Managing risk in the non self-accrediting - higher education provider (NSA-HEP) sector

There are two intertwined themes in this paper. The first theme, the management of risk in NSA-HEPs, is grounded in the AUQA reports to March 2011. The second theme reflects the policy settings that frame an approach to risk management. The draft TEQSA bill affirms the primacy of a risk-based approach to higher education regulation. Clear conceptualisation of risk is a pre- requisite to any consequent discussion relating to a new TEQSA framework for risk assessment.The AUQA approach to academic risk is grounded in the Australia/New Zealand standard on risk management. However, the audit reports of NSA-HEPs refer only minimally to academic risk, and more extensively to operational and management risks, including the requirement for risk management itself. In the new regulatory environment, there will need to be an increased focus on compliance risks and the reputational risks which may affect not only an individual institution but also Australia’s higher education system as a whole.