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Achieving this Standard in practice

The following lists examples of activities that may demonstrate compliance with the Standard, as well as risks to mitigate or control. These examples are not a complete list of every activity or risk, nor do all the activities listed need to be completed to satisfy compliance requirements. Rather, they are a guide and should be considered within the context, size, scale and student cohorts of your RTO’s operations.

To help determine whether you have achieved the Standard refer to the self-assurance questions below.

Standard 1.8: Facilities, resources and equipment for each training product are fit-for-purpose, safe, accessible and sufficient.

Performance Indicators

An NVR registered training organisation demonstrates:

  1. how it identifies the facilities, resources and equipment required to deliver the training product, including how it identifies which facilities, resources and equipment will be provided by third parties instead of the organisation;
  2. where facilities, resources and equipment are provided by the organisation or third parties – how the organisation ensures:
    1. that the facilities, resources and equipment are, and will continue to be suitable and safe for use by VET students;
    2. that VET students have access to the facilities, resources and equipment they need to participate in the training and assessment relevant to the training product; and
  3. it has documented strategies and procedures in place to identify and manage risks associated with VET students using facilities, resources and equipment when undertaking work-integrated learning, work placements, or other community-based learning as part of their learning.

  • You can demonstrate how your recognition of prior learning (RPL) policies, processes and tools are designed and applied with the same rigour as your assessment system, including that they:
    • are consistent with, and maintain the integrity of, the training product requirements
    • ensure currency of evidence provided by the VET student
    • meet the requirements of the principles of assessment and rules of evidence (Standard 1.4)
    • result in transparent, defensible and documented decisions.
  • You can demonstrate how you make students aware of:
    • their right to have their prior learning recognised (where it is not prevented by any industry regulator or licensing requirements), and
    • your organisation’s RPL policy and process.
  • You can demonstrate how your RPL approach accommodates the variety of experiences and learning pathways that students present.
  • You can demonstrate how students are made aware of the role any third party will play in their RPL assessment.
  • You can demonstrate how you ensure that the assessor responsible for assessing the RPL evidence, including those engaged through third parties, meet the requirements of Standards 3.2 and 3.3.
  • You ensure that your staff understand that granting RPL where the student does not meet the requirements of the training product may have serious consequences for the VET student, and for public safety, industry confidence and the reputation of the VET sector and can demonstrate to ASQA how your policies, systems and processes provide this assurance.
  • You can demonstrate how you validate and assure your RPL practices and processes to be confident that decisions are being made in accordance with the Standards, and where third parties conduct RPL on your RTO’s behalf, you can demonstrate how you monitor and validate the quality of their RPL practices with the same level of rigour.
  • Where assessment of a VET student’s RPL evidence identifies gaps, you can demonstrate how you work with them in relation to the amount of gap training required, how that training will be delivered and any costs associated with it. 

  • Maximising student enrolment numbers without considering the availability of facilities, resources or equipment including suitable placements, or capacity to support and assess students while on work placement.
  • Having poor quality facilities, equipment and resources that do not enable students to sufficiently gain required skills and prepare for the training product.
  • Not adequately considering the appropriateness of delivering training or assessment via online or virtual means. For example, over-reliance on simulated work environments, virtual supervisor observations or requiring students to digitally record their assessment activities in a public space without considering privacy implications.    
  • Offering poor quality work placements that do not sufficiently prepare students for the workforce. For example, not confirming with work placement employers that they will ensure students are given adequate time and opportunity to practice/demonstrate all skills required during their placement.  
  • Not sufficiently servicing your regional/ rural/ remote locations to ensure that students there have access to appropriate facilities and work placements.  
  • Not including third party’s facilities, resources and equipment when self-assuring against this standard, including work health and safety.  
  • Delivering training using resources and/or equipment that is outdated and no longer in use by industry.

Self-assurance questions

  1. Do the training product requirements include specific facilities, resources or equipment?
  2. How has industry, employer, community, staff and student feedback influenced the facilities, resources and equipment you use?
  3. How do students access the facilities, resources and equipment? Do all students have reasonable and equitable access?
  4. What risks are associated with the facilities, resources and equipment and how are these risks proactively managed, including by your third parties, to ensure the safety of students and staff at all times?
  5. What consideration have you given to the appropriateness of virtual assessment before proceeding with it? For example, if asking a student to record an assessment activity that involves interacting with another person, has that person given consent to being recorded?
  6. Are there any specific risks associated with facilities, resources or equipment used for work-integrated learning, work placements or other community-based learning? If so, how are these being managed?