This instrument is the Higher Education Support (Other Grants) Amendment (Microcredentials Pilot) Guidelines 2022.

(1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.

Commencement information
Column 1	Column 2	Column 3
Provisions	Commencement	Date/Details
1. The whole of this instrument	The day after this instrument is registered.

Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.

(2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.

3 Authority

This instrument is made under section 238-10 of the Act.

4 Schedules

Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.

Schedule 1—Amendments

Higher Education Support (Other Grants) Guidelines 2022

1 In section 4

Insert:

digital badge means an icon that is linked to an individual and recognises their completion of a microcredential course.

2 After section 72

Insert:

Part 12—Grants to support open access to higher education across Australia, and to encourage higher education providers to engage with industry—Microcredentials Pilot

73 Program objectives

(1) The Microcredentials Pilot is specified as a program for the purposes of supporting open access to higher education across Australia, and encouraging higher education providers to engage with industry, under subitem 11(c) and item 13 of the table in subsection 41-10(1) of the Act.

(2) The objectives of the Microcredentials Pilot are to:

(a) for the purposes of subitem 11(c) of the table in subsection 41-10(1) of the Act:

(i) support Table A providers to design microcredential courses that meet the requirements in subsection 76(8) (microcredential courses) that support open access to higher education by increasing course offerings for students to support lifelong learning;

(ii) support all providers to deliver microcredential courses that meet the requirements in subsection 76(8) (microcredential courses) that support open access to higher education by increasing course offerings for students to support lifelong learning;

(iii) reduce barriers for people in the workforce to access higher education and support open access to higher education by encouraging higher education providers to offer shorter and more accessible forms of learning;

(iv) improve understanding of how microcredential courses can be applied in higher education to support workforce needs and how microcredential courses can improve accessibility to higher education for people in the workforce; and

(b) for the purposes of item 13 of the table in subsection 41-10(1) of the Act, encourage Table A providers to engage with industry to design shorter forms of learning that address skill shortages in industry.

74 Specified bodies corporate and extra conditions of eligibility

(1) Grants under the Microcredentials Pilot may be provided across three stages that will fund higher education providers to:

(a) design a microcredential course (Stage 1);

(b) deliver a microcredential course designed by a Table A provider in Stage 1 (Stage 2); and

(c) deliver a microcredential course that has been designed by a higher education provider independent of this program, and meets the requirements of a microcredential course set out in subsection 76(8) (Stage 3).

Eligibility for Stage 1 grants

(2) A Table A provider is eligible for a grant under paragraph 74(1)(a) for the design of a microcredential course if the provider can demonstrate industry engagement with the proposed design of the microcredential course.

Eligibility for Stage 2 grants

(3) A Table A provider is eligible for a grant under paragraph 74(1)(b) for the delivery of a microcredential course that has been designed by a Table A provider in Stage 1.

(4) From 1 July 2023, a higher education provider that is not a Table A provider is eligible for a grant under paragraph 74(1)(b) for the delivery of a microcredential course designed by a Table A provider in Stage 1.

Eligibility for Stage 3 grants

(5) From 1 July 2023, a higher education provider is eligible for a grant under paragraph 74(1)(c) for the delivery of a microcredential course that has been designed by a higher education provider independent of this program.

75 Approval of grants

A grant under the Microcredentials Pilot must be:

(a) approved by the Minister in writing; and

(b) made in respect of a project.

76 Conditions that apply to grants

Conditions that apply to Stage 1 grants

(1) A grant to a higher education provider for the design of a microcredential course must be used to achieve the program objectives as set out in subsection 73(2).

(2) The higher education provider must grant to any other higher education provider that applies for a grant under Stage 2, a permanent, irrevocable, royalty-free, world-wide, non-exclusive licence to use any course material that would be required to deliver the microcredential course referred to in subsection (1).

(3) The higher education provider must make available to any other higher education provider that applies for a grant under Stage 2 to deliver the microcredential course, the course material required to deliver the microcredential course.

(4) The higher education provider must demonstrate to the Commonwealth that their designed microcredential course has endorsement from industry or a professional body by providing a signed letter from an industry partner or the professional body endorsing the microcredential course and acknowledging that the microcredential course addresses a skill shortage in industry.

(5) The higher education provider must apply for a Stage 2 grant for the delivery of their microcredential course designed in Stage 1 and, if successful, the higher education provider must deliver that microcredential course in Stage 2.

Conditions that apply to Stage 2 grants

(6) A grant to a higher education provider for the delivery of a microcredential course designed in Stage 1 by a Table A provider must be used to achieve the program objectives as set out in subparagraphs 73(2)(a)(ii), (iii) and (iv).

Conditions that apply to Stage 3 grants

(7) A grant to a higher education provider for the delivery of a microcredential course that has been designed by a higher education provider independent of this program must be used to achieve the program objectives as set out in subparagraphs 73(2)(a)(ii), (iii) and (iv).

Conditions in respect of courses and students

(8) Microcredential courses designed and delivered under this program must meet the following requirements:

(a) have the value of 0.25 to 0.49 EFTSL; and

(b) be assessable for credit towards an Australian Qualifications Framework qualification; and

(d) have a census date; and

(e) be in a national priority field of education outlined in the conditions of grant determined by the Minister in writing under subsection 41-25(2) of the Act.

(9) Higher education providers must not charge a student more than the amount specified in the third column of the following table for a microcredential course in the part of the funding cluster specified in the second column of the table.

Item	Funding clusters:	The amount in respect of a student is:
1	Law, Accounting, Administration, Economics, Commerce, Communications, Society and Culture	$14,630.
2	Education, Clinical Psychology, English, Mathematics, Statistics, Allied Health, Other Health, Built Environment, Computing, Visual and Performing Arts, Professional Pathway Psychology or Professional Pathway Social Work	(a) for a place in a unit in Education, Clinical Psychology, English, Mathematics or Statistics—$3,985; or (b) for a place in a unit in Allied Health, Other Health, Built Environment, Computing, Visual and Performing Arts, Professional Pathway Psychology or Professional Pathway Social Work—$8,021.
3	Nursing, Foreign Languages, Engineering, Surveying, Environmental Studies, Science	(a) for a place in a unit in Nursing or Foreign Languages—$3,985; or (b) for a place in a unit in Engineering, Surveying, Environmental Studies or Science—$8,021.
4	Agriculture, Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Science, Pathology	(a) for a place in a unit in Agriculture—$3,985; or (b) for a place in a unit in Medicine, Dentistry or Veterinary Science—$11,401; or (c) for a place in a unit in Pathology—$8021.

77 Method by which the grant amounts under the program are to be determined

(1) For Stage 1 grants, the Minister will determine the grant amount for a higher education provider in writing under paragraph 41-30(b) of the Act.

(2) A grant to a higher education provider for Stage 2 and Stage 3 of the program is to be calculated by applying the following formula:

Where:

G is the grant amount for providers in Stage 2 or Stage 3;

CP is the Commonwealth payment set out in the third column of the following table for a microcredential course in the part of the funding cluster specified in the second column of the table;

EV is the EFTSL value of the microcredential course;

EN is the total number of students enrolled in the microcredential course immediately after the census date.

Item	Funding cluster:	Commonwealth payment
1	Law, Accounting, Administration, Economics, Commerce, Communications, Society and Culture	$1,109
2	Education, Clinical Psychology, English, Mathematics, Statistics, Allied Health, Other Health, Built Environment, Computing, Visual and Performing Arts, Professional Pathway Psychology or Professional Pathway Social Work	$13,369
3	Nursing, Foreign Languages, Engineering, Surveying, Environmental Studies, Science	$16,396
4	Agriculture, Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Science, Pathology	$27,243