Elite medical colleges providing postgraduate training in breach of the TEQSA Act called for “legislative change” so they could keep badging courses as diplomas.
However it is an offence under the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Act for a regulated entity which is not registered by TEQSA to offer higher education awards and the regulator accordingly required four medical specialist organisations to stop badging their courses as diplomas or advanced diplomas.
According to a statement from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, in 2022 TEQSA got in touch with specialist medical colleges that offered diploma courses, without being registered as higher education providers.
Other medical training organisations involved, according to RANZCOG, include the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine.
After two years of discussions, with TEQSA and the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, RANZCOG claims the regulator decided in an “extremely short time frame” that the colleges must change course names for future use.
RANZCOG states both TEQSA and the Department rejected a “change in legislation as the most meaningful way to mitigate this issue” and the colleges declined to undertake TEQSA accreditation, “which would be an unfair imposition, particularly to accredit programmes that have an existing and a strong reputation. “
But RANZCOG also points to “significant financial penalties” for continuing to offer diplomas without accreditation. The TEQSA legislation specifies a penalty, now set at $187,000 for “offering a higher education award if unregistered.”
And so RANZCOG proposes to members that the nomenclature for three programmes change to certificate, procedural and advanced procedural. People who have completed the courses can keep referring to the qualifications as diplomas. The college assures current and prospective trainees, that “curriculum and assessment standards remain the same, and our objective continues to be the development of competent and skilled healthcare professionals.”
A RANZCOG representative refused a phone interview and requested questions in writing.
