England¡¯s continued soul-searching over the shape and extent of higher education regulation can be aided by looking to Australia, according to the former head of the country¡¯s university watchdog, which was also accused of overreach in its early years.

As the House of Lords finishes its inquiry into the Office for Students (OfS) ¨C and the actions of the regulator continue to be hotly debated by the sector?¨C a report for the Higher Education Policy Institute by Anthony McClaran, now vice-chancellor of St Mary¡¯s University, Twickenham, backs the need for statutory regulation but says it must not be misused.

¡°In my time leading the main regulator of the tertiary sector in Australia, I saw how effective good statutory regulation can be,¡± said Mr McClaran, who ran the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Teqsa) from 2015 to 2020.

¡°But it took a few years for Australia to reach its current situation, as there were initially concerns about regulatory burden, excessive bureaucracy and problematic communication ¨C all of which we now hear from some in England.¡±

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Mr McClaran¡¯s report, published on 8 June, highlights how, when he took the role, TEQSA was still reeling from a critical government-commissioned review, with its future in doubt.

Kwong Lee Dow, former vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne, and Valerie Braithwaite, emeritus professor of regulatory studies at the Australian National University, had found Teqsa was perpetuating regulatory burden and a ¡°one size fits all approach¡± as a result of?its complex framework, unclear messaging and poor relationship with the sector.

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While in post, Mr McClaran oversaw the implementation of the review¡¯s recommendations including moves to adopt a ¡°genuine¡± risk-based approach, simplifying data requests and adapting the regulatory?framework so it better suited different kinds of providers.

¡°The lessons from Australia include the importance of a risk-based approach, sensible rather than overblown data requests and treating providers as partners rather than merely objects,¡± said Mr McClaran, who is also a former chief executive of the UK's Quality Assurance Agency and admissions service Ucas.

Mr McClaran writes in the report that, when done well, statutory regulation brings several ¡°clear potential advantages¡±: clarity; a sanctions regime; recognition of the public purpose of institutions; accountability to democratic authorities; and protection for students and others.

As the OfS considers its next steps five years on from its inception, he writes that several lessons can be learned from Australia's ¡°early and somewhat traumatic¡± history of statutory regulation.?

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These include the importance of a regulator securing independence through checks and balances, encouraging rigorous challenge of regulatory judgment and recognising the role that a regulator can play in delivering sector-wide responses to the ¡°great thematic challenges¡± of the day.

Nick Hillman, director of Hepi, said English and Australian higher education systems share much in common but the Australian system is often ¡°one step ahead¡±.

¡°This clear report shows the two countries are also tracking each other when it comes to regulation,¡± Mr Hillman said.

¡°The main Australian regulator, Teqsa, was regularly accused of overstretching itself in its first few years ¨C just as England¡¯s Office for Students is often accused of the same. But the situation Down Under has abated and the Australian experience might therefore offer some useful lessons.¡±

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tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com