**Acknowledgements**

The authors would like to acknowledge the significant contributions of Professor Patrick Crookes who was an academic member of the Project Team. Also the contributions of Mr Ravi Daga and the IGNOU team including: Professor Marmar Mukopadhyay, Professor Madhu Parhar and Ms. G. Mythili. Additionally the academics and senior higher education leaders from Australian and New Zealand institutions who provided feedback on the framework, which helped shape it. Finally the University of Wollongong for the provision of two funding grants that was critical in the development of the Framework.
