Reminder for CRICOS providers: the new National Code commenced on 1 January 2018
The revised National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018 (the National Code) commenced from 1 January 2018.
The revised National Code seeks to uphold Australia's international reputation for providing high-quality education and training services.
The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) is responsible for monitoring all vocational education and training (VET) and some English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) providers’ compliance with the National Code.
- View the updated National Code in full on the Federal Register of Legislation.
What has changed?
The most significant changes to the National Code for VET and ELICOS providers relate to:
- improving the transparency of written agreements, including agreements between providers and education agents that represent them (Standards 3 and 4)
- protecting the welfare of younger overseas students (Standard 5)
- strengthening the monitoring and reporting of course attendance and progress, thereby supporting students to complete their course within the required timeframe and fulfil their visa requirements (Standard 8)
- informing the regulator of changes to registered course details and/or third-party arrangements (Standard 11).
How these changes affect you as a training provider will depend on whether you are delivering VET or ELICOS courses. The Australian Government Department of Education and Training (DET) has developed two presentations that summarise how the updated National Code will affect VET and ELICOS providers:
- 'What’s new for the ESOS National Code’ presentation for VET providers (slides)
- ‘What’s new for the ESOS National Code’ presentation for ELICOS providers (slides).
Transition arrangements
Applications for registration or renewal of registration that were submitted by providers on or before 31 December 2017 will be assessed under the National Code 2017.
Applications for registration or renewal of registration submitted by providers on or after 1 January 2018 will be assessed under the National Code 2018.
For more information about transition arrangements, please refer to section 5 of the National Code 2018.
More information
DET has published a range of resources on the National Code for providers, including fact sheets on each of the standards that make up the National Code: