To offer higher education in Queensland, the provider must be established or recognised by legislation as a university, have the higher education course accredited by the Minister for Education, or be authorised by the Minister to operate in Queensland. In each case, the process involves an independent review of the institution and its proposed higher education courses to assure the public and the higher education community that they meet or exceed the stated criteria of educational quality and are equivalent in standard to the higher education offered by existing providers.
Most higher education in the State is delivered by universities, which are authorised by individual university legislation to be the accrediting authority for the higher education awards that they confer. A number of non-university providers and overseas institutions are also authorised by the State to offer higher education courses and confer higher education awards in Queensland.
The Minister for Education and Minister for the Arts, the Honourable Rod Welford MP, is responsible for protecting the use of the term 'university' and for recommending to the Queensland Parliament, bodies to be authorised to operate in the State as universities. The Minister is also responsible for authorising the operation of overseas higher education institutions in Queensland, for protecting the use of higher education award titles and for accrediting higher education courses offered by providers other than universities.
The Queensland Office of Higher Education manages the executive support to assist the Minister in the role of approving authority. For further information about the approval process, contact:
Helen Lawrance - Manager Accreditation
Tel: +61 7 3237 1172
Fax: +61 7 3237 1444
Email: helen.lawrance@deta.qld.gov.auChantelle Smalbil - Senior Policy Officer (Accreditation)
Tel: +61 7 3237 0717
Fax: +61 7 3237 1444
Email: chantelle.smalbil@deta.qld.gov.auElissa Greer - Senior Policy Officer (Accreditation)
Tel:+61 7 3237 0127
Fax: +61 7 3237 1444
Email: elissa.greer@deta.qld.gov.auJustine O'Regan - Policy Officer (Accreditation)
Tel:+61 7 3237 0392
Fax: +61 7 3237 1444
Email: justine.oregan@deta.qld.gov.auCatherine McTavish - Senior Policy Officer
Tel:+61 7 3237 0310
Fax: +61 7 3237 1444
Email: catherine.mctavish@deta.qld.gov.au
The Higher Education (General Provisions) Act 2003 and Regulation 2004 set out the Minister's approval responsibilities.
Copies of the Act and Regulation may be obtained from the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel. A copy of the Act and Regulation may also be obtained by contacting the Office of Higher Education.
The legislation contains significant penalties for using the term 'university' and protected higher education award titles without the Minister's authorisation.
Approval processes are based on the principle of assurance of academic quality through independent peer review. Leading academics, practitioners and industry professionals, meeting as a course/university assessment panel, participate in an evaluation of a proposed university or higher education course in order to make a recommendation to the Minister about approval.
This process provides assurance to the public that higher education awards in Queensland are consistent with national standards.
Fees are payable for higher education approval processes under the legislation and are detailed in the Regulation. Fees are set to recover partial costs of approval processes.
For applications for accreditation of courses offered by non-university providers, and approval for overseas higher education institutions to operate in Queensland, there is an application which must accompany the application. In addition, there is an examination fee per course, payable when the assessment process commences. The amount of this fee varies, depending on the level of the course proposed, and the type of application.
Please refer to the Higher Education (General Provisions) Regulation 2004. 
A person who is aggrieved by a decision of the Minister in relation to a higher education approval matter may appeal against the decision to a District Court Judge.
All States and Territories of Australia have developed criteria and procedures on which higher education approval processes are based. These are in accordance with National Protocols for Higher Education Approval Processes, which are designed to ensure consistent criteria and standards for higher education approval processes across Australia. The National Protocols are a key element in the national quality framework for higher education.
A copy of the National Protocols for Higher Education Approval Processes may be obtained from the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training's Higher Education Quality web site.
Another key element of the national quality assurance framework for higher education is the Australian Universities Quality Agency , which has the primary role of carrying out quality audits of Australian universities and State accreditation agencies.
In 2001, the Agency carried out an audit of the accredition functions of the Queensland Office of Higher Education. The audit was a trial for the Agency to test its processes and procedures. The audit process was rigorous nonetheless, and produced a report, Report of an Audit of the Accreditation Function of the Queensland Office of Higher Education (new window) 154k 
, containing a series of commendations and recommendations.
The Office has undergone a scheduled audit by AUQA in 2005. The Report of an Audit of Queensland Department of Education and the Arts Higher Education Approvals Function (new window) 179k has now been published. As a result of the audit the Queensland Office of Higher Education submitted a Progress Report (new window) 65k 
to AUQA in October 2007 in response to the recommendations and affirmations from the audit.
The Higher Education Approvals and Policy Team periodically distributes an information bulletin to keep higher education providers updated on relevant initiatives, changes and general issues affecting the higher education sector. The most recent bulletins can be found below:
Bulletin - May 2008 (new window) 56k
Bulletin - November 2007 (new window) 53k
Bulletin - September 2007 (new window) 62k
Bulletin - March 2006 (new window) 57k
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© The State of Queensland (Department of Education, Training and the Arts) 2001.