Who must maintain CRICOS registration (international student providers)?

Providers offering education to overseas students must be CRICOS-registered and comply with the National Code 2018.

Only education institutions registered under the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 and listed on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS) can enrol and teach students in Australia on a student visa. Registered providers must meet the ESOS Act and the National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018, plus the ELICOS Standards 2018 or Foundation Program Standards where they deliver those courses. Registration is decided and monitored by the ESOS agency for the sector: ASQA for VET and most ELICOS, TEQSA for higher education, and the Secretary of the Department of Education for schools on the recommendation of a designated State authority. The 2025 integrity amendments added fit and proper provider tests covering links with education agents, require most new VET providers (other than TAFEs) to deliver to domestic students for two years before applying, and cancel a provider's registration automatically if it teaches no overseas student onshore for 12 consecutive months. A January 2026 National Code change bans education agent commissions on onshore transfers.

Applies when the business has CRICOS registration. Where the business has industry: Education — registered training orgs / Education — higher education providers and international activity, check whether you enrol overseas students (CRICOS).

How the regulator frames it: Schools, VET providers (registered training organisations), ELICOS and foundation program providers, and higher education providers that enrol or deliver courses to overseas students on student visas, including dual-sector providers, which apply to TEQSA for higher education courses and to ASQA for VET courses.

What triggers it: Offering, marketing or delivering a course to a student in Australia on a student visa, or recruiting overseas students through education agents.

Jurisdiction: Commonwealth law, so the test is the same in every state and territory.

Outcome across the 35 industries Rules Mate maps (35 of 35: no).

The answer is the same in every industry: no. Industry does not change who must comply.

Structure does not change the answer across all industries: for every structure the answer is "no".

Size does not change the answer across all industries: at every size band the answer is "no".

Each line is one run of the Rules Mate applicability engine for a single business profile, with the reason the engine gives:

• Pty Ltd company in real estate agents with 6–19 employees, turnover $1M–$3M: does not apply. Requires CRICOS registration.

Starting from a small or large professional services company that does not otherwise meet the test, each of these single facts changes the engine's answer:

• The business is CRICOS-registered to enrol overseas students: it then applies (CRICOS-registered provider).

The engine shows this obligation as "check whether this applies" when a business has industry: Education — registered training orgs / Education — higher education providers and international activity. It then applies only if you enrol overseas students (CRICOS). That fact is not something Rules Mate can infer from industry, structure or size.

When due

Registration before enrolling any overseas student; continuous compliance with the National Code; renewal through the ESOS agency (schools through their designated State authority). New applications to ASQA for CRICOS registrations and courses are suspended from 19 May 2026 to 19 May 2027, and the National Code transfer restriction period is temporarily 12 months until 30 June 2027.

Frequency

Ongoing

Evidence to keep

CRICOS registration and course listings; written agreements with students; education agent agreements and commission records; course progress and attendance monitoring; complaints and appeals records; PRISMS enrolment reporting; English language proficiency assessments; DSA assessment or recommendation certificates for schools.

Status

Current

Priority

Critical

Maximum penalty: Breaches of the ESOS Act are treated seriously and penalties can be significant. ESOS agencies make registration decisions and monitor compliance, registration is cancelled automatically after 12 consecutive months without onshore overseas students, and the Minister can cancel classes of courses by legislative instrument.

Rules Mate has not yet classified the audit or assurance level for this obligation. Any audit, review or certification requirement is set by the regulator source listed below.

If this obligation applies to you, so do these 3: the engine uses the same rule for each.

• Contribute to the Tuition Protection Service (TPS)
• International student National Planning Level and provider allocations (2027)
• ESOS Tuition Protection Service (TPS) levy

Rules Mate tracks 2 published obligations tagged "cricos", 1 of them rated critical. For a professional services Pty Ltd company with 6–19 employees operating in every state, 0 of those apply outright. This obligation is rated critical priority, and is an ongoing duty.

Regulated by Australian Skills Quality Authority and Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency.

ASQA: National VET regulator for RTOs. Administers Standards for RTOs and CRICOS for international student providers.

TEQSA: Higher education regulator administering the Higher Education Standards Framework.

• Australian Skills Quality Authority
• Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency

ESOS Act: Federal regulation of international student education.

• Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000

Free tools that help with this obligation:

• Compliance calendar builder