Australian Links and Resources

CAUTHE - Council of Australian Tourism and Hospitality Educators

The Council for Australasian University Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE) began in the late

1980s and was formally established in Sydney on 19 June 1992. CAUTHE represents the 24 Australian universities that teach and research hospitality and tourism. CAUTHE has proudly supported this project and has been an important conduit for dissemination activities.

ALTC - Australian Learning and Teaching Council

The Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) was the funding body for this project. The ALTC was closed in late 2011 and its activities were taken over by the Commonwealth Government's Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT).

An important initiative of the ALTC prior to its closure was facilitating and coordinating discipline communities’ definition of

academic standards. This work is set to continue under the OLT as the higher education sector prepares for a new regulatory environment under the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency. Information about ALTC's work relating to academic standards can be found here.

Australian Government - Office of Teaching and Learning

In November 2011, the federal government announced the establishment of the Office of Teaching and Learning. The OLT promotes and supports change in higher education institutions for the enhancement of learning and teaching.

Its responsibilities include:

• • providing grants to academics and professional staff to explore, develop and implement innovations in learning and teaching and to develop leadership capabilities

  • commissioning work on issues of strategic significance to the higher education sector to inform policy development and practice in relation to learning and teaching

  • managing a suite of awards to celebrate, recognise and value teaching excellence and programs that enhance student learning

  • funding fellowships and secondments for leading educators to address significant national educational issues

  • disseminating resources on innovations in learning and teaching

  • supporting the development of effective mechanisms for the embedding of good practice in learning and teaching in Australian higher education

  • encouraging collaboration and sharing of good practice for improved student learning outcomes and

  • facilitating networking and professional development opportunities for academics and professional staff.

It has a range of resources available on its website from previous projects that are very useful. Go to the OLT resource library here.

Higher Education Policy in Australia

In 2008 the Federal Government initiated a Review of Higher Education from which a variety of reforms and other initiatives have flowed. in 2009 the Federal Government released Transforming Australia's Higher Education System, which set out the Government's 'blueprint' for higher education's role in achieving a stronger and fairer Australia. More information about Federal Government policy and other initiatives can be found here.

Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency

The Australian Government has established a new national regulatory and quality agency for higher education, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA). TEQSA is an independent body with powers to regulate university and non-university higher education providers, monitor quality and set standards.

Australian Business Deans Council

The ABDC is leading the academic standards agenda for Australian business graduates. Threshold learning outcomes for both bachelors and coursework masters degrees were developed in 2010 for Accounting and Marketing in 2011. While Tourism, hospitality and events degrees are not always housed within a Business Faculty, the majority are, and therefore the ABDC is an important network for the purpose of this project.

THE-ICE Tourism Hospitality Education-International Centre of Excellence