Legislation and policy
National Student Ombudsman Legislation
The establishment of the NSO is a recommendation of the Australian Universities Accord Final Report.
The NSO also forms part of the Action Plan to address gender-based violence in higher education.
Legislation was passed on 28 November 2024 establishing the National Student Ombudsman (NSO) under Part IIF of the Ombudsman Act 1976 (Ombudsman Act).
The NSO handles complaints from or on behalf of former, current or prospective higher education students about the actions of their higher education provider.
Our Jurisdiction
Under the Ombudsman Act, the NSO can deal with complaints about higher education providers that are registered with the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), which does not include Vocational Education and Training (VET) level providers.
TEQSA are responsible for regulating and assuring the quality of all providers of higher education in Australia.
The Australian higher education sector includes public and private universities, Australian branches of overseas universities, university colleges and institutes of higher education.
Higher education providers offer qualifications ranging from undergraduate awards (bachelor degrees, associate degrees and advanced diplomas) to postgraduate awards (graduate certificates and diplomas, masters and doctoral degrees). You can check if your provider is registered with TEQSA by searching the national register.
The Ombudsman Act empowers the NSO to deal with complaints about a higher education provider’s action.
This is done by referring the complaint to the provider for investigation, using alternative dispute resolution or restorative engagement processes, or investigating. Following an investigation, the National Student Ombudsman can provide a report with in-depth recommendations.
The NSO can also investigate higher education providers’ actions on the NSO’s own initiative (i.e. not in response to a specific complaint) and offer providers advice and training on handling complaints.
However, under the Ombudsman Act the NSO cannot deal with complaints about, or investigate, certain ‘excluded actions’ including actions relating to employment, to appointment of a person to an office of a provider, actions relating to VET level courses, or actions involving the exercise of academic judgement.
Further information about the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s other jurisdictions is available on the Commonwealth Ombudsman website.