Welcome to the December TAC Update
As 2023 draws to a close, we take a moment to reflect on a year marked by substantial progress, innovation, and planned sector reforms. The Council extends its appreciation to all TAC regulated Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) for their ongoing commitment to learners and to the delivery of quality training and assessment throughout the past year.
Over the last 12 months, the Council has implemented:
- The Regulatory Strategy: The release of the Focus on Quality: TAC Regulatory Strategy 2023-2025 contains specific areas the Council has identified as posing the highest risks to the quality of VET and actions to monitor and minimise those risks.
- Strategic Audits: TAC conducted two strategic audits into Units of Competency leading to High Risk Work Licences in Western Australia, and First Aid units of competency.
- RTO and Stakeholder Surveys: The biennial RTO and Stakeholder Perceptions of Performance Survey gathered valuable feedback to guide TAC’s continuous improvement.
- TAC Auditor Panel Refresh: the appointment of additional Auditors and Accreditation Reviewers strengthened TAC's capacity to assess and monitor RTO performance.
- Extensive Education Program: TAC delivered a comprehensive range of education programs, including the annual TAC Event, webinars, podcasts, and Fact Sheets.
- Improved Online Presence: The launch of the new TAC website at wa.gov.au/tac provided stakeholders with a user-friendly platform to access essential information and resources.
- Fit and Proper Person Requirements: Changes to the Fit and Proper Person Requirements implemented a more robust framework for ensuring the integrity and suitability of individuals involved in RTO governance.
At the national level, the VET Sector has experienced:
- Sector-wide Consultations: The year saw extensive consultations on the Skills Reform agenda, including Qualification Reform, Foundation Skills, and quality reform with the release of the Draft Revised Standards for RTOs and pilot activities, as well as the Blueprint for the VET Workforce.
- Jobs and Skills Councils: The establishment of 10 new Jobs and Skills Councils responsible for workforce planning, training product development, implementation and monitoring, and industry stewardship.
As we look towards 2024, the Council remains committed to working collaboratively with stakeholders to deliver high-quality education and training outcomes that meet the needs of learners and industry.
Please note that the TAC Secretariat will be closed for a short period from Monday 25 December 2023, and reopens on Tuesday 2 January 2024.
The Council and Secretariat staff wish you all a wonderful festive season and look forward to working with you in 2024.
TAC Education Program
Upcoming Events
TAC has moved its Education Program registration platform from Eventbrite to Humanitix. Humanitix is an easy to use system which will be integrated with the Professional Development Calendar page on the TAC website.
Register now for our upcoming event. Watch this space for more events in the new year. You can also be alerted to new events by following TAC’s Event Page on Humanitix.
- 22 Jan 24, 10-11am 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 webinar:
Developing Units of Competency for Accredited Courses
This webinar provides practical guidance on the principles and technical requirements for developing units which meet the Standards for Training Packages.
Focus on Quality: Assessment tool requirements
Determining whether a learner has achieved competency involves a comprehensive judgment process. This process assesses whether the learner has demonstrated all requirements of the unit of competency. These requirements include all the elements of competency (including all their performance criteria), foundation skills, performance evidence, and knowledge evidence requirements. The demonstration of these requirements must be based on credible evidence that meets the rules of evidence of validity, sufficiency, currency and authenticity [1.8b].
This means that the assessor has two judgements to make:
- Is the evidence for each unit requirement credible?
- Has the learner demonstrated each unit requirement?
The gathering of evidence is planned through a mapping of unit requirements and assessment tasks (skills) and questions (knowledge). The tasks and questions form assessment tools that provide focus and rigour to the evidence-gathering process.
The principles of assessment (1.8b) require us to be fair, flexible, valid and reliable in our judgements. Being fair requires us to be open about our assessment processes, being flexible requires us to accept any credible evidence about a learner, validity requires us to focus solely on evidence that relates to unit requirements, and reliability requires us to have marking schemes for assessment tools and a formal process for making the judgement. The formal judgement process could be as simple as confirming that each and every unit requirement has been met (backed up by credible evidence) or confirming that all assessment activities have been successfully completed.
The assessor must be able to declare with confidence that all unit requirements have been met. This can be done through an assessment summary that reflects the unit requirements and itemises the evidence sources. In the event that not all unit requirements have been demonstrated, the assessment summary would indicate what further training and assessment would be required to acquire and demonstrate those requirements.
Further information on assessment is available in the TAC Fact Sheet: Assessment and in TAC’s four part webinar series on assessment.
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 16 – Complying with relevant legal requirements
The Standards for RTOs state that RTOs must comply with Commonwealth, State and Territory legislation and regulatory requirements relevant to its operations; and that staff and clients need to be informed of these regulatory requirements and any changes that are made that affect the services delivered. This podcast explores what this could include and how RTOs could communicate this information.
Updated Fact Sheet
Fact Sheet - RTO Reporting Requirements
Minor updates to the Fact Sheet including updated links and a minor change to the Learner Questionnaire.
Transition extensions
At the December 2023 meeting, the Council agreed to extend the transition period for the following training products until 31 January 2025
- MEM20413 Certificate II in Engineering Pathways;
- MEM30319 Certificate III in Engineering – Fabrication Trade;
- MEM30405 Certificate III in Engineering – Electrical/Electronic Trade;
- MEM30505 Certificate III in Engineering – Technical;
- MEM40412 Certificate IV in Engineering Drafting;
- MEM50212 Diploma of Engineering – Technical;
- MEM60112 Advanced Diploma of Engineering;
- MSL40118 Certificate IV in Laboratory Techniques; and
- MSL50118 Diploma of Laboratory Technology.
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
AVETMISS Reporting
The window for reporting 2023 AVETMISS data directly to NCVER opens on 1 January 2024 and closes on 29 February 2024.
You can learn more about reporting your 2023 AVETMISS data by subscribing to NCVER’s Data Support Bulletin, which is produced on a regular basis with the aim of providing updates on AVETMISS publications, the AVETMISS Validation Software and the Data Entry Tool.
Improving adult language, literacy, numeracy and digital literacy skills
With around one in five Australians having literacy and/or numeracy gaps, limiting their ability to participate fully in training, employment and the broader community, foundation skills are crucial to achieving a range of outcomes across education and training, employment, productivity and social inclusion.
A number of new and updated measures have been introduced as part of reinvigorating foundation skills training which can be viewed here.
Impact of generative AI on skills in the workplace
With the recent proliferation of AI in the public domain, the Future Skills Organisation has been examining the potential impact of AI on Australia’s VET and training systems. The Impact of Generative AI on Skills in the Workplace report is now available to view.
Jobs and Skills Australia
Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) has released the following:
Reports:
Consultations:
- Early Childhood, Education and Care Capacity Study - Closes 11 Jan
- 2024-25 work plan development consultation - Closes 24 Jan
Latest NCVER Reports
NCVER has released the following new reports:
- Apprentices and trainees 2023: June quarter (19 Dec)
- VET student outcomes 2023 (14 Dec)
- Government-funded students and courses – January to June 2023 (7 Dec)
- Government funding of VET 2022 (revised 5 Dec)
- NCVER annual report 2022-23 (30 Nov)
