Fact Sheet: Industry, Employer and Community Engagement

Fact sheet
This Training Accreditation Council (TAC) fact sheet explores the idea of industry, employer and community engagement approaches to ensure that training and assessment is relevant, fit for purpose and reflects current industry practice.
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Introduction

The requirements for RTOs in relation to industry, employer and community engagement are contained in Quality Area 1 – Training and Assessment, Outcome Standard 1.2 of the 2025 Registration Standards.

Outcome Standard 1.2 indicates that Engagement with industry, employer and community representatives effectively informs the industry relevance of training offered by the RTO.

Outcome Standard 1.2 focuses on ensuring training is relevant, fit for purpose, and reflects current industry practice.  The intent is that RTOs consider:

  • the key stakeholders they should engage with, including thinking broadly about potential stakeholders who are not necessarily known to the RTO or staff;
  • How they engage with industry, employers, and community; and
  • How they use the information they gather to inform and improve their training services and outcomes for their students.

Also refer to the Fact Sheet, Training within the 2025 Standards.

Stakeholders – Industry, Employers and Community Representatives

Industry 'owns' the qualifications, skill sets and units of competency that an RTO delivers. These are set through the industry developed national Training Packages or accredited courses. When an RTO issues a certificate, it should reassure industry, employers and the community that the training and assessment provided is relevant and meets its expectations. Engagement is a strategy to provide a direct relationship between the RTO and the industry or community it serves for the mutual benefit and confidence of each party.

Stakeholder engagement is a systematic process that involves consultation between an RTO and industry, employer or community representatives who may affect or be affected by the RTOs decisions or actions and serves for the mutual benefit of each party. To nurture effective stakeholder engagement, RTOs should:

  • Identify multiple stakeholders relevant to their operational context, with some being more visible than others;
  • Encourage stakeholder engagement at all staff levels in the process;
  • Challenge leaders to think broadly about who they are engaging with and why;
  • Ensure stakeholders understand their role and are valued; and
  • Ensure diversity in the stakeholder group. Diversity brings creativity and innovation!

Performance Indicators

There are 3 Performance Indicators (PI) for Outcome Standard 1.2 which focus on ensuring RTOs are engaging with relevant stakeholders, reviewing their current industry, employer and/or community-based engagement activities and considering if they are making the most of the feedback they receive. 

How it identifies relevant industry, employer and community representatives and seeks meaningful advice and feedback from those representatives.

The RTO’s governing persons, trainers, assessors and support staff should undertake regular analysis to determine if the current process for identifying industry, employer and community representatives is providing them with the information they need. Some key questions to consider include:

  • What are my current practices for identifying industry/employer/community representatives?
  • Are my practices for stakeholder engagement ad hoc or strategic?
  • When I engage with industry/employer/community representatives, am I asking the right questions?
  • What information am I seeking and how will it inform my RTO’s practices?

RTOs should engage with stakeholders to a degree that aligns with the specific requirements of the training product, recognising that some products may necessitate input from multiple stakeholders.  The rationale for each engagement should be clearly communicated and justified.

RTOs should look to engage with those who can provide specific and relevant information that will assist in developing their training delivery.  For some RTOs the people with whom they engage can be focussed only on RTO staff who may also be working within their industry.  This practice is limiting and can lead to important perspectives being missed or a biased outcome.  RTOs should consider alternative methods of finding relevant stakeholders.

One method of identifying relevant potential stakeholders is to undertake a ‘Stakeholder Analysis’.  This involves 3 simple steps:

Step 1: Collect relevant information for each potential stakeholder. Relevant information may include their particular interest in an industry area, the potential role they could play, their level of knowledge on a particular topic and their standing within the industry.

Step 2: Identify how willingly each stakeholder might engage with the RTO.  The reasons why stakeholders may be reticent to engage with an RTO may vary but could include conflict of interest, perceived benefits or lack of trust.  

Step 3: Consider access to and the availability of each stakeholder and whether they will be able to meet RTO needs in terms of time and commitment.  This should not be understated, as competing work pressures may limit a potential stakeholder’s involvement and therefore their ability to provide RTOs with timely feedback.  

In undertaking a stakeholder analysis, RTOs will think more strategically, leading to pro-active engagement, building long-term relationships, aligning RTO goals in meeting student needs and sharing best practice.   

If an RTO does not undertake stakeholder analysis, the risk is that the RTO may be more likely to be reactive and deliver irrelevant and ineffective training and assessment.   

Once relevant industry, employer and community representatives have been identified, the RTO should consider the best method of communication.   Stakeholders will want to know their time is being used effectively, so using a range of methods to interact with stakeholders is key including: 

  • virtual online meetings such as MS Teams and Zoom; 
  • provide stakeholders with as much information about the purpose and intent of the engagement prior to discussions; 
  • use survey tools such as Survey Monkey or MS Forms to gather insights from a large or diverse audiences and that provide flexibility and facilitate data analysis and reporting;  
  • create focus groups where industry, employer or community representatives can provide advice or feedback; or 
  • create an advisory panel to inform the RTOs operations. 

Case Study 1 - HHE Community Learning

HHE Community Learning is a registered training organisation that has been in operation for 5 years in WA, delivering qualifications to the aged care sector. They are now looking to grow into the mental health sector and are considering establishing an advisory panel with relevant stakeholders to assist them develop their strategy.  They want to start with a small group of stakeholders with whom they can design their training and assessment strategy for the Certificate IV in Mental Health qualification.  They would like to include industry, employer and the community members on a panel.  The Director of HHE undertakes a stakeholder analysis and develops a short summary document outlining what they are trying to achieve and the role of the panel members.   The Director decides to invite the following stakeholders to a meeting: 

  • A community representative from Serving Minds and Hearts;  
  • An industry representative from The Perth Psychological Society; and 
  • Two employer representatives, one from St Michael’s Hospital and the other from the local Medical Centre.  

The rationale for approaching these stakeholders includes: 

  • the community representative will provide general mental health information on a range of client groups such as  age, nationality, gender - that can be considered when choosing appropriate core and elective units for different streams of the qualification;  
  • the industry representative will provide access to local research and possible learning materials; and 
  • the employers will provide advice on the types of mental health activities employers are currently implementing and how they can inform training and assessment practice.   

Case Study 2 – Engineering Training and Development (ETD) 

ETD has received some feedback from its students that integrating a work placement into the Certificate III in Engineering would be beneficial so that they can apply the skills learnt in the RTO in a real workplace environment. ETD would like to seek feedback from relevant stakeholders to determine if a work placement would be supported.  The Training Manager undertakes a stakeholder analysis which determines that a face-to-face meeting with the following stakeholders would be useful:    

  • an industry representative from Engineers WA; and 
  • employer representatives from a local engineering company based in the RTO’s suburb and an employer who employs graduates this qualification. 

The RTO did consider whether a community representative should be identified but determined this is not needed for the change in training strategy.   

The rationale for approaching the stakeholders includes the: 

  • industry representative will provide access to local engineering firms who may be interested in hosting a student for work placement; and 
  • employers will provide generic advice on issues such as (a) how long the work placement might last and (b) what benefits it can bring to employers, students and the RTO. 

It uses relevant advice and feedback to inform changes to training and assessment strategies and practices 

Some examples of stakeholder feedback that may be relevant to RTOs include: 

  • the extent to which a unit of competency reflects actual workplace practice - while stakeholders might not know the details of a unit of competency, they can provide workplace context and suggestions for assessment tasks;  
  • changes to training and assessment strategies - stakeholders may suggest alternative ways of teaching specific topics or assessment methods that the RTO may not yet have considered; 
  • the current industry skills of trainers and assessors - stakeholders can provide RTOs with feedback on current skills and industry knowledge that is required for trainers and assessor or suggest industry experts who may be able to provide input on specific teaching topics;  
  • whether the learning resources are reflective of industry practice - stakeholders may assist by reviewing learning resources to confirm if they reflect industry practice; 
  • the extent to which the mode of delivery is suitable for the training product - stakeholders can provide feedback on the RTOs delivery models which may include options to increase flexibility or allow more hands-on practical application for students; and 
  • best practice assessment methods to use with different training products -   stakeholders can provide input on assessment methods or tasks that the RTO may not have considered or provide premises for the RTO to undertake assessment in a real-workplace environment. 

Advice and feedback can come in various formats and should seek to improve the outcomes for students and industry while informing training and assessment practices. Based on the type of feedback received from stakeholders, RTOs may be required to review and update their practices as part of either an informal or formal continuous improvement processes.   

To ensure stakeholder engagement is effective requires a high level of relationship management. An RTO needs to be able to navigate, maintain and grow connections with its stakeholders. Relationships with stakeholders will change and may be impacted by many factors, therefore, RTOs should consider its processes to maintain stakeholder relationships and include contingencies for when a stakeholder is not able to continue the relationship.  

Stakeholder engagement plays a critical role in informing and guiding change. and should not be viewed as a one-off compliance activity, but as a strategic component of an RTO’s continuous improvement framework. Feedback from stakeholders must be systematically collected, analysed, and used to inform decisions that enhance training and assessment practices. By integrating stakeholder engagement into continuous improvement, RTOs can ensure their services remain responsive, relevant, and aligned with industry expectations 

To embed stakeholder engagement into continuous improvement processes, RTOs should: 

  • Document all stakeholder feedback and link it to specific actions or decisions. 
  • Include stakeholder insights in regular quality assurance and validation reviews. 
  • Use feedback to inform updates to training strategies, learning resources, and delivery models. 
  • Maintain a Continuous Improvement Register that tracks stakeholder input and resulting actions. 

One of the common non-compliances at audit around stakeholder engagement is in reference to not following through on stakeholder recommendations.  It should be emphasised that acting on recommendations and/or suggestions from stakeholders helps strengthen relationships and demonstrates continuous improvement. 

Training reflects current industry practice 

RTOs should be able to demonstrate that their training practices reflect current industry practices by working with stakeholders to provide feedback in areas such as:  

  • the training environment where stakeholders provide insight into whether an RTO’s premises and equipment meet industry standards; 
  • access to training resources which allow stakeholders the opportunity to review and provide feedback.  This will build confidence in the relevancy and practicality of the learning process; and 
  • the structure and pace of learning. Stakeholders are the ‘industry experts’ and can provide valuable feedback on the length of time required to learn and apply concepts.  

An RTO that has established good processes for engaging with industry, employers and community representatives ensures that the RTO is remaining current with latest industry trends, technologies and standards. 

Some ways an RTO can use this engagement to demonstrate current industry practice includes: 

  • opportunities for trainers and assessors to participate in professional development activities that are relevant and abreast of industry changes; 
  • invite guest speakers from industry to deliver topics or workshops to staff; or 
  • regular reviews of training and assessment strategies that reflect the practical application of skills and knowledge in a real-world workplace setting; or 
  • Embedding training and assessment staff in industry to upgrade skills and knowledge. 

Outcome Standard 3.3 - Training and assessment is delivered by persons with current industry skills and knowledge relevant to the training product. 

Stakeholder engagement is also a key component of Outcome Standard 3.3.   

Stakeholders may be engaged to help determine whether trainers and assessors possess current industry skills and knowledge relevant to the training product. Additionally, RTOs may engage ‘industry experts’ to provide subject matter expertise that is directly relevant to the training product the RTO is delivering.     

The opportunity for stakeholders to provide feedback on trainer, assessor and industry experts’ competency should be viewed as value adding to an RTO and, where used, any recommendations noted in the RTOs continuous improvement plan. The use of industry experts can provide valuable insights into a training program as it may not only fill a skills gap for the RTO but foster greater collaboration and networking opportunities.   

It is important to understand the distinction between stakeholders and industry experts. While some individuals may serve in both roles, their functions differ and must be clearly defined to ensure compliance with the Credential Policy and Outcome Standard 3.3. 

RoleDefinitionPrimary Function
StakeholderIndustry, employer, or community representative providing feedback or advice. Inform training relevance, trainer competency, and strategy. 
Industry ExpertA subject matter expert engaged to deliver or assess training. 

Deliver specific training or assessment under supervision. 

For more information about Outcome Standard 3.3, please refer to the Current Industry Skills and Knowledge Fact Sheet.  

 

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