Schedule 1 – Fit And Proper Person Requirements

Schedule 1: Fit And Proper Person Requirements

1 Application of fit and proper person requirements

The Council must have regard to all matters it considers relevant that are specified in this Schedule when determining whether:

1. a WA registered provider;
2. a governing person of a WA registered provider;
3. a person applying to become a WA registered provider; or
4. a governing person of a person applying to become a WA registered provider,

is, or would be, a fit and proper person for the purposes of registration, renewing registration, or maintaining registration as a WA registered provider under the Act.

Note: This section does not limit the types of persons which the Council may have regard to when undertaking a fit and proper person assessment.

2  Compliance with law

1. Regardless of whether a conviction has been recorded, the Council may have regard to whether the person has been found guilty of an offence against, or ordered to pay a pecuniary penalty under, a law of the Commonwealth or a State or Territory.

Note: This provision does not affect the operation of the Spent Convictions Act 1988 (WA) or other legislation that relieves persons from the requirement to disclose spent convictions and requires persons aware of such convictions to disregard them.

2. The Council may have regard to the seriousness of, and the time elapsed since the offence, conviction, or matter to which the pecuniary penalty relates occurred.
3. The Council may have regard to whether the person is currently involved in proceedings before a court or tribunal.
4. The Council may have regard to whether the person has been found guilty of a foreign offence (within the meaning of section 85ZL of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)).

3 Management history

1.  The Council may have regard to whether one or more of the following has been cancelled, revoked, suspended or rejected:
   1. the person’s registration as a registered training organisation;
   2. the person’s application for registration or renewal of registration as a registered training organisation;
   3. the person’s approval as an approved course provider (within the meaning of the VET Student Loans Act 2016 (Cth)) or VET provider (within the meaning of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (Cth));
   4. subsidy funding arrangements with a State or Territory for the provision of education services by the person.
2. The Council may have regard to whether the person has:
   1. breached a condition of registration as a registered training organisation; or
   2. had a condition imposed by way of sanction on a registration, approval or arrangement mentioned in subsection (1) and has breached such a condition.
3. The Council may have regard to whether the person has ever been a manager or director of a registered higher education provider (within the meaning of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (Cth)) or registered provider (within the meaning of the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (Cth)) during a period in which the registered higher education provider or registered provider was determined to have breached a condition of its registration under the:
   1. Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (Cth); or
   2. Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (Cth).
4. The Council may have regard to whether the person has ever been involved:
   1. in the business of delivering courses or other services on behalf of a person that was the subject of regulatory action described in subsections (1), (2) or (3); or
   2. with a registered training organisation at the time that organisation was found to have breached a government training contract.
5. The Council may have regard to whether the person has been disqualified from managing corporations under Part 2D.6 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).

4  Financial record

The Council may have regard to whether the person has:

1. been insolvent or bankrupt;
2. taken steps to take the benefit of any law for the relief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors;
3. compounded with one or more creditors;
4. assigned remuneration for the benefit of one or more creditors;
5. been under external administration (within the meaning of subsection 600H(2) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)); or
6. outstanding debts to the Commonwealth, a State or Territory.

5 Provision of information

1. The Council may have regard to whether the person has provided false or misleading information to any of the following in circumstances where it is reasonable to assume the person knew the information was false or misleading:

1. a VET Regulator;
2. the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency;
3. the TPS Director (within the meaning of the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (Cth)), including in the TPS Director’s capacity as the VSL Tuition Protection Director under the VET Student Loans Act 2016 (Cth) and the Higher Education Tuition Protection Director under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (Cth);

(ca) the Minister responsible for the administration of the Act, the department of the Public Service principally assisting in the administration of the Act, or the chief executive of that department;

4. the Minister responsible for the administration of the Commonwealth Act, the Department principally assisting in the administration of the Commonwealth Act, or the Secretary of that department; or
5. an authority of a State or Territory that deals with subsidy funding arrangements for education.
    

6  Previous conduct and involvements

1 The Council may have regard to whether the person has previously been found not to be a fit and proper person for the purposes of one or more of the following:

1. the Act;

(aa) the Commonwealth Act;

2. the Australian Education Act 2013 (Cth);
3. the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (Cth);
4. the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (Cth);
5. the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (Cth);
6. the VET Student Loans Act 2016 (Cth);
7. subsidy funding arrangements with a State or Territory for the provision of education; or
8. any other law of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory.

2. The Council may have regard to whether the person has previously engaged in conduct that reasonably suggests a deliberate pattern of unethical behaviour.

3. The Council may have regard to any other matter relating to a person’s previous conduct or involvement that the Council considers relevant.

7  Additional considerations

The Council may have regard to whether the public is unlikely to have confidence in the person's suitability to be involved in a provider that provides, assesses or issues nationally recognised qualifications.

Related Standards

Outcome Standard:

• Standard 4.1 - leadership and accountability

Additional Resources

Please note the draft Schedule contain no changes to the current FPPRs.

Website:

• Fit and Proper Person Requirements
• Fit and Proper Person Policy
• Fit and Proper Person Declaration (Form)

Webinar

• The Fit and Proper Person Requirements webinar covers the steps involved in TAC assessing Fit and Proper Person Declarations and who needs to submit a declaration.  Although this webinar is aligned to the Standards for RTOs 2015, the information contained within the webinar is relevant to the Revised Standards for RTOs.