auDA Reserved List Policy is available on the auDA website at: http://www.auda.org.au/
In 2000 the Commonwealth Parliament passed new legislation for the regulation of the education and training export industry to provide quality assurance, and to protect the overseas students’ investment in studying in Australia. It does this through financial assurance to students and a nationally consistent approach in the registration of providers.
The Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 and the National Code are the two key elements of this legislative protection.
For more information on the ESOS Act 2000
Graduate Destination Survey
A system wide survey of the employment success of students after graduation, known as the Graduate Destination Survey, has been conducted since the 1970s by the Graduate Careers Council of Australia now known as Graduate Careers Australia 
. The Australian Government funds the survey with significant in kind contributions by institutions. The survey is completed by graduates four months after completion of their courses. It provides information on the proportion of graduates in full time employment (including industry, occupation and salary level) and full time study (including level and field) from each institution. The survey provides valuable comparative information to the public and useful benchmarking information to universities themselves to help them assess the success of their graduates in the competitive labour market.
Course Experience Questionnaire and Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire
The Commonwealth also funds the annual undergraduate Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) as well as the newer Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire (PREQ). Both of these student surveys are disseminated by Graduate Careers Australia and are a valuable source of information on student perceptions of their experiences at university.
The CEQ currently covers the following facets of the undergraduate experience:
- teaching;
- goals and standards;
- workload;
- assessment;
- generic skills; and
- overall satisfaction.
Additional scales for the CEQ also measure the broader aspects of student experience in the areas of student support, learning resources, learning community, graduate qualities and intellectual motivation.
The PREQ was developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research in conjunction with the Graduate Careers Australia
and was administered nationally for the first time in 1999. It measures research graduates’ satisfaction with regard to:
- supervision;
- skills development;
- intellectual climate;
- infrastructure;
- thesis examination; and
- goals.
Graduate Skills Assessment
The Graduate Skills Assessment (GSA) has been designed to assess the generic skills of university graduates. This voluntary instrument, funded by the Australian Government and developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research , tests the generic skills of university students, both at point of entry to and exit from university. The components of the test are:
- critical thinking;
- problem solving;
- interpersonal understanding; and
- written communication.
The GSA was piloted in early 2000 with the assistance of universities and was taken in late 2000 for the first time by graduating Australian students. At entry level, the test could be used by institutions to assess areas in which students might need assistance. At exit level the results could be used by institutions to determine entry into graduate courses, and by employers to assess generic skills for employment purposes. The GSA could also be used to measure the value added by institutions for cohorts who take the test at both entry and exit or to compare student profiles between fields of study.
Publications and online resources
The Australian Government publishes a number of resources to encourage the improvement of outcomes within Australian universities and to provide information to the public to improve user choice. In 2000 DETYA funded the development of a benchmarking manual for higher education institutions. The manual provides sixty-seven benchmarks that universities may use to assess themselves against like institutions. The benchmarks cover the spectrum of university activities from teaching and learning to research, finances, internal management and internationalisation. Benchmarking: A manual for Australian universities can be found at http://www.dest.gov.au/archive/highered/otherpub/bench.pdf
The Higher Education Outcome Indicators provides information on outcome indicators on students' progress rates, fulltime employment, fulltime study, graduate starting salaries and course experience questionnaires. These indicators provide a measure of educational achievement and the effectiveness of educational delivery. The student progress rate measures successful student subject load. Some of the outcome indicators have been published on the department’s website as Student outcome indicators of Australian higher education institutions, 2002 and 2003.
Going to Uni is a website designed by the Australian Government in 2005 to help prospective higher education students make informed study choices. The website provides information about the Australian higher education system, including detailed information on providers and the courses they offer, and assistance provided by the Australian Government. As well as assisting prospective students in making decisions regarding their higher education, the student records area will allow continuing higher education students to check their Student Learning Entitlement (SLE) and HECS-HELP, FEE-HELP or OS-HELP balances from the website.
The Study in Australia website is the official Australian Government website for advice on study in Australia. It provides impartial and reliable information about courses, institutions, study and living costs, the application process, visa requirements and more.
A major finding of the review of higher education in 2002, which culminated in the Our Universities: Backing Australia’s Future package, was that although teaching is recognised as a core activity of all higher education institutions, current Commonwealth funding, internal staff promotion practices and institutional prestige tend to reinforce the importance of research performance rather than teaching performance. The Government believes that rewards and incentives for excellence in learning and teaching will promote the overall quality of the sector, enabling excellence in learning and teaching to be placed alongside delivery of research excellence in terms of contribution to Australia’s knowledge systems. The Government has emphasised that there is no intention for any Australian university to become ‘teaching-only’. It is envisaged that an increased focus on learning and teaching will foster diversity and help to ensure the ongoing high quality of the Australian higher education sector.
A Learning and Teaching Performance Fund has been established, with funding of $54.6 million in 2006, increasing to $83.5 million in 2007 and $113.8 in 2008 as part of this renewed focus on teaching quality in Australian universities. The Learning and Teaching Performance Fund will reward those institutions that best demonstrate excellence in learning and teaching.
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Higher Education Support Act 2003
Higher Education Support (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2003 (TCA)
Higher Education Funding Act 1988 (the HEFA Act)
Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (The ESOS Act)
Corporations Law Guideline for the use of the word University
The Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education was announced as part of the Our Universities: Backing Australia’s Future reform package for higher education.
The Institute provides a national focus for the enhancement of learning and teaching in Australian higher education institutions and will be a flagship for acknowledging excellence in learning and teaching.
For more information on the Carrick Institute, visit its website at: http://www.carrickinstitute.edu.au/carrick/go
Prior to 2004, the annual Educational Profiles process – descriptions of a university’s activities provided by the university in a form approved by the Commonwealth Minister – was the main mechanism for ensuring accountability, quality and fairness.
In 2004 a new accountability framework replaced Profiles, based on a more strategic bilateral engagement with each institution, and underpinned by the ‘Institution Assessment Framework’ that clearly articulates the Australian Government’s accountability requirements.
The Institution Assessment Framework (IAF) is founded on the responsibilities of the Australian Government to ensure that the institutions it funds are sustainable and deliver the outputs for which they are funded, that their outcomes are of a high quality and that they comply with their legal obligations. The IAF produces an across-the-board assessment of institutional achievements based on quantitative and qualitative data from universities and external sources. The Australian Government’s assessment of an institution will form the basis of strategic bilateral discussions between the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and an individual institution.
The data for the assessment are in large part drawn from information that is publicly available, or already produced by universities, or already collected routinely from universities.
The Framework has four principal elements:
1. Organisational sustainability
- strategic focus
- risk management
- financial viability
2. Achievements in higher education provision
- teaching/learning
- research and research training
- equity and indigenous access
3. Quality outcomes
- systems and processes
- teaching/learning
- research
- AUQA audit
4. Compliance
- financial acquittal
- national governance protocols
- workplace reform
- programme guidelines and legislation
Detailed bilateral discussions between DEST and individual institutions occur only biennially unless there is a specific need for additional meetings (for example, if concerns arise from the assessment). Discussions on Funding Agreements with each institution for the allocation of Commonwealth supported places will be conducted in the first half of each year through a separate process.
More information can be found by following the link Institution Assessment Framework.