Is natural justice or procedural fairness possible with the current set up of ASQA?
18 November, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

Is natural justice or procedural fairness possible with the current set up of ASQA?

We have evaluated how fair and transparent the internal workings of Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) is. Where can an RTO go to complain and seek justice? How effective are the “external avenues”?  ASQA’s auditors on the day of the audit  Please note: ASQA has engaged some very professional officers and auditors as well and […]

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Concerns about the competency levels of Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) officers and auditors
18 November, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

Concerns about the competency levels of Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) officers and auditors

The VET industry has some serious concerns regarding the competency of ASQA’s officers and auditors. We would like to look into this with some facts, records and figures.  Qualified auditors with Senior VET Experience – are they qualified enough? Unfortunately, the regulatory body has moved away from recruiting officers with a background in the education […]

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Industry consultation form released to assist development of VET accredited courses
18 November, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

Industry consultation form released to assist development of VET accredited courses

ASQA has released a tool to assist in the development of VET accredited courses. The following media released has been published by Australian Skills Quality Authority:  The Standards for VET Accredited Courses 2012 require a course developer to provide: evidence of an industry need and supporting evidence that industry consultation and validation of course content […]

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Financial Viability Risk Assessment (FVRA) tool has changed again, version 3.1.
18 November, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

Financial Viability Risk Assessment (FVRA) tool has changed again, version 3.1.

The financial viability risk assessment (FVRA) tool has been changed again by ASQA to make it more user friendly. The latest change was implemented on October 4, 2019. The changes have been made to make the FVRA tool more user-friendly and in cases where it is incomplete, provide additional guidance to identify items missing. The […]

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I want to voice my opinion – your letters and emails to us
18 November, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

I want to voice my opinion – your letters and emails to us

In this newsletter, we have selected this email received from one of our subscribers genuinely questioning the current regulatory environment of Registered Training Organisations: “It has been my experience as an RTO Manager that everyone except the RTO is protected in the current environment.  Students and staff can complain to ASQA and Smart and Skilled […]

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Review of Australian Qualifications Framework (Part 1)
18 November, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

Review of Australian Qualifications Framework (Part 1)

The AQF review, chaired by Victoria University tertiary education professor Peter Noonan, recommended a shake -up of Australia’s qualification system.  Under the recommended changes senior secondary students would also be able to study subjects at school that would count towards a vocational training qualification or university degree. The new changes will enable students to mix […]

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Who is there to support training organisations and what RTO representatives should know. (Part 1)
18 November, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

Who is there to support training organisations and what RTO representatives should know. (Part 1)

In this article, we will discuss the issues registered training organisations are experiencing in their day-to-day operations. You have the following help available:  RTO consultants Extend your own understanding and get an unbiased evaluation of your training and assessment from a consultant who can evaluate your practices and give you feedback.  Contact a few and […]

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ASQA has changed the rules for purchase and sale of RTO’s
18 November, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

ASQA has changed the rules for purchase and sale of RTO’s

Australian Skills Quality Authority has made it crystal clear that “Registered training organisations (RTOs) and Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS) providers are not permitted to transfer their registration from one legal entity to another. However, where a change of company shareholdings occurs, but the ABN/ACN of the entity registered with […]

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The Australian Government is investing $41.7 million to pilot Skills Organisations in human services care and digital technology (including cyber security) industries
18 November, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

The Australian Government is investing $41.7 million to pilot Skills Organisations in human services care and digital technology (including cyber security) industries

The Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business has published the following media release:  The Australian Government is investing $41.7 million to pilot Skills Organisations in two key industries; human services care and digital technology (including cyber security). The Skills Organisations Pilots will drive innovative ‘end-to-end’ training solutions and enhance the role and leadership […]

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Beware of FAKE certificates and unregistered providers
18 November, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

Beware of FAKE certificates and unregistered providers

ASQA published the following media release on October 4 2019:  ASQA is aware that unfortunately, there are unqualified organisations issuing fake certificates in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. Whether you are a student signing up for a course in VET or a business seeking a training provider for your employees, make sure to […]

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Updates to USI transcript for closed registered training organisations
18 November, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

Updates to USI transcript for closed registered training organisations

Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) published the following news on October 4 2019:  As part of a collaboration between the Australian Department of Education, ASQA and the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), ASQA is now able to upload the academic results from closed RTOs to students’ Unique Student Identifier (USI) transcripts outside the […]

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Unpacking ASQA audit reports and files (Part 4)
18 November, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

Unpacking ASQA audit reports and files (Part 4)

This is part 4 of a series. We are referring here to cases from different audits conducted by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA). 1. Units made compliant, qualifications become non-compliant ASQA making decisions, where individual units were made compliant but qualifications including the very same units were made non-compliant.  When we read auditor’s response […]

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The VET Sector News
1 October, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

The VET Sector News

India is reforming education for the first time since 1986 – here’s why Australia should care India released a Draft National Education Policy (DNEP) in June 2019. It’s the first comprehensive policy proposal on education in the country since 1986 and a major, game-changing statement. Australia has a moral duty to engage with the global […]

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Unpacking ASQA audit reports and files (Part 3)
1 October, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

Unpacking ASQA audit reports and files (Part 3)

Let’s look into what is actually going on in the audits and ASQA practices. This is part 3 of the ongoing series. We are referring here a number of cases from the different audits conducted by the Australian  Skills Quality Authority (ASQA).  1. ASQA officers justifying their statements using information that contradicts all documented and […]

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The implications of ASQA being moving to a full cost recovery agency
1 October, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

The implications of ASQA being moving to a full cost recovery agency

ASQA and TEQSA are required by the Australian Government to transition from partial cost recovery to full cost recovery by 2020-21 making charging activities more consistent with the  other areas of Government and Australian Government Charging Framework.  Currently, neither regulator recovers the full cost of their regulatory operation or the full cost of legislative activities. […]

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The major issues with current legislative and regulatory standards (Part 1)
1 October, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

The major issues with current legislative and regulatory standards (Part 1)

We are starting a series of articles discussing what is broken or can be improved in the current legislative and regulatory standards. We will also talk about how there should be no room for ambiguity and a very clear understanding in terms of what is expected from the training organisations.  Our first target is the […]

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How will ASQA move from its current practices?
1 October, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

How will ASQA move from its current practices?

Pic: Courtesy @edissuesaus  Note: The pic includes the famous saying of Ex-Chief Commissioner, Australian Skills Quality Authority in the Independent Tertiary Education Conference, Itec 2019 that held on 21-23 August 2019 at Marriott Surfers Paradise, for more information, please refer https://itec19.com.au/program/program/   Yes, you heard it right. The chief commissioner of Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) has […]

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RTO experiences with ASQA from the front line-Part 2
1 October, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

RTO experiences with ASQA from the front line-Part 2

We are continuing to share the RTO experiences from the front line with the current regulatory body of vocational education and training, Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA). 1. Completely unjust and untrue grounds used by Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) for RTO rejection    2. No exit meeting with the RTO, no information regarding where […]

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A potential audit of the Australian Skills Quality Authority by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO)
1 October, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

A potential audit of the Australian Skills Quality Authority by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO)

The Australian National Audit Office is the national auditor for the Parliament of Australia and the Government of Australia. It reports directly to the Australian Parliament via the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate.  ANAO has scheduled a potential “performance audit” of Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) for its […]

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A 19-member panel Industry VET Stakeholder Committee working to deal with the VET challenges
1 October, 2019

Sukh Sandhu

A 19-member panel Industry VET Stakeholder Committee working to deal with the VET challenges

The Morrison Government has established its Vocational Education and Training (VET) Stakeholder committee to help drive its significant agenda of reform. Scott Morrison has flagged that VET reforms are a key reform agenda priority and is working to deal with the challenges outlined in the Joyce review that declared confidence in the sector was declining, […]

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