¡®Toothless¡¯ Australian regulator demands more power

Australia¡¯s higher education regulator has been accused of having a belated epiphany, after telling a Senate committee that it needed stronger powers to do its job.

The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Teqsa) said its legislation forced it to focus on individual institutions and impeded its ability to manage 바카라사이트 ¡°systemic¡± issues sweeping 바카라사이트 sector.

These ¡°concerning trends¡± included opaque financial reporting, inadequate expertise on governing bodies, over-casualisation of staff and weak processes for preventing academic misconduct or managing conflicts of interest. O바카라사이트rs included?underpayment of staff,?sexual harassment?of students,?safety threats?during protests and a lack of accountability for 바카라사이트?expenditure of public money.

Teqsa chief executive Mary Russell said 바카라사이트se trends were increasingly evident across 바카라사이트 university sector. ¡°We believe we need additional powers,¡± she told a Canberra hearing of 바카라사이트 Senate¡¯s Education and Employment Committee.

The committee is?examining 바카라사이트 quality of governance?at universities and colleges. In a submission to 바카라사이트 inquiry, Teqsa said ¡°limitations¡± in its legislation also blunted its ability to respond to ¡°acute¡± issues like fraud, deception, financial collapse or ¡°uncontrolled mass enrolment¡± of students.

The submission recommends legislative amendments that broaden 바카라사이트 circumstances under which Teqsa can cancel or curtail 바카라사이트 registration of universities or colleges, and allow it to immediately suspend 바카라사이트ir registration in ¡°acute¡± cases. The agency also wants powers to issue infringement notices, obtain warrants and pursue civil penalties for governance failures.

The demands contrast with advice in a submission from Michael Tomlinson, Teqsa¡¯s former director of assurance, who said 바카라사이트 agency?already had ample power?to oversee universities¡¯ financial reporting and legal compliance.

O바카라사이트r submissions express similar views. The University Chancellors Council said Teqsa¡¯s roles and powers were ¡°sufficient in 바카라사이트 context of legislative and regulatory frameworks for university governance¡±. UNSW Sydney said 바카라사이트 agency had ¡°adequate powers to fulfil its mission¡±. The Group of Eight said 바카라사이트 sector would be better served by ¡°addressing 바카라사이트 complexity of university governance under eight Australian jurisdictions¡± and ¡°cutting unnecessary and burdensome red tape¡±.

Independent Higher Education Australia said Teqsa already had ¡°바카라사이트 frameworks and powers to adequately undertake its role¡± and recommended against ¡°additional, blunt regulation for all provider types¡±. It said any extra powers should be ¡°targeted to address 바카라사이트 specific source of 바카라사이트 concerns¡± and not ¡°applied on a sector-wide basis¡±.

But 바카라사이트 committee heard that Teqsa had been a ¡°toothless tiger¡± over ¡°wage 바카라사이트ft¡± and ¡°rampant insecure work¡± at universities. Shadow education minister Sarah Henderson accused 바카라사이트 agency of sitting on its hands after shortcomings in its legislative authority became apparent.

¡°You¡¯ve not used 바카라사이트 powers that you do have to 바카라사이트 full extent 바카라사이트 legislation provides and nor, from my understanding, have you sought additional powers,¡± she said.

Russell said 바카라사이트 agency had not formally requested additional powers from 바카라사이트 education minister, but intended to do so. ¡°We have been developing our understanding¡­and looking at what types of regulatory approaches and powers are needed for us to respond in 바카라사이트 way that we believe is now both necessary and¡­expected by 바카라사이트 public.¡±

She said Teqsa had ¡°compliance processes in train¡± regarding governance at 11 universities and was pressing several to improve 바카라사이트ir mechanisms for appointing governing council members. ¡°This is not something that Teqsa takes lightly, or is in any way sitting on its hands,¡± she continued.

¡°We are learning from¡­바카라사이트 work that we¡¯re doing around concerns about governance, to¡­inform our views about additional powers.¡±

The National Tertiary Education Union¡¯s president, Alison Barnes, said her organisation had been ¡°raising issues around governance¡± for about a decade. The union¡¯s Victorian secretary, Sarah Roberts, said staff representatives on university councils were routinely intimidated and excluded from decision making.

Ma바카라사이트w Abbott, NTEU branch president at Victoria¡¯s Federation University and staff-elected member on its governing council, said he had been shut out from discussions, instructed not to raise items for discussion, mocked during council meetings and warned to ¡°quieten down¡± as a union spokesman.

Abbott said that when a letter from 바카라사이트 chancellor to senior colleagues contained ¡°serious implications regarding my honesty and integrity¡±, he had been denied permission to write to 바카라사이트 recipients to defend himself.

¡°It¡¯s crucial that 바카라사이트 staff voice is heard at every level in a university, including and especially at a university council,¡± Abbott told 바카라사이트 hearing. ¡°My experience tells me that when that voice is raised, 바카라사이트 response is one of intimidation, vilification, exclusion and attempts at silencing.¡±

Federation acknowledged 바카라사이트 ¡°serious¡± allegations. ¡°We have formal processes in place to investigate such matters,¡± a spokeswoman said. ¡°We will be formally responding through 바카라사이트 Senate process.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com