Fact Sheet: Supporting Student Wellbeing, Diversity and Inclusion

Outcome Standards 2.5 and 2.6 outline RTO obligations to:

• Promotes and supports diversity and fosters a safe and inclusive learning environment for students, including a culturally safe learning environment for First Nations people; and
• Identify wellbeing needs of student and strategies put in place to support those needs.

These Outcome Standards provide a framework for RTOs to understand the range of support or assistance available to accommodate student needs. While needs will vary across different student cohorts, the 2025 Standards highlight the importance of addressing diversity, inclusion, and wellbeing as core components of quality training delivery.

Identifying and Supporting Student Needs

RTOs are required to account for diversity in students’ backgrounds, abilities, prior experiences and needs to understand their unique circumstances and support these throughout the students’ journey.  To do this, RTOs must consider, assess and review the training product together with the student cohort’s needs, and implement policies, procedures, and strategies that can support and/or provide access to support services as required.

This information must be clearly communicated to students and always be easily accessible. Students’ needs must be taken into consideration throughout the learning journey, including:

• when marketing to students; (Compliance Standard 7 and 8);
• during initial and enrolment communication; (Outcome Standards 2.1, 2.2); and
• during training and assessment (Outcome Standard - Quality Area 1).

As per Outcome Standard 2.2, the enrolment process should consider gathering specific information about the student’s language, literacy and numeracy (LLN), digital literacy, cultural, ethnic or religious observances, access requirements, previous training (including relevant qualifications or units of competency) and learning style preferences, to inform the RTO in fostering a safe, inclusive and culturally safe learning environment. More information is available in the Fact Sheet: VET Student Support - Information, Enrolment and Suitability of the Training Product.

Prior learning or experience must be accommodated by supporting students to access credit transfer and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), as per Outcome Standards 1.3 and 1.7.  

Diversity and Inclusion

Outcome Standard 2.5, states that ‘The learning environment promotes and supports the diversity of VET students.’

RTOs are expected to create learning environments that are not only free from racism, discrimination and harassment, but are also actively inclusive and responsive to the diverse backgrounds and experiences of students. Diversity may relate to age, gender, cultural and linguistic background, socio-economic status, neurodivergence, disability, and sexual orientation, among other factors.

To meet Outcome Standard 2.5, RTOs must consider how the following are designed to be accessible and inclusive to students:

• training environment;
• learning and assessment materials;
• delivery modes;
• wellbeing support services; and
• recruitment and communication practices.

Attention must also be given to ensuring that the learning environment is culturally safe for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Importantly, this Outcome Standard applies to all RTOs, regardless of whether any students, trainers/assessors or staff identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This could be achieved by:

• acknowledging the unique experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia;
• recognising that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people do not always have the same level of access to VET as non-Aboriginal Australians, nor the same positive experiences; and
• actively addressing unconscious bias, racism and discrimination and supporting self-determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Cultural safety means creating an environment where people feel respected, valued, and free to express their identity without challenge or denial. These principles benefit all students and contribute to a more positive and inclusive learning experience.

The learning environment must be free from racism, discrimination, or any other form of harassment. RTOs must actively consider how their recruitment policies, training environment, activities and materials, assessment processes, and wellbeing support services are designed to be accessible and inclusive for all students.

To foster diversity and inclusion, RTOs should ensure that all staff—not just trainers and assessors—are culturally competent and committed to creating safe and inclusive environments. This includes reviewing and revising materials and practices to ensure they are culturally inclusive.

Steps RTOs can take towards this may include:

• cultural competency training for all staff, focusing on understanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, history, and the systemic barriers these students face;
• developing and implementing a Cultural Safety Policy that outlines expectations for staff and students;
• clear procedures ensuring zero tolerance for discrimination, racism, or harassment in all forms;
• acknowledging and celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, traditions, and history within the RTO environment (e.g. through artwork, symbols, and events);
• engaging with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups and other cultural communities to develop relationships and opportunities;
• engaging staff or industry experts from diverse backgrounds, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, to deliver or review training and assessment; and
• appointing dedicated support staff (e.g. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Liaison Officers) to assist students with academic, personal, and cultural matters.

Wellbeing support

Understanding and responding to student needs extends beyond academic support—it includes recognising and addressing wellbeing factors that influence a student’s ability to engage and succeed in their training. This reflects the broader responsibility of RTOs to support student wellbeing throughout the learning journey.

In Outcome Standard 2.6, the RTO must demonstrates that the wellbeing needs of the VET student cohort are identified and strategies are put in place to support these needs.

RTOs must consider students as individuals whose overall wellbeing significantly contributes to their ability to engage in and progress through a training product.  By putting strategies in place to uphold student wellbeing, RTOs can help enhance student engagement and satisfaction, support progression and completion and create a safe learning environment, contributing to a positive reputation for the RTO and VET more broadly.

While RTOs are not expected to deliver all wellbeing support services directly, they must ensure students are informed about available supports and are assisted in accessing them where appropriate.  This may include providing information about, or referrals to, external services and resources.

Wellbeing support services mean personal support services and resources to assist with students' physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. The type and scale of wellbeing support offered by RTOs depend on several factors and will need to be carefully considered by RTOs to ensure they are appropriate and effective for the student cohort.

These factors, particularly in relation to training and assessment strategies, could include:

• duration of training course and contact with individual students - an RTO offering a one-day course in one unit of competency compared to an organisation offering an 18-month Advanced Diploma may provide very different support strategies;
• mode of delivery – online versus face-to-face;
• employed students who have access to services through their place of employment;
• students under the age of 18; and
• students from culturally diverse backgrounds, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, immigrants, and LQBTQI+ community members.

Depending on the wellbeing needs of the student cohort, the RTO may organise or advertise the availability of:

• external counselling services providing vocational, emotional and psychological support;
• services to assist in accessing financial support for students at risk of discontinuing their training on financial grounds;
• referral to medical services;
• healthy food options available onsite or at nearby food outlets; or
• nearby places offering opportunities for exercise, mindfulness and stress management, such as gyms, parks, yoga or meditation studios.

The Outcome Standards do not limit the type of wellbeing support services an RTO may offer or refer students to. RTOs must ensure staff are aware of these supports and that systems are in place to communicate them clearly to students.

While RTOs are not responsible for ensuring students take up support services, they are encouraged to monitor uptake and satisfaction—for example, through student feedback—to inform continuous improvement.

Wellbeing needs may vary depending on the characteristics of the student cohort and the nature of the training product. For example, emotionally challenging content may require additional support, as illustrated in the case study below.

In addition to the requirements outlined in the Outcome Standards, RTOs need to be aware that aspects of wellbeing align with the organisation's legal obligations under Work Health and Safety (WHS) legislation to ensure the physical and psychological wellbeing of their staff and students. In WA, this is the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WHS Act) and accompanying regulations which came into effect on 31 March 2022. The WHS Act details the requirement for organisations in the identification, assessment, and management of psychosocial hazards—factors that can cause psychological harm and have a direct impact on wellbeing.

Demonstrating compliance

In considering Outcome Standards 2.5 and 2.6, the auditor will be looking for evidence of:

• strategies and tools used to identify student needs holistically considering wellbeing, diversity and educational needs;
• a clear statement in the training and assessment strategy (or other similar document/s) of potential students and their likely needs. The statement might also indicate the student needs that cannot be accommodated by the training delivery and assessment services covered by the strategy;
• how student needs have been identified;
• the RTO making changes/adjustments to delivery and assessment where required to support student needs; and
• the RTO monitoring the effectiveness of their approaches and making evidence-based improvements when required.

RTOs should have mechanisms in place to measure and review how their learning environment promotes and supports wellbeing, inclusion and diversity and to identify opportunities to continuously improve.

For initial registration, this evidence would be based on policies, procedures and plans. In later audits, evidence would be sought of the delivery, outcomes and continuous monitoring of the effectiveness of these services, including evidence from student feedback.