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  • Glossary

Glossary

In these Standards, unless the contrary intention appears:

Access and equity
means policies and approaches aimed at ensuring that VET is responsive to the individual needs of clients whose age, gender, cultural or ethnic background, disability, sexuality, language skills, literacy or numeracy level, unemployment, imprisonment or remote location may present a barrier to access, participation and the achievement of suitable outcomes.
Accredited short course
means a course accredited by the VET Regulator in accordance with the Standards for VET Accredited Courses that leads to an AQF statement of attainment.
AQF certification documentation
is the set of official documents that confirms that an AQF qualification or statement of attainment has been issued to an individual.
AQF qualification
means an AQF qualification type endorsed in a training package or accredited in a VET accredited course.
Assessment 
means the process of collecting evidence and making judgements on whether competency has been achieved, to confirm that an individual can perform to the standard required in the workplace, as specified in a training package or VET accredited course.
Assessment system
is a coordinated set of documented policies and procedures (including assessment materials and tools) that ensure assessments are consistent and are based on the Principles of Assessment contained in Table 1.8-1 and the Rules of Evidence contained in Table 1.8-2.
Assessors 
are persons who assess a learner’s competence in accordance with Clauses 1.13 to1.16.
Performance assessment (audit)
means a performance assessment (audit) or compliance audit undertaken by the VET Regulator.
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF)
means the framework for regulated qualifications in the Australian education and training system, as agreed by the Commonwealth, State and Territory ministerial council with responsibility for higher education.
Authenticated VET transcript
has the meaning given in the Student Identifiers Act 2014.
Client 
means a learner, enterprise or organisation that uses or purchases the services provided by an RTO.
Code 
means the unique identifier for units of competency, skill sets, VET accredited courses, modules, AQF qualifications or training packages as required by the Standards for Training Packages and Standards for VET Accredited Courses.
Competency 
means the consistent application of knowledge and skill to the standard of performance required in the workplace. It embodies the ability to transfer and apply skills and knowledge to new situations and environments.
Current industry skills

are the knowledge, skills and experience required by VET trainers and assessors and those who provide training and assessment under supervision to ensure that their training and assessment is based on current industry practices and meets the needs of industry.

Current industry skills may be informed by consultations with industry and may include, but is not limited to:

  1. having knowledge of and/or experience using the latest techniques and processes;
  2. possessing a high level of product knowledge;
  3. understanding and knowledge of legislation relevant to the industry and to employment and workplaces;
  4. being customer/client-oriented;
  5. possessing formal industry and training qualifications; and
  6. training content that reflects current industry practice.
Data Provision Requirements
are the requirements for data provision as agreed by the Industry and Skills Council and implemented by the VET Regulator as required by its governing legislation.
Educational and support services

may include, but are not limited to:

  1. pre-enrolment materials;
  2. study support and study skills programs;
  3. language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) programs or referrals to these programs;
  4. equipment, resources and/or programs to increase access for learners with disabilities and other learners in accordance with access and equity;
  5. learning resource centres;
  6. mediation services or referrals to these services;
  7. flexible scheduling and delivery of training and assessment;
  8. counselling services or referrals to these services;
  9. information and communications technology (ICT) support;
  10. learning materials in alternative formats, for example, in large print;
  11. learning and assessment programs contextualised to the workplace; and
  12. any other services that the RTO considers necessary to support learners to achieve competency.
Executive officer

means:

  1. a person, by whatever name called and whether or not a director of the organisation, who is concerned in or takes part in the management of the RTO; or
  2. an administrator, receiver and manager, or liquidator of the organisation (other than a receiver and manager, or liquidator, appointed by a court); or
  3. if the RTO is a body corporate:
    1.  a person who, at any time during a period for which the organisation is registered, owns 15% or more of the organisation; or
    2. a person who, at any time during a period for which the organisation is registered, is entitled to receive 15% or more of dividends paid by the organisation; or
    3. the administrator of a deed of company arrangement executed by an organisation; or
    4. a trustee or other person administering a compromise or arrangement made between the organisation and another person or other persons.
Financial Viability Risk Assessment Requirements
means the requirements made under section 158 of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 or equivalent requirements made or adopted by the VET Regulator of a non-referring State as the case requires.
Government entity

means:

  1. a Department of State of the Commonwealth; or
  2. a Department of the Parliament established under the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 of the Commonwealth;
  3. an Executive Agency, or Statutory Agency, within the meaning of the Public Service Act 1999 of the Commonwealth;
  4. a Department of State of a State or Territory; or
  5. an organisation that:
    1. is not an entity; and
    2. is either established by the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory (whether under a law or not) to carry on an enterprise or established for a public purpose by an Australian law; and
    3. can be separately identified by reference to the nature of the activities carried on through the organisation or the location of the organisation whether or not the organisation is part of a department or branch described in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) or of another organisation of the kind described in this paragraph.
High managerial agent
means an employee or agent of the organisation with duties of such responsibility that his or her conduct may fairly be assumed to represent the organisation in relation to the business of providing courses.
Independent validation

means, for the purposes of Clause 1.25, that the validation is carried out by a validator or validators who:

  1. are not employed or subcontracted by the RTO to provide training and assessment; and
  2. have no other involvement or interest in the operations of the RTO.
Industry 

means the bodies that have a stake in the services provided by RTOs. These can include, but are not limited to:

  1. enterprise/industry clients, e.g. employers;
  2. group training organisations;
  3. industry organisations;
  4. industry regulators;
  5. industry skills councils or similar bodies;
  6. industry training advisory bodies; and
  7. unions.
Industry and Skills Council
means the Commonwealth, State and Territory ministerial council established by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), or its successor.
Industry engagement

for the purposes of Clauses 1.5 & 1.6, may include, but is not limited to, strategies such as:

  1. partnering with local employers, regional/national businesses, relevant industry bodies and/or enterprise RTOs;
  2. involving employer nominees in industry advisory committees and/or reference groups;
  3. embedding staff within enterprises;
  4. networking in an ongoing way with industry networks, peak bodies and/or employers;
  5. developing networks of relevant employers and industry representatives to participate in assessment validation; and
  6. exchanging knowledge, staff, and/or resources with employers, networks and industry bodies.
Industry regulator
means a body or organisation responsible for the regulation and/or licensing arrangements within a specific industry or occupation.
Learner 
means a person being trained and/or assessed by the RTO for the purpose of issuing AQF certification documentation.
Licensed or regulated outcome
means compliance with an eligibility requirement for an occupational licence or a legislative requirement to hold a particular training product in order to carry out an activity.
Mode of delivery
means the method adopted to deliver training and assessment, including online, distance, or blended methods.
Module 
means a group of learning outcomes in a VET accredited course where it can be established that it is not possible to develop an appropriate unit of competency.
National Register
means the register maintained by the Commonwealth Department responsible for VET and referred to in section 216 of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011.
Nationally Recognised Training (NRT) Logo
means the logo used nationally to signify training packages and VET accredited courses.
Operations 
Operations of an RTO include training, assessment and administration and support services related to its registration, including those delivered across jurisdictions and offshore.
Person 
includes a body politic or corporate as well as an individual.
Professional development

means activities that develop and/or maintain an individual’s skills, knowledge, expertise and other characteristics as a trainer or assessor. This includes both formal and informal activities that encompass vocational competencies, currency of industry skills and knowledge and practice of vocational training, learning and assessment, including competency based training and assessment. Examples of professional development activities include:

  1. participation in courses, workshops, seminars, conferences, or formal learning programs;
  2. participation in mentoring, professional associations or other learning networks;
  3. personal development through individual research or reading of publications or other relevant information;
  4. participation in moderation or validation activities; and
  5. participation in industry release schemes.
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

means an assessment process that assesses the competency/s of an individual that may have been acquired through formal, non-formal and informal learning to determine the extent to which that individual meets the requirements specified in the training package or VET accredited courses.

  1. formal learning refers to learning that takes place through a structured program of instruction and is linked to the attainment of an AQF qualification or statement of attainment (for example, a certificate, diploma or university degree);
  2. non-formal learning refers to learning that takes place through a structured program of instruction, but does not lead to the attainment of an AQF qualification or statement of attainment (for example, in-house professional development programs conducted by a business); and
  3. informal learning refers to learning that results through experience of work-related, social, family, hobby or leisure activities (for example the acquisition of interpersonal skills developed through several years as a sales representative).
Record
means a written, printed, or electronic document providing evidence that activities have been performed.
Registrar 
has the meaning given in the Student Identifiers Act 2014.
Registration 
means registration as an RTO by the VET Regulator, where that registration is then entered on the National Register.
RTO 
means a Registered Training Organisation.
RTO code
means the registration identifier given to the RTO on the National Register.
Scope of registration

means the training products for which an RTO is registered to issue AQF certification documentation. It allows the RTO to:

  1. both provide training delivery and assessment resulting in the issuance of AQF certification documentation by the RTO; or
  2. provide assessment resulting in the issuance of AQF certification documentation by the RTO.
Services 
mean training, assessment, related educational and support services and/or any activities related to the recruitment of prospective learners. It does not include services such as student counselling, mediation or ICT support.
Skill set
means a single unit of competency or a combination of units of competency from a training package which link to a licensing or regulatory requirement, or a defined industry need.
Standards for VET Accredited Courses
are the standards made under subsection 188(1) of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 or the equivalent requirements adopted by a non-referring State.
Statement of attainment
means a statement issued to a person confirming that the person has satisfied the requirements of the unit/s of competency or accredited short course specified in the statement.
Statistically valid
means for the purposes of these Standards, a random sample of appropriate size is selected to enable confidence that the result is sufficiently accurate to be accepted as representative of the total population of assessments being validated.
Student Identifier
has the meaning given in the Student Identifiers Act 2014.
Third party
means any party that provides services on behalf of the RTO but does not include a contract of employment between an RTO and its employee.
Trainers 
are persons who provide training in accordance with Clause 1.13, 1.14 and1.16.
Training 
is the process used by an RTO or a third party delivering services on its behalf, to facilitate learning and the acquisition of competencies in relation to the training product on the RTO’s scope of registration.
training and assessment credential
are those qualifications, skill sets and units of competency, or relevant combination of those qualifications, skill sets and units of competency, specified in the table at Schedule 1.
Training and assessment strategies and practices
are the approach of, and method adopted by, an RTO with respect to training and assessment designed to enable learners to meet the requirements of the training package or accredited course.
Training Package
means the components of a training package endorsed by the Industry and Skills Council or its delegate in accordance with the Standards for Training Packages. The endorsed components of a Training Package are: units of competency; assessment requirements (associated with each unit of competency); qualifications; and credit arrangements. The endorsed components form part of the requirements that an RTO must meet under these Standards. A training package also consists of a non-endorsed, quality assured companion volume/s which contains industry advice to RTOs on different aspects of implementation.
Training Product
means AQF qualification, skill set, unit of competency, accredited short course and module.
Unit of competency
means the specification of the standards of performance required in the workplace as defined in a training package.
Validation 
is the quality review of the assessment process. Validation involves checking that the assessment tool/s produce/s valid, reliable, sufficient, current and authentic evidence to enable reasonable judgements to be made as to whether the requirements of the training package or VET accredited courses are met. It includes reviewing a statistically valid sample of the assessments and making recommendations for future improvements to the assessment tool, process and/or outcomes and acting upon such recommendations.
VET 
means vocational education and training.
VET accredited course
means a course accredited by the VET regulator in accordance with the Standards for VET Accredited Courses.
VET Quality Framework

comprises:

  1. the Standards for Registered Training Organisations
  2. the Australian Qualifications Framework
  3. the Fit and Proper Person Requirements
  4. the Financial Viability Risk Assessment Requirements
  5. the Data Provision Requirements
VET Regulator

means:

  1. the National VET Regulator; and
  2. a body of a non-referring State that is responsible for the kinds of matters dealt with under the VET legislation for that State.

 

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