Must an Australian provider report a default to the TPS and regulator — and in how many days (2026)?
Yes — seven days. Under the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act), a registered provider that defaults must give a notice to both the TPS Director and its ESOS agency within 7 days after the end of the provider obligation period; the same 7-day deadline applies when a student defaults and the provider owes a refund under section 47E. The requirement is set out in sections 46F and 47H of the Act, as published on the Federal Register of Legislation page for the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000, as at September 2026. This article is general information about how the rule reads, not personalised advice about anyone's enrolment or refund, and the operative text plus any later legislative instrument should be treated as the final word.
Who has to report, and to whom?
Two separate bodies receive the same notice. The provider must give a notice to its ESOS agency — the regulator responsible for the provider — and to the TPS Director, who administers the Tuition Protection Service. The Act frames this as a single notice given in accordance with the section, not two different reports.
The obligation bites on a registered provider: one on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS). The trigger is a default "in relation to one or more overseas students or intending overseas students and a course at a location", so a single affected student is enough to start the obligation, and the notice can cover several students at once.
When exactly does the 7-day clock start?
The clock does not start on the day the provider closes, stops teaching, or learns about a problem. It starts from the end of the provider obligation period — the window in which the provider is meant to discharge its obligations to affected students by placing them in alternative courses or refunding them. Once that period ends, the provider has 7 days to report what actually happened.
The practical consequence is that the report is a report on outcomes, not on intentions. A provider cannot satisfy the section by describing what it plans to do; the notice has to state what was done.
What must the notice contain when the provider defaults?
Section 46F(3) lists the required contents. The notice must include:
- whether the provider discharged its obligations to the students in accordance with section 46D;
- if the provider arranged alternative courses:
- details of the students it arranged alternative courses for;
- details of the courses arranged; and
- evidence of each student's acceptance of an offer of a place in an alternative course;
- if the provider provided refunds:
- details of the students it provided refunds to; and
- details of the amounts of the refunds provided.
Three of these points matter more than they first appear. The first is a yes/no statement about whether obligations were met at all — a provider has to say so, rather than stay silent. The second is that the "alternative course" branch is not satisfied by listing courses: the Act requires evidence of each student's acceptance, meaning an offer that was made but never taken up does not complete the picture. The third is that refund reporting is itemised by student and by amount, not reported as a single total.
What must the notice contain when a student defaults and a refund is due?
Section 47H applies to a different situation: the student defaults in relation to a course, and the provider is required to provide a refund under section 47E. Both conditions must be present before the reporting duty arises.
The contents are narrower than under section 46F:
- whether the provider provided a refund under section 47E;
- details of the student the provider provided the refund to; and
- details of the amount of the refund provided.
There is no alternative-course branch here, because student default is not a provider-failure scenario. The notice instead functions as a record that the refund obligation was either met or not met, and for whom.
How do the two reporting triggers differ?
| Provider default (s 46F) | Student default with refund due (s 47H) | |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | Provider defaults in relation to students and a course at a location | Student defaults and a refund is required under s 47E |
| Recipients | ESOS agency + TPS Director | ESOS agency + TPS Director |
| Deadline | Within 7 days after end of provider obligation period | Within 7 days after end of provider obligation period |
| What must be stated | Whether s 46D obligations were discharged; alternative-course details and evidence of acceptance; refund details and amounts | Whether the s 47E refund was provided; student details; refund amount |
The deadline is the same in both columns. Only the trigger and the contents differ.
Can the government add further requirements?
Yes. Both sections say the notice must comply with any requirements of a legislative instrument made under subsection (5), and both subsections (5) allow the Minister to specify, by legislative instrument, requirements for a notice given under the section. In other words, the list in the Act is a floor, not a ceiling — the prescribed form or additional content requirements can change without the Act itself changing, so the current legislative instrument and the official text should be checked together.
What happens if the provider does not report?
A note under each section states that if a registered provider breaches the section, the ESOS agency for the provider may take action under Division 1 of Part 6 against the provider. The Act expresses this as a power of the agency rather than an automatic penalty, and the section itself does not set out what that action will be.
Which bodies are meant to hold the record of this report?
Because the notice goes to the provider's ESOS agency and to the TPS Director, those two bodies are the ones whose records are meant to show whether a report was made and what it said. The ESOS agency is the regulator side; the TPS Director is the tuition-protection side. A student who wants to understand whether their placement or refund was properly recorded is looking for a report lodged with both — not with only one of them.
One caveat worth keeping in mind: the Act requires the provider to send the notice, but the sections here do not create a separate duty for either body to notify the individual student, and the wording does not guarantee that a student receives a copy. The report is a regulatory record first.
A note on assumptions and hypotheticals
Suppose a provider stops delivering a course and, during its obligation period, places some students elsewhere and refunds others. Under section 46F, one notice has to cover both groups: the students placed, the courses arranged, evidence that each offer was accepted, and the students and amounts refunded. A provider that reports only the refunds, or only the placements, has not covered what the section asks for. This is an illustration of how the rule reads, not a description of any particular case.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the deadline 7 calendar days or 7 business days?
The section says "within 7 days after the end of the provider obligation period" and does not qualify it as business days. Read literally, it is 7 days from the end of that period, and the notice must reach both the ESOS agency and the TPS Director within that window.
Does the provider have to report to both bodies, or is one enough?
Both. Sections 46F(2) and 47H(2) each require the notice to be given to the ESOS agency for the provider and the TPS Director. Reporting to one is not compliance with the section.
What if the provider arranged alternative courses but a student never accepted the offer?
The section requires evidence of each student's acceptance of an offer of a place in an alternative course. An unaccepted offer therefore does not complete that part of the report, and the notice would still need to address what happened for that student, including whether obligations under section 46D were discharged.
Is a student default always reportable?
No. Under section 47H, two things must both be true: the student defaults in relation to a course provided at a location, and the provider is required to provide a refund under section 47E. A student default with no refund obligation does not trigger this reporting duty.
Can the required contents of the notice change over time?
Yes. Both sections allow the Minister to specify requirements for the notice by legislative instrument, and both require the notice to comply with any such instrument. The statutory content list stays the same, but the prescribed form and any added requirements should be confirmed against the current official text.
Does the report have to be given to the student as well?
The sections require the notice to be given to the ESOS agency and the TPS Director. They do not, in these provisions, require the provider to give the notice to the affected student, so the report functions as a regulatory record rather than a student notification.
References
- Federal Register of Legislation — Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000, section 46F (registered providers to notify of outcome of discharge of obligations)
- Federal Register of Legislation — Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000, section 47H (registered providers to notify of outcome of discharge of obligations)