“The changes proposed by Education Minister Christopher Pyne to streamline TEQSA are consistent with the recommendations of an independent review into university regulation by Professors Kwong Lee Dow and Valerie Braithwaite, commissioned by the previous government,” Universities Australia’s Chief Executive Belinda Robinson said.

“While there may be some technical aspect to be considered, the fact that all parts of the higher education sector have expressed broad support for the reforms should provide the Committee with a degree of reassurance on the merits of the amendments.

“Universities Australia respects the role of the Committee in providing appropriate scrutiny of legislation and looks forward to fully cooperating as part of the process but would not want to see the implementation of these reforms delayed unnecessarily.

“Universities are looking forward to new streamlined arrangements for regulation under TEQSA to be delivered as soon as possible,” Ms Robinson said.