Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

The question that essentially you're asking, Senator Pratt, is: is it for small higher education providers that a disproportionate share of TEQSA's new cost-recovery arrangement is? Can I clarify that that's what you're asking? The Australian government charging framework requires that all fees and charges be directly linked to the regulatory effort attributable to the activity. The majority of TEQSA's regulatory assessments are done to assist smaller non-university providers that do not yet have authority to self-accredit their courses. The government is extremely mindful of this impact and has adopted several measures to address this, so course accreditation fees will be reduced for all providers with fewer than 5,000 student enrolments—that is, equivalent full-time students—and this will reduce the financial barrier to innovation and new course development.

Progress reported.