What happens if my provider's CRICOS registration is suspended in 2026?

Plain-language guide · general information, not immigration advice

If your provider's CRICOS registration is suspended and the suspension means the course ceases to be provided to you after it starts but before it is completed, or the provider is prevented from providing it because a sanction has been imposed under Part 6, the consequence under the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act) is that your provider defaults in relation to you and your course, provided you had not withdrawn before the default day; a fixed set of duties then switches on: it must notify its ESOS agency and the TPS Director in writing within 3 business days of the default, notify affected students in writing, and state whether and how it intends to discharge its obligations to those students under section 46D of the Act. This is general information about how the Act operates rather than advice on any individual enrolment or visa position, and the official text remains the reference for anything that turns on your own circumstances. Everything below follows the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 as published on the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), as at the September 2026 official page.

How does a CRICOS registration end up suspended?

The route set out in the Act runs through unpaid CRICOS annual registration charges. Under section 23, the Secretary must give the provider a first written notice specifying the amount payable, and that amount falls due at the end of the 30-day period beginning on the day after the notice is given. If the provider has not paid by then, the Secretary must give a second written notice stating the amount, requiring payment by the end of the 7-day period beginning on the day after the second notice is given, and setting out the effect of section 90 — which is that the provider's registration is automatically suspended if the second notice is not complied with. Where the provider fails to comply with the second notice and the Secretary is not the ESOS agency for that provider, the Secretary must notify the ESOS agency of the failure.

Step	What the Act requires	Deadline and effect
First notice	Secretary specifies the CRICOS annual registration charge payable	Amount due at the end of the 30-day period starting the day after the notice is given
Second notice	Specifies the amount and sets out the effect of section 90	Payment due by the end of the 7-day period starting the day after the notice is given; non-compliance triggers automatic suspension under section 90

Does a suspension mean my provider has defaulted?

It does only if the suspension stops delivery: on the section 46A(1) path the course must actually cease to be provided after it starts and before it is completed, and on the section 46A(2) path the provider must be prevented from providing the course because a sanction has been imposed under Part 6. Under section 46A(1), a provider defaults if it fails to start providing the course on the agreed starting day, or if the course ceases to be provided at any time after it starts but before it is completed, as long as the student has not withdrawn before the default day. A suspension that actually stops teaching fits that second limb: the course has ceased to be provided before it was completed. Section 46A(2) removes any doubt in the sanction case, stating that a provider defaults if it is prevented from providing a course at a location because a sanction has been imposed on it under Part 6 of the Act.

One exception runs the other way. Under section 46A(3), there is no default where the provider fails to start the course, or the course ceases, because the student has defaulted in relation to the course under paragraph 47A(1)(c). The protection is aimed at students who were ready to keep going.

What must the provider do once it has defaulted, and how fast?

Section 46B sets a short clock. Within 3 business days of the default occurring, the provider must notify, in writing, both the ESOS agency for the provider and the TPS Director; "business day" takes its meaning from section 2B of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. Separately, under section 46B(4), the provider must notify in writing the students in relation to whom it has defaulted.

The notice to the ESOS agency and the TPS Director must include:

the circumstances of the default;
the details of the students affected;
advice as to whether the provider intends to discharge its obligations to those students under section 46D and, if appropriate, how it intends to do so.

Notices must also comply with any requirements in a legislative instrument the Minister may make under section 46B(6). If a provider breaches section 46B, its ESOS agency may take action against it under Division 1 of Part 6 of the Act.

So do I get a refund, or a place on another course?

That is what section 46D deals with, and the Act makes the provider answer the question early rather than leave students waiting, because the notice to the ESOS agency and the TPS Director must say whether the provider intends to discharge those obligations and how. The involvement of the TPS Director is what gives the process its tuition-protection character. What discharging those obligations means for a student is a matter for the text of section 46D and the tuition protection arrangements, which should be read directly.

What does this mean for my student visa?

These ESOS provisions govern the provider's obligations and tuition protection; they do not themselves set a visa outcome. Whether a change of enrolment affects a student visa is governed by the migration framework — the migration legislation and the official Home Affairs pages — which is a separate body of law from the ESOS Act. What the ESOS side does give an affected student is a documented default: a written notice to the student, and a record with the ESOS agency and the TPS Director showing that the course stopped for reasons that were not the student's own.

What records matter once a default has happened?

The written notice the provider is required to give affected students is the anchor document, because it identifies the default and what the provider proposes to do about it. Alongside it, enrolment and payment records establish which part of the course was paid for and not delivered, the date teaching stopped is what fixes the default day, and any later alternative course offer should be kept with the rest of the file. Keeping these together is simply how a student shows what was lost and what was offered.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a suspended CRICOS registration the same as my provider closing down?

Not necessarily — suspension is a registration status, not a corporate event. What matters for students is whether the provider actually stops delivering the course: if teaching ceases after the course starts and before it is completed, that cessation is a default under section 46A(1)(a)(ii) of the ESOS Act.

How long does the non-payment suspension process take?

Section 23 gives the provider a first notice with payment due at the end of the 30-day period starting the day after that notice is given. If the charge remains unpaid, a second notice requires payment by the end of the 7-day period starting the day after the second notice, and non-compliance triggers automatic suspension under section 90.

Does my provider have to tell me directly?

Yes. Under section 46B(4), the provider must notify in writing the students in relation to whom it has defaulted, in addition to notifying the ESOS agency and the TPS Director within 3 business days of the default occurring.

What if I had already withdrawn before teaching stopped?

Then there is no default in relation to you, because section 46A(1)(b) requires that the student has not withdrawn before the default day. The timing of a withdrawal relative to that day is therefore decisive.

What if the course stopped because of something I did?

Section 46A(3) provides that a provider does not default where the failure to start or the cessation of the course happens because the student has defaulted in relation to the course under paragraph 47A(1)(c). Student protections under the default provisions are directed at students who were willing and able to continue.

Will I get my money back or a new place?

The provider's notice to the ESOS agency and the TPS Director must state whether it intends to discharge its obligations under section 46D and how. How those obligations are discharged is dealt with in section 46D and the related tuition protection arrangements, which should be read directly for the current rules.

Does a suspension cancel my student visa automatically?

The ESOS provisions covered here do not set any visa outcome; they deal with provider obligations and tuition protection. Visa consequences sit in the migration framework and are governed by the migration legislation and official Home Affairs pages rather than by the ESOS Act.