Foreword from the Chief Executive Officer

Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) play a pivotal role in the quality of Australia's vocational education and training (VET) sector.

In a rapidly evolving economy, the VET system is at the heart of our economic growth and prosperity, equipping more than 4 million Australians each year with new and emerging skills to meet the changing needs of employers and the community.

As the national regulator for VET, the Australian Skills Quality Authority’s (ASQA) purpose is to ensure quality education and training so that students, employers, governments and the community can have confidence in the integrity of qualifications issued by training providers. We do this by engaging and partnering with our stakeholders constructively and with mutual respect, fostering a shared responsibility for quality VET outcomes.

The Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015 (the Standards) set out the requirements that an organisation needs to meet to be registered as a training provider.

This Guide is intended to support RTOs to understand what is required to meet the Standards and continuously improve their practices and the outcomes they are achieving. The Guide aligns each of the five phases of a student’s training journey with the relevant Standards and clauses. Chapter 6 of the Guide addresses the Standards and clauses relating to regulatory compliance and governance.

The Guide is not intended to be a checklist or a ‘one size fits all’ approach to compliance. Rather, it outlines how RTOs can demonstrate they meet the requirements of the Standards and are achieving outcomes for their students, with examples and case studies provided to assist RTOs to examine their own practices.

I encourage all current and prospective providers to use this Guide to understand the Standards and examine their systems and processes to ensure they are meeting and continuously improving against the Standards. This will ensure Australia's VET sector continues to offer the highest possible quality VET training now and into the future.

Saxon Rice
Chief Executive Officer
Australian Skills Quality Authority
December 2021