Welcome to the April TAC Update
The Training Accreditation Council’s (TAC/the Council) primary role is to assure the quality of training services delivered in the VET sector in Western Australia through effective regulation of providers and accredited courses.
Every two years the Council publishes a Regulatory Strategy that informs stakeholders about the priorities it has identified as posing risks to quality training outcomes and the planned regulatory action to monitor and minimise those risks. The current Focus on Quality: TAC Regulatory Strategy 2021 - 2023 is due to be completed in June 2023 and the Council is now in the process of developing the new Strategy for 2023 - 2025 which will include:
- data analysis of complaints, enrolments and audit compliance levels;
- scans of relevant research and industry reports; and
- consultation with a range of key stakeholders including industry regulators, training councils, government agencies and others to obtain feedback on areas of concern.
The Council recognises the vital role stakeholders play in shaping the quality of VET outcomes in Western Australia and actively seeks their input in the development of the new strategy. This collaborative approach aligns with the Council's commitment to being open and transparent and ensuring the consistent, effective, and proportional regulation of RTOs using a risk-based approach. The result of these consultations and other analysis culminates in the development of a new TAC Regulatory Strategy. Once completed, the Council looks forward to sharing it with RTOs and stakeholders later in the year.
TAC Education Program - upcoming events
- 3 May - Assessment Validation (4 of 4) 10:00AM-11:30AM AWST
- 15 May - Internal Audit (1 of 3) 10:00AM - 11:00AM AWST
- 17 May - Albany Event (Face to Face Event) 11:00AM - 3:30PM AWST
- 22 May - Internal Audit (2 of 3) 10:00AM - 11:00AM AWST
- 29 May - Internal Audit (3 of 3) 10:00AM - 11:00AM AWST
Focus on Quality
Marketing and Advertising: Understanding the Requirements for RTOs
As a Registered Training Organisation (RTO), it is important to understand the guidelines and requirements for marketing and advertising your courses. The information you provide should help prospective learners make an informed choice about the RTO that will best serve their learning needs. Overall, RTOs must ensure that all marketing is “accessible”, “accurate”, and “informative”.
Many RTOs advertise a specific timeframe or number of hours for their training programs. However, it is essential to make it transparent to prospective learners that a positive outcome cannot be guaranteed, and additional time and costs may be incurred if competency is not achieved. This is especially important for short courses, where prospective learners may have an expectation to attain competency within one or two days.
Competency-based assessment is a process that focuses on the demonstration of skills and knowledge required for a particular job or task. It is based on the principle that people learn at different rates and in different ways, and that the focus should be on what they can do rather than how long they spend doing it. This means that learners may need additional time to achieve the required competency, which should be factored into any advertising or marketing materials.
To ensure compliance with the Standards for Registered Training Organisations 2015 , RTOs should establish clear policies and procedures for marketing and advertising. This should involve a thorough review and approval process for all marketing materials before publishing and a process for addressing complaints or concerns from learners and stakeholders. Further information on RTO marketing is available in the following resources:
• TAC Fact Sheet: Marketing and Advertising;
• webinar RTO Marketing; and
• podcast Protecting Learners when there are Industry Licensing Outcomes
New TAC Website
Remember to check out the Council's new website at wa.gov.au/tac.
We encourage you to update your bookmarks and save links to the new Council website. For your convenience, a guide with links to the new location for the most frequently visited webpages is available.
Updated TAC Fact Sheet
The TAC Fact Sheet: Trainer and Assessor Requirements has been updated and is now available.
Webinar Recordings
Did you miss the recent TAC webinars:
• RTO Marketing
• Trainer and Assessor Requirements
Catch up now on TAC’s YouTube channel.
Transition Extensions
At the April meeting, the Council agreed to extend the transition period for the following training products:
- CPCCWHS1001 Prepare to work safely in the construction industry (31 July 2023)
- MSF30418 Certificate III in Glass and Glazing (31 July 2024)
In addition the Council agreed to extend 55 training products from the following training packages until 31 January 2024:
- 2 qualifications from the AVI - Aviation Training Package
- 9 qualifications from the CHC - Community Services
- 6 qualifications from the HLT - Health
- 8 qualifications from the MEM - Manufacturing and Engineering
- 13 qualifications from the MSF - Furnishing Training Package
- 2 qualifications from the MSS - Sustainability
- 5 qualifications from the MST - Textiles, Clothing and Footwear
- 2 qualifications from the NWP - National Water Training Package
- 1 qualification from the PSP - Public Sector Training Package
- 4 qualifications from the SIS - Sport, Fitness and Recreation Training Package
- 1 unit from the TAE - Training and Education Training Package
- 2 qualifications from the UEE - Electrotechnology Training Package
View the full list of training products approved for an extended transition periods.
The Council may consider requests to extend the transition period of a superseded training product when certain conditions apply. Further information is available on the TAC Website.
Other important updates
WA Training Awards
The Council is proud to support the 2023 WA Training Awards and encourages all RTOs to promote the Awards within their organisations and colleagues in the VET sector.
Applications close today and the Awards will be announced at a presentation ceremony to be held in Perth in September 2023. For more information and to apply visit www.dtwd.wa.gov.au/watrainingawards
Australian Training Awards
The Awards recognise and celebrate excellence and are an important mechanism for promoting the benefits of VET. Nominations for the 2023 Australian Training Awards are now open, closing on 31 May 2023! Click here for more information.
Jobs and Skills Australia
Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) is requesting consultation on the following discussion paper:
Clean Energy Capacity Study Discussion Paper: JSA is conducting a capacity study on the workforce needs for Australia’s transition to a clean energy economy. To assist with this study a discussion paper has been developed and is now open for comment, closing on 2 May 2023.
Latest NCVER Reports
NCVER have released the following new report:
- VET delivery in regional, rural and remote Australia: barriers and facilitators (24 April 23)
- Evaluating machine learning for projecting completion rates for VET programs (19 April 23)
