The Regulatory Risk Priorities for 2021-22, has been published by ASQA. It outlines the regulatory risk priorities for the coming year. These priorities are revised on a regular basis to ensure that they remain current with concerns facing the industry.

ASQA expressed their gratitude to all of the providers and partners who took part in their research to determine which regions of Australia’s VET and ELICOS sectors were most at risk.

When determining the most significant risks to accomplishing ASQA’s purpose, which is to assure high-quality vocational education and training (VET) and the integrity of national credentials granted by training providers, the agency adopted a risk-based methodology.

The regulatory risks include:

Self-assurance

Providers that effectively self-assured 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.

International student delivery (including offshore delivery)

Competition between international education providers for onshore international enrolments has grown during a time of international border closures.

This year we are focusing on ensuring that students continue to receive quality outcomes despite the increased pressures on VET and ELICOS providers.

Online learning

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.

Aged care/disability support sector

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.

Trainer and assessor capability

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.

Specified training products with risk exposure

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.

COVID-19 response

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.

This year we are continuing to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic through our interactions with providers, applying a proportionate and risk-based regulatory approach.

VET in schools

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 through our ongoing monitoring.

Monitor areas of increased funding

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.

Targeting risk of non-compliance with specified clauses of Standards

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.

You can read more information at www.asqa.gov.au/asqas-regulatory-risk-priorities-2021-22