Welcome to the November TAC Update
On 16 October 2023, the Commonwealth Government’s Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) released the draft revised Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs).
The draft revised Standards are being piloted ahead of their planned commencement on 1 January 2025.
The Council would like to thank the large number of RTOs who expressed an interest in participating in its pilot program. These pilots are underway and expected to be completed mid December 2023. The purpose of the pilot program is to assist RTOs in understanding and implementing the draft revised Standards, assess the effectiveness of the Standards in practice, determine the range of acceptable evidence for demonstrating compliance, and identify areas where additional guidance is required.
There is still an opportunity for RTOs to provide feedback on the draft revised Standards through DEWR’s evidencing survey. This brief online survey is open until 30 November 2023 and seeks input on how RTOs would demonstrate compliance with the draft revised Standards relevant to their operational context.
Further information on the Pilot Program and the draft revised Standards is available on the TAC Website.
TAC Education Program
Upcoming Events
Register now for one of our upcoming events:
- 4 Dec - 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM AWST Developing units of competency for accredited courses
- 22 Jan - 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM AWST The course accreditation process
Webinar Recordings:
View the TAC Education Program to access professional development opportunities, support and guidance materials and access previous webinar recordings and resources.
Catch up now on the following recent webinars:
Focus on Quality: How to ensure learners are aware of your policies and procedures?
Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Australia is based on the principle that potential learners should be fully informed about the products and services offered by Registered Training Organisations (RTOs). The Standards for RTOs detail the RTO's obligations to learners, under three specific Standards:
- Standard 4: Accurate and accessible information about an RTO, its services, and performance is available to inform prospective and current learners and clients.
- Standard 5: Each learner is properly informed and protected.
- Standard 6: Complaints and appeals are recorded, acknowledged, and dealt with fairly, efficiently, and effectively.
Each of these Standards specifies the information that must be provided to learners or the requirements that must be met by the RTO in the provision of information.
The information provided to learners must be clear, accurate, and accessible. This means that the information may not always be provided in the same way or in the same format. For example, if learners enrolling with an RTO have low literacy levels, providing text-heavy student handbooks may not be accessible for the learner group. An information session, either in person or on video, may be more appropriate.
Standard 6, which focuses on complaints and appeals, requires the RTO's policies to be publicly available. This is to ensure that learners and other relevant parties can easily access and understand information about how to complain or appeal decisions made by the RTO. For example, the information may be provided in hard copy in the RTO's reception area, if the area is readily accessed by learners, or on the RTO's website.
Ultimately, it is the RTO's responsibility to ensure that the information provided about its training, assessment, and student services (including complaints and appeals processes) is effective in ensuring that the learner group understands and can make an informed decision about whether the RTO is the right choice for their learning and assessment journey.
Catch up now on TAC’s latest podcast
TAC's Podcasts can be listened to on most podcast apps, YouTube or on the TAC Website.
TAC Talks Shorts Ep 15 – Complaints and what to do about them
This short 4 minute podcast provides information around Standard 6 of the Standards for RTOs on complaints and how they can provide an understanding of an RTOs clients’ expectations and experiences.
Move to electronic registration and accreditation certification
Starting 1 January 2024 (emailed newsletter incorrectly stated 2025), the Council will be issuing RTO registration and course owners accreditation certificates electronically. These certificates will be included in your organisation's official documentation from the Council upon approval and sent to you via email.
If you require a hard copy of the certificate, you can print the electronically provided version.
Transition extensions
At the November 2023 meeting, the Council agreed to extend the transition period for the following training products until 31 January 2025:
- FWP20121 Certificate II in Forest Operations,
- FWP30121 Certificate III in Forest Operations,
- UEE41220 Certificate IV inElectrical – Rail Signalling; and
- UEE50120 Diploma of Computer SystemsEngineering.
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.
Course accreditation extensions
At the November 2023 meeting, the Council agreed to extend the accreditation period for the following course to 31 December 2024:
- 52840WA Certificate II in Introduction to Disability Care
Other important updates
Australian Training Awards
The Training Accreditation Council congratulates all of the 2023 Australian Training Awards winners, particularly the below finalists who represented WA at the awards:
- Holly Gudsell, Winner: VET Teacher/Trainer of the Year
- Amy Hunt, Winner, Apprentice of the Year
- Anthony Nelson-Burns, Runner-up: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year
Visit the Australian Training Awards website for the full list of winners and finalists.
DataHub
Through NCVER’s DataHub, RTOs have access to a range of customised NCVER data and reporting products, including DataBuilders, visualisations, and tables that are not available publicly on the NCVER Portal.
DataHub is a free secure platform which can be accessed by an RTO’s Legally Responsible Persons. More information is available, including how to get access, via the NCVER website.
Jobs and Skills Australia
Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) has released the following:
Reports:
- VET Student Outcomes, Top 100 Courses’ report (16 Nov)
- Australian Labour Market for Migrants - October 2023 (30 Oct)
Surveys:
Latest NCVER Reports
NCVER has released the following new reports:
- Employers' use and views of the VET system 2023 (9 Nov)
- Government funding of VET 2022 (26 Oct)
- From VET to sustainable employment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (25 Oct)
