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ASQA’s Regulatory Risk Priorities for 2021–22
This page outlines ASQA’s Regulatory Risk Priorities for 2021–22. We update these priorities regularly to ensure we are responding to the most current issues in the sector.
We use a risk-based approach to determine the most significant risks to achieving ASQA’s purpose, which is to ensure quality VET and the integrity of national qualifications issued by training providers.
We will be engaging with the sector continuously throughout this year and sharing more detail progressively as regular ‘Risk Insights’.
Please note that in addition to the risks identified here, we are also proactively interacting with a number of providers for whom there is no identified risk, as part of monitoring the overall performance of the sector.
About our Regulatory Risk Priorities for 2021–22
Providers that effectively self-assure their practices have systems and processes in place to critically examine their performance and student outcomes on an ongoing basis.
This year we are focusing on co-designing and implementing regulatory approaches that focus on self-assurance, excellence in training outcomes, and continuous improvement.
Competition between international education providers for international enrolments grew during a time of international border closures and this competition is expected to continue now that international students can again enter Australia.
This year we are focusing on ensuring that students continue to receive quality outcomes despite the increased pressures on VET and ELICOS providers.
Our ongoing strategic review of online learning seeks to better understand the opportunities and risks associated with online learning across the VET and English language sectors.
This year we are focusing on ensuring that the quality of VET remains at a high-standard and continue to support confidence in the integrity of qualifications.
The Australian Government has provided funding for aged care providers to develop training and skills plans as well as additional training places for new and existing personal care workers, including through the JobTrainer stimulus package.
This year we are focusing on assessing and addressing poor practices and while reinforcing good practice in relation to CHC33015 Certificate III in Individual Support work placements and assessment delivery in order to safeguard quality for the aged care/disability support sector.
We are continuing to provide resources and tools to support trainers and assessors in our educational Spotlight On series.
This year we are focusing on ensuring high levels of trainer and assessor capability because we recognise that it is central to delivering quality outcomes for students.
Changing economic circumstances and employer expectations, as well as changes within the VET sector, mean that the risks relating to individual training products are not static. Through our research we have identified that the following training products warrant closer scrutiny in the year ahead: CHC33015 Certificate III in Individual Support; Certificate III and Certificate IV in Commercial Cookery; CHC50113 Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care; and BSB50420 Diploma of Leadership and Management. This year we are focusing regulatory effort on these training products in order to reduce the incidence of non-compliance over time. |
The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic uncertainty have accelerated many pre-existing economic, social and technological trends. This influences the demand for skills and training delivery, as well as the risks to the quality of Australian VET. Extreme weather events and natural disasters have also impacted providers’ ability to deliver training, compounding challenges they may already have been experiencing in maintaining their regulatory obligations.
This year we are continuing to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters through our interactions with providers, applying a proportionate and risk-based regulatory approach.
We are committed to ensuring the quality of VET delivered to students in secondary schools.
This year we are focusing on implementing actions from our strategic review of VET in schools; including engaging with stakeholders on shared risk; and enhancing information and guidance for providers about their obligations. We will be supporting providers to continuously improve though our ongoing monitoring.
Our research shows that government funding injections and employment growth sectors can present a risk to the delivery of quality training, typically as a result of an increase in demand for training, and providers’ response to this increased demand.
This year we are continuing to focus on identifying and reinforcing good provider behaviours, and preventing poor behaviours from emerging in relation to areas of increased funding.
We will also be contributing to wider government policies on training package reform as they are central to ensuring a fit-for-purpose system that delivers in-demand skills for a prosperous future.
This year we are concentrating regulatory effort on clauses of recurrent interest or those which are reportedly problematic for providers from the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015.
These clauses include: 1.1, 1.8, 1.3, 1.2, 3.1, 1.7.
Content last reviewed: Tuesday 22 March 2022
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