The Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) is an independent, not-for-profit national agency that promotes, audits, and reports on quality assurance in Australian higher education.

AUQA was formally established by the Ministerial Council on Education, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) in March 2000. It operates independently of governments and the higher education sector under the direction of a Board of Directors. AUQA is owned by and receives core, operational funding from the Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers for higher education who are members of MCEETYA.  The AUQA Constitution is available for download.

AUQA’s Mission

AUQA is the principal national quality assurance agency in higher education with the responsibility of providing public assurance of the quality of Australia’s universities and other institutions of higher education, and assisting in enhancing the academic quality of these institutions.

AUQA’s Objectives

AUQA is established to be the principal national quality assurance agency in higher education, with responsibility for quality audits of higher education institutions and accreditation authorities, reporting on performance and outcomes, assisting in quality enhancement, advising on quality assurance; and liaising internationally with quality agencies in other jurisdictions, for the benefit of Australian higher education.

Specifically, the objectives of AUQA are as follows:

1. Arrange and manage a system of periodic audits of:
   • the quality of the academic activities, including attainment of standards of performance and outcomes of Australian universities and other higher education institutions;
   • the quality assurance arrangements intended to maintain and elevate that quality;
   • compliance with criteria set out in the National Protocols for Higher Education Approval Processes;
   and monitor, review, analyse and provide public reports on the quality of outcomes in Australian universities and higher education institutions.
2. Arrange and manage a system of periodic audits of the quality assurance processes, procedures, and outcomes of State, Territory and Commonwealth higher education accreditation authorities including their impact on the quality of higher education programs; and monitor, review, analyse and report on the outcomes of those audits.
3. Publicly report periodically on matters relating to quality assurance, including the relative standards and outcomes of the Australian higher education system and its institutions, its processes and its international standing, and the impact of the National Protocols for Higher Education Approval Processes on Australian Higher Education, using information available to AUQA from its audits and other activities carried out under these Objectives, and from other sources.
4. Develop partnerships with other quality agencies in relation to matters directly relating to quality assurance and audit, to facilitate efficient cross-border quality assurance processes and the international transfer of knowledge about those processes.

AUQA’s Vision

To consolidate AUQA’s position as the leading reference point for quality assurance in higher education in and for Australia.  Specifically:

• AUQA’s judgements will be widely recognised as objective, accurate and useful, based on its effective procedures, including auditor training and thorough investigation.
• AUQA’s work will be recognised by institutions and accrediting agencies as adding value to their activities, through the emphasis on autonomy, diversity and self-review.
• Through AUQA’s work, there will be an improvement in public knowledge of the relative academic standards of Australian higher education and an increase in public confidence in Australian higher education.
• Through AUQA’s work with other quality assurance agencies, the international quality assurance requirements for Australian higher education institutions will be coherent and rigorous, avoiding duplication and inconsistency. 
• AUQA’s advice will be sought on quality assurance in higher education, through mechanisms including consulting, training and publications.
• AUQA will be recognised among its international peers as a leading quality assurance agency, collaborating with other agencies and providing leadership by example.

AUQA’s Values

External: how we relate to other people and organisations.
AUQA will be:

• Rigorous: AUQA carries out all its audits as rigorously and thoroughly as possible.
• Supportive: AUQA recognises institutional autonomy in setting objectives and implementing processes to achieve them, and acts to facilitate and support this.
• Flexible: AUQA operates flexibly, in order to acknowledge and reinforce institutional diversity, and is responsive to institution and agency characteristics and needs.
• Co-operative: AUQA recognises that the achievement of quality in any organisation depends on a commitment to quality within the organisation itself, and so operates as unobtrusively as is consistent with effectiveness and rigour.
• Collaborative: as a quality assurance agency, AUQA works collaboratively with the accrediting agencies (in addition to its audit role with respect to these agencies).
• Transparent: AUQA’s audit procedures, and its own quality assurance system, are open to public scrutiny.
• Economical: AUQA operates cost-effectively and keeps as low as possible the demands it places on institutions and agencies.
• Open: AUQA reports publicly and clearly on its findings in relation to institutions, agencies and the sector.

Internal: how we behave as an organisation.
Staff are:

• mutually supportive
• committed to higher education and its quality
• thorough in what we do
• economical in the way we operate
• internationally oriented and aware
• constantly alert for and act on possibilities for improvement.

In summary:

• the Mission says what AUQA is
• the Objectives specify what AUQA does
• the Vision sets out how well to do it
• the Values are how to behave while doing it, and
• the KPIs measure how well we do it.

To see a read-only PowerPoint presentation about AUQA, click here. 
(You must have PowerPoint XP to view this file).

To download a copy of the AUQA Strategic Plan 2007–2012 click here.