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Towards self-assurance

We are working with training providers to co-design a model for self-assurance. This model will support providers to identify risks to the quality of their training practices and outcomes, be proactive in taking remedial action when things go wrong and take opportunities to be innovative in meeting the training needs of students, industry and the community. This will lead to better quality training outcomes for all.

A model for self-assurance will:

  • provide a framework for the systems and practices providers need to monitor and continuously improve performance against the Standards
  • help providers to demonstrate the effectiveness of their self-assurance systems and practices to ASQA.

Over time, where providers can demonstrate the effectiveness of their ability to self-assure and continuously improve, we will take this into consideration in our (regulatory) interactions with them.   The transition to a regulatory approach with a greater focus on provider self-assurance will take time. Self-assurance capability is varied in the sector. While many providers already practice effective self-assurance, some will need to develop their capability. At ASQA, we will be developing our regulatory tools and processes to support our increased focus on self-assurance. 

To support this shift, we will work with our key stakeholders and providers to build a shared understanding of self-assurance, how we can promote self-assurance, how it benefits providers and achieves quality outcomes for students, and how each provider can build their self-assurance capability.

To achieve this, we will: 

  • develop guidance and support for providers to assist them in understanding their registration requirements
  • clarify our expectations around continuous improvement of outcomes
  • engage with providers and course owners/developers about areas of risk and sharing our regulatory insights with the sector to support providers and course owners/developers to critically review their performance
  • clearly communicate with non-compliant providers, so they can understand where they have not met requirements and where they need to improve their performance 
  • clearly communicate with prospective applicants and course owners for VET course accreditation to support their capacity to understand and maintain the requirements of the relevant standards.  

We are mindful of the cultural change required across the sector, including within ASQA, to successfully achieve the shift to self-assurance, and we are committed to building the strong partnerships and relationships of mutual trust and respect necessary to achieve this shift.

The self-assurance model will be adapted, evaluated, and further developed together with training providers as we learn through its application.

Read about the draft model for self-assurance we have co-designed with the sector.

✕
Self  ASSURANCE

The co-design process

The co-design process of a model for self-assurance is underway. We are working closely with a diverse range of providers to ensure the model is informed by practice and is meaningful in different operating contexts. There are 4 phases in the co-design process:

  • Phase 1 – Preparing for co-design

    October – December 2021 Workshops were held with our Provider Roundtable and Stakeholder Liaison Group Self-Assurance sub-group, VET regulators and state and territory funding authorities in 2021 and early 2022 to understand the context and inform the co-design. 

  • Phase 2 – Co-designing a draft model 

    January – March 2022 In early 2022, we began the co-design process with provider focus groups and stakeholder interviews and workshops to inform the development of a draft model for self-assurance.

    We recently completed this stage of the co-design process. You can read about what we heard from the sector and the draft model for self-assurance we have co-designed with the sector.

  • Phase 3 – Testing the draft model

    April – June 2022 The draft model for self-assurance will be put to the test through:

    • further focus groups and interviews with providers, trainers and assessors, and key stakeholders
    • an opportunity to provide feedback via the ASQA website
    • exploring the various ways providers can demonstrate self-assurance.

    We will also conduct workshops with our key stakeholder groups (as for Phase 1).  

  • Phase 4  – Supporting providers and continuous improvement

    From July 2022 Later in 2022, we will publish regular updates and share guidance and case studies to support providers to self-assure. We will also monitor provider practice and the effectiveness of the model to continuously improve our approach.

  • Risk-based and proportionate regulation

    Alongside our focus on provider self-assurance, ASQA will continue to maintain safeguards against poor quality VET to ensure confidence in the integrity of national qualifications issued by training providers. As such, we will continue our regulatory approach, which focuses on analysing, treating and responding to the most significant risks facing the VET sector. 

    We will work closely with the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) to align the model with the revised, outcomes-based Standards.

    Our journey towards self-assurance
       
    •  2020: We sought sector-wide feedback on providers’ understanding of self-assurance and their existing practices in our consultation paper, Working together towards effective self-assurance.
      
    •  2021: We revised how we assess compliance with the Standards and released a new approach to Performance Assessment focused on the systems and practices in place to examine their own performance and training outcomes. 

    If you have a question or comment about self-assurance in the VET sector, you can contact the project team at StrategicReviews@asqa.gov.au

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