If you’re a private VET provider who has been preparing to enter the CRICOS market or hoping to add a new training product to your CRICOS scope, you may have been alarmed to find that there is now a 12 month suspension in effect. The sudden news came into operation the day after its announcement. This is consistent with the Department of Education’s measures and messaging, which seek to “weed out” bad faith providers and “crack down” on the quality and integrity of contributors to the international education space in Australia. As this period of quality control commences, here is what VET stakeholders should be aware of and should promptly reinforce.
What is the scope of the suspension?
The suspension was imposed by a legal instrument called the “Education Services for Overseas Students (Suspension of Applications for Registration to the National VET Regulator) Determination 2026”i, which was announced on 18 May 2026, and will be in effect from 19 May 2026 – 19 May 2027 (inclusive). It applies to applications:
- to enter the CRICOS and/or ELICOS market as a private provider; and
- (for existing CRICOS private providers) to add courses, including ELICOS courses, to your current scope of delivery.
The ability to apply for the addition of a:
- Location for a course the provider is already registered on CRICOS to deliver; and
- A course identified as superseded (non-equivalent) on the National Register (www.training.gov.au), where the provider is already registered to deliver the superseded (non-equivalent) course
is not affected by the suspension. The suspension does not however have effect on public VET providers such as:
- government schools;
- VET providers that are owned or controlled (whether directly or indirectly) by a State or Territory; and
- the providers (mostly universities) identified as Table A providers in section 16-15 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003ii.
What does this mean for providers who intended to apply for CRICOS registration?
If you were not able to submit your application in the few hours between the announcement of the suspension and the date of its effect, you are not alone.
In terms of the application, though it is not able to be formally submitted until 20 May 2027, 12 months will feel like a brief period of time, when you are busy running compliant domestic VET operations. Try not to allow your CRICOS application to go untouched. Review the components of your CRICOS application to ensure that the systems your documents promote, are capable of withstanding significant scrutiny. In particularly, ensure that your RTO’s:
- Financial Viability Risk Assessment (FVRA) Tool should be completed in full and you should maintain documentation to evidence and justify forecast figures;
- Business Plan has sufficient detail of your intended operations as well as the direction your RTO intends to develop toward in the foreseeable future;
- executive and leadership team has given due consideration to who might fall within the definition of a “governing person” in your RTO’s structure and interactions – and that understanding is reflected in your RTO’s governance policies and procedures and consistently applied in the RTO;
- Fit and Proper Person Declarations have been completed by all governing persons;
- Organisational Structure have consistent role titles that align with their relevant responsibilities in policies and procedures, including Succession Plans;
- Job Descriptions have sufficient detail for staff to understand their roles and responsibilities;
- Job Descriptions have sufficient detail to evidence the benchmarks against which governing persons, when hired, are considered “suitable person”;
- Risk Management framework appropriately identifies all relevant risks that relate to your RTO’s nature of operations and mitigative measures;
- Understanding of its validation obligations is comprehensive and logically represented in its Validation Schedule;
- PD approach involves planned and intentional learning for all staff, including governing persons, and not just trainers and assessors;
- Stakeholder Engagement is representative of all the necessary groups identified for input, including industry, employers and community representatives; and
- Third Party Agreements contain all the necessary terms contained in the Compliance Standards 2025 (if applicable)
Continue making necessary updates to the documents as course and industry requirements change. Solidify your organisation’s understanding and implementation of the Standards for RTOs 2025, and ensure that your staff, and particularly governing persons, have gained sufficient understanding of the National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018 (National Code 2018)iii and are ready to implement accordingly once the suspension has ceased.
What does this mean for existing CRICOS providers?
As an existing CRICOS provider, you already contribute to one of Australia’s top five exports, in terms of goods and servicesiv. International students are already charged higher fees than domestic students and restricted in their ability to work outside of study. It is an expensive exercise to undertake, therefore it is the responsibility of VET providers to ensure that:
- quality training and assessment is provided to the standard associated with the Australian education system;
- the students deemed qualified, are able to contribute to the Australian workforce long term; and
- student fees are used to provide appropriate support and resources;
among other responsibilities.
With the suspension in place, ASQA, as the relevant ESOS Authority, can allocate more time and resources to the different categories of audit activities they will conduct with existing CRICOS providers. Be as prepared for these audit activities as you can. Knowing that you are a good faith provider is not always synonymous with being a compliant provider.
- Review your policies, procedures and systems against the:
- National Code 2018;
- Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act)v;
- Standards for RTOs 2025 (inclusive of the Outcome Standardsvi and Compliance Standardsvii); and
- ELICOS Standards 2018viii, if applicable.
- If your RTO uses education agents in its recruitment practices, ensure that your monitoring practices are up to date, and that appropriate actions are being taken where education agents, or third parties in general may not be upholding their responsibilities in ensuring quality outcomes, particularly for the student.
- Make necessary updates against your internal knowledge. Commission an internal audit of your organisation – this may be by an external consultant.
- Apply all necessary recommendations and ensure that your compliance person or team is suitably resourced.
Your RTO may feel too busy with day-to-day running of operations to take on internal audits and reviews; however, it will be patting itself on the back for being proactive should an ASQA audit activity rear its head.
Additional Factors to be Aware of
- Market Entry Applications
Though the suspension only applies to new CRICOS applications, it is necessary to note that all RTOs must first enter and operate in the domestic market before seeking to offer CRICOS (see section 11(2) of the ESOS Act). With CRICOS applications temporarily suspended, ASQA auditors can not only conduct more thorough audit activities among current CRICOS providers, but they can also apply due scrutiny to domestic market entry applications. Therefore, organisations that are applying for market entry need to also be prepared to evidence and support all intentions being presented to ASQA. Understand the relevant legislation and requirements, and be satisfied with the details and compliance of the application you are putting forward. Engage the appropriate professional assistance in a timely manner, and be prepared and willing to defend your organisation’s decisions.
- Education Agents
Though this suspension may seem like a targeted play against private VET providers, it must also be recognised that there are players, specifically education agents, who sit outside of the regulatory reach of ASQA, therefore the only manner to “regulate” such players, is to restrict the means by which they access the VET industry. Recent legislative changes established a ban on commissions for unnecessary onshore student transfers, as mainly education agents were profiting from students not completing qualifications. The changes also now allow for the government to be better aware of the range of commissions education agents are charging CRICOS providers.
Conclusion
VET is still in business of delivering quality outcomes and still in the business of doing so compliantly. For existing providers, the suspension is largely business as usual — with some limits on expansion. For intending providers, the next 12 months are an opportunity to get ready, not to sit still. The providers who come out of this pause in the strongest position will be the ones who used the time to build genuinely robust organisations.
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Because ultimately, our goal is simple:
to help VET professionals stress less about compliance.
For more information, visit:
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Disclaimer
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial or regulatory advice. Providers should seek independent professional advice relevant to their individual circumstances before implementing governance, ownership or structural changes.