Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes? The Review of the Australian Universities Quality Agency

A review of the performance of the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) was undertaken in 2005–2006. It was commissioned by AUQA and the review report was published in May 2006. This article explores whether the AUQA review can be regarded internationally as an exemplar and thus used with confidence by governments or other principals as a reliable means of measuring higher education quality assurance agency performance. It pays particular attention to the method of analysis employed by the review team. The article argues that the AUQA review was flawed, in this and other respects, to a degree which renders it inadequate as a global exemplar. Its conclusions must thus be treated with caution by higher education policy‐makers, departments of state, universities, businesses, students and other institutions in Australia and internationally.