Australia’s higher education system is made up of universities and other institutions that offer higher education courses.  Australian universities are self-accrediting institutions with their own establishment legislation and receive vast most of their funding from the Australian Government.  Some non-university institutions offering higher education also have self-accreditation authority, some don’t and are registered, regulated and accredited by the government.  From Science, Technology, Engineering and Math courses, to Arts and Philosophy, to Economics and Law, to Business and Commerce courses, a wide array of courses and disciplines are being offered by Australian higher education providers.  These courses range from Associate degree courses which can be completed in 2 years, to Bachelor degrees which last for 3 years, to Bachelor with Honours degrees (4 years), to Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma courses (6 months and 1 year respectively), to Master degrees (lasting from 1 to 2 years) to Doctoral degrees which can go up to 3 years.     

Australia has 41 universities, plus 2 international universities that have established presence in Australia and 1 private specialty university, plus smaller non-university institutions offering higher education courses.  Recognised authorities on worldwide universities ranking have consistently put Australian universities amongst the top in the world.  Last 2018 was no different, 23 Australian universities were listed amongst the top 500 universities in the world, and 37 Australian universities made it in the top 1000 global world ranking.  That’s 37 out of 41 Australian universities, or 90% of Australian universities amongst the world’s best – easily affirming the world-class status of Australian universities.

The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, or TEQSA, is the national government agency that regulates and assures the quality of Australia’s higher education sector.   It was created by The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (TEQSA Act) that mandates it to:

• provide for national consistency in the regulation of higher education
• regulate higher education using a standards-based quality framework and principles relating to regulatory necessity, risk and proportionality
• protect and enhance Australia’s reputation for, and international competitiveness in higher education, as well as the excellence, diversity and innovation in Australian higher education
• encourage and promote a higher education system that is appropriate to meet Australia’s social and economic needs for a highly educated and skilled population
• protect students undertaking, or proposing to undertake higher education by requiring the provision of quality higher education
• ensure that students have access to information relating to higher education in Australia.

Useful links:

Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching – A website that provides prospective students with relevant and transparent information about Australian higher education institutions from the perspective of recent students and graduates such as their overall satisfaction as well as the percentage of graduates moving into full-time employment and their median salary.