Reviewable ESOS decisions in 2026: which ones, and how the 30/120-day clocks work

The Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act) sets out a closed list of reviewable decisions in section 169AB, and two separate clocks apply to them: an affected provider has 30 days after being notified to apply for internal review, and the internal reviewer must decide within 120 days of that application or the original decision is taken to have been affirmed. This article follows the text of sections 169AA to 169AG published on the Federal Register of Legislation, as of September 2026. It is general reference material about how the provisions read, not advice on any particular provider's situation; the operative legislation and the ESOS agency's current approved forms remain the authority, and anything time-sensitive should be checked against the latest official publication.

Which decisions are actually reviewable?

Section 169AB contains the complete list. Nothing outside this table is a "reviewable decision" for the purposes of the internal review and Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) pathway, so the first practical task is matching the decision letter to an item number.

Item	Reviewable decision	Affected provider
1	Refuse to register the provider under section 10	The provider
2	Register the provider under section 10 for a particular period	The registered provider
3	Impose a condition on, or vary or remove a condition of, registration under section 10B	The provider or registered provider
4	Refuse to renew registration under section 10E	The registered provider
5	Renew registration under section 10E for a particular period	The registered provider
6	Refuse to add a course at a location to registration under section 10J	The registered provider
7	Extend the period of registration under section 10L	The registered provider
8	Not notify the provider under subsection 46A(4)	The registered provider
9	Take action against the provider under section 83	The registered provider
10	Not give the provider a notice under subsection 89(4) or 95(3)	The registered provider
11	Extend, or not extend, the measurement period for the provider under section 92B	The registered provider

Two features of this table matter in practice. Item 3 covers conditions being imposed, varied or removed — so a provider can contest an added condition, not only a refusal. Items 8, 10 and 11 are decisions not to do something, which means a provider's complaint may be about the agency's inaction rather than a sanction.

Who can apply, and does it matter who made the decision?

Only the "affected provider" named in column 2 of the table has standing. That is the provider or registered provider the decision was made about, not its students, its agents, or a parent entity.

Section 169AA then splits the pathways: an affected provider may apply for internal review or ART review, but internal review is available only where the reviewable decision was made by a delegate of the ESOS agency. A reviewable decision made otherwise is not internally reviewable; it goes to the ART.

How does the 30-day clock run?

Under section 169AD, an application for internal review must be made within 30 days after the affected provider is notified of the decision. The application must be in the form approved, in writing, by the ESOS agency, and must be accompanied by any information and documents the agency requires.

The clock is not absolute. The agency may allow a longer period, either before or after the 30 days have ended. In practice this makes the date of notification the controlling fact: if that date is disputed or unclear, the safe course is to lodge within 30 days of the date the provider actually received written notice.

Can the decision be paused while review is pending?

Yes, but only if the agency decides so. After receiving an internal review application, section 169AD(3) allows the ESOS agency to determine, by written notice to the applicant, that the operation of the decision is stayed pending the outcome. Such a determination can carry conditions specified in it.

A stay runs from the start of the day the determination is made, or from a later day if specified, and continues until either a decision is made under section 169AE on the review, or an application is made to the ART under section 169AG. So a stay does not survive into ART proceedings automatically — it ends when the ART application is filed.

How does the 120-day clock work, and what is deemed affirmance?

Section 169AF requires the internal reviewer to make a decision within 120 days after the application is made under section 169AD. This deadline runs from the application, not from the original decision.

If no decision is made within that period, the internal reviewer is taken — at the end of the 120 days — to have made a decision under section 169AE affirming the reviewable decision. The provider then holds a deemed affirmance, which is itself reviewable by the ART. For a provider hoping to have a suspension or cancellation overturned, the practical risk is not a slow refusal but a silent one.

What can the internal reviewer decide, and who must do it?

Section 169AE requires the review to be done by the agency or by a delegate who was not involved in making the original decision and who occupies a position at least at the same level as the delegate who made it. The internal reviewer may affirm, vary, or set aside the decision, and if it is set aside, may make such other decision as the reviewer thinks appropriate.

The internal review decision is then taken, other than for the purposes of section 169AB, to have been made under the same provision as the original decision. The reviewer must give the applicant written notice of the terms of the decision, the reasons, and the applicant's right to have the decision reviewed by the ART — but a failure to give that notice does not affect the decision's validity.

When can a matter go to the ART?

Under section 169AG, applications may be made to the ART for review of three things:

a reviewable decision (whether or not made by a delegate);
a decision of the internal reviewer under section 169AE that relates to a reviewable decision;
a determination by the TPS Director of an amount of TPS levy payable by a provider or registered provider under subsection 53A(1).

An ART application in the first two categories may only be made by, or on behalf of, the affected provider for the reviewable decision. The third category may only be made by, or on behalf of, the provider or registered provider concerned.

Note the asymmetry: the TPS levy determination is ART-reviewable but is not in the section 169AB table, so there is no internal review of it. It goes to the ART directly.

What must the decision notice contain?

Section 169AC requires the ESOS agency, as soon as practicable after making a reviewable decision, to give the affected provider written notice containing the terms of the decision, the reasons for it, and notice of the provider's right to have it reviewed. As with the internal review notice, a failure to give the notice does not affect the validity of the decision — the decision stands whether or not the notice is complete, so a defective notice is not a ground for ignoring the deadlines.

Managing both clocks in a file

Record the date the provider was notified of the decision, and keep the notice itself.
Match the decision to an item in the section 169AB table.
Check whether the decision was made by a delegate of the ESOS agency.
Choose the route: internal review for delegate decisions, or the ART.
Prepare the application in the agency's approved written form, with the required documents.
Lodge the internal review within 30 days of notification.
Request a stay under section 169AD(3) if the decision's operation would cause immediate harm.
Diary day 120 from the date the application was made.
Treat silence at day 120 as a deemed affirmance, and plan the ART filing on that basis.
Confirm standing before filing: only the affected provider, or someone on its behalf, may apply.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the 30-day internal review deadline be extended? Yes. The ESOS agency may allow a longer period, and it may do so before or after the 30 days have ended. Because an extension is discretionary, the application should still be prepared to be lodged inside the original 30 days.

What happens if the internal reviewer misses the 120-day deadline? The reviewer is taken to have made a decision at the end of the 120-day period affirming the reviewable decision. That deemed decision is itself reviewable by the ART as a decision of the internal reviewer under section 169AE.

Must a provider exhaust internal review before going to the ART? No. Section 169AA states that an affected provider may apply for internal review or review by the ART, and section 169AD's note confirms that reviewable decisions, whether or not made by a delegate, may be reviewed by the ART. Internal review is a route, not a precondition.

Can a provider challenge a decision made directly by the ESOS agency rather than a delegate? Internal review is limited to reviewable decisions made by a delegate of the ESOS agency. A reviewable decision made other than by a delegate is not subject to internal review, but remains reviewable by the ART.

Does a missing or incomplete notice invalidate the decision? No. Both section 169AC(2) and section 169AE(5) provide that a failure to give the required notice does not affect the validity of the decision concerned. The notice defect does not stop the clocks from running.

Is a TPS levy determination subject to internal review? No. A determination by the TPS Director of a TPS levy amount under subsection 53A(1) is reviewable by the ART, but it does not appear in the section 169AB table of reviewable decisions and so has no internal review stage.

Who reviews the internal review, and can the reviewer be the same person? The reviewer must be a delegate who was not involved in making the original decision and who holds a position at least at the same level as the delegate who made it. The reviewer's decision can then be taken to the ART.