9ABRegistration of approved providers by Secretary

9AB Registration of approved providers by Secretary

Registering approved providers (1) The Secretary must register an approved provider if: (a) a designated authority makes a recommendation under section 9AA in relation to the provider; and (b) the provider is: (i) a resident of Australia; or (ii) a Table C provider (within the meaning of the Higher Education Support Act 2003); and (c) the provider has paid the associated initial registration charge; and (d) if the provider is not a registered provider—the provider has paid its first TPS levy (see Subdivision B of Division 2 of Part 5A); and (e) in any case—the designated authority has given the Secretary a certificate in accordance with section 9AH; and (f) the Secretary has no reason to believe that the provider: (i) is not complying, or will not comply, with this Act or the national code; or (ii) does not have the principal purpose of providing education; or (iii) does not have the clearly demonstrated capacity to provide education of a satisfactory standard; or (iv) is unlikely to be able to provide education of a satisfactory standard; and

Note 1: The Secretary must notify the relevant designated authority if the Secretary has reason to believe that any of the matters set out in this paragraph apply: see section 14.

Note 2: For when a higher education provider has the principal purpose of providing education, see section 5A.

(g) if the provider has previously been registered—the provider is not liable for an annual registration charge or late payment penalty that remains unpaid after it became due for payment.

Note: The Secretary must determine that the provider is registered for a specified period: see section 9AC.

(2) The Secretary must not register the provider in any other circumstances. (3) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section creates a duty for the Secretary to seek any information about the matters mentioned. Registering courses and locations (4) At the time the Secretary registers an approved provider under this section, the Secretary must determine: (a) the course or courses that the provider is registered to provide; and (b) the location or locations at which the provider is registered to provide that course or those courses.

Note 1: For when the approved provider becomes registered to provide a course at a location, see subsection 14A(6).

Note 2: Under section 9AG, courses and locations can be added later to a provider’s registration.

Renewing registrations (5) To avoid doubt, the Secretary registers a provider under this section if the Secretary renews the provider’s registration.