Australia

Supporting quality and transparency in international student recruitment

Australia’s international education sector operates within a well-established regulatory environment that places clear responsibility on education providers for the conduct of their education agents.

Institutions recruiting international students are expected to maintain oversight of their agent relationships, supported by written agreements, ongoing review, and proportionate action where standards are not met. These expectations are set out through Australia’s international education framework, including the ESOS Act and the National Code requirements that apply to CRICOS-registered providers, with a focus on provider accountability, transparency of information, and student protection.

ICEF supports institutions working in Australia by providing structured reference points, verification, and professional capability-building that institutions can use within their own governance and agent management processes.

Institutional responsibility in the Australian context

Australia does not regulate education agents directly. Responsibility for agent oversight rests with registered education providers.

Institutions are expected to:

  • enter into formal agreements with education agents,
  • monitor agent conduct and performance,
  • ensure accurate representation of courses and providers, and
  • take appropriate action where concerns arise.

ICEF does not replace these responsibilities. Its role is to support institutions by providing structured inputs that strengthen visibility, documentation, and consistency across agent relationships.

How ICEF supports institutions in Australia

ICEF’s Quality & Standards activities are used by institutions as part of their internal governance and partner engagement approaches.

This support includes:

  • structured verification of education agency identity and ownership, and access to reference frameworks that institutions may use in their own agent review processes, through ICEF Agency Status (IAS),
  • professional training for education counsellors through the Australia Education Agent Training Course (AEATC),
  • tools that allow institutions to organise training delivery and retain time-stamped records of completion by counsellor, agency, and branch, such as Train Your Agents, and
  • structured consideration of publicly available information, including reputational indicators and public enforcement or sanctions-related disclosures, that institutions may factor into their own review processes, supported by ICEF Due Diligent.

In the Australian context, institutions commonly require agencies to confirm that counsellors involved in recruitment have successfully completed recognised training such as the AEATC. ICEF’s role is to support clearer attribution and evidencing of training participation where institutions choose to document this more explicitly.

All outputs are designed for institutional use and human review, supporting informed decision-making by institutions.

Supporting oversight without duplication

Australian institutions already operate within defined national requirements. ICEF’s role is not to duplicate regulatory processes, but to provide consistent reference points and evidence that institutions can draw on when managing agent relationships across multiple jurisdictions.

This approach is particularly valuable where institutions work with large agency networks, multi-branch organisations, or partners operating across borders.



A global framework, applied locally

ICEF’s Quality & Standards activities are used globally, including in jurisdictions with established regulatory expectations such as Australia.

By combining long-standing sector experience with structured systems and global reach, ICEF supports Australian institutions in maintaining clarity, consistency, and confidence in their international recruitment partnerships.



Explore ICEF Quality & Standards tools