by CLAIRE FIELD

Even without managing training package assurance it has heaps to do

On Friday the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations announced that, in conjunction with states and territories, a decision had been taken not to transfer responsibility for Training Package Assurance to ASQA.

Instead, the staff who undertake this work and are accountable to the soon-to-be-abolished Australian Industry and Skills Committee, will continue within DEWR for an as-yet-unspecified period – presumably until the Industry Cluster arrangements are reviewed, although it should be noted that no announcements on successful tenderers have yet been made despite the new Industry Cluster organisations being due to commence on 1 January 2023 (these organisations will then take over responsibility for individual Training Packages).

Returning to the approval of Training Package qualifications: many of you will ask – so what, in terms of which government agency does the work?

In Australia this work has always sat outside of the national VET regulator, but it is worth keeping in mind why former New Zealand Minister, Steven Joyce, recommended the change. His review of the Australian VET system identified (a) significant problems in Australia’s current Training Package approval processes and (b) that in other countries it is not unusual for one agency to have responsibility for approving VET qualifications and registering training providers.

While I supported Joyce’s proposal to move this function to ASQA, I had concerns about the agency’s capacity to readily staff it and to deal with a potential backlog of Training Package changes when the new Industry Cluster arrangements commence.

As it turns out ASQA will now be able to continue its focus on training provider regulation, which is particularly important given the three very large providers recently entering administration or liquidation:

* The Malka Group went into administration in August. It is CRICOS approved to educate 5794 international students and have a Skills First funding contract with the Victorian government

* Inspire Education was re-registered by ASQA in January and went into liquidation in October. They had been offering 34 qualifications on a fee-for-service basis to up to 13 000 domestic students

* Xamerg Pty Ltd (trading as The Eagle Academy) offered 21 courses and had CRICOS approval for 1270 international students. The national training database shows their registration as “current” but the Tuition Protection Service states that they closed their doors two weeks ago.

Claire Field is an adviser to the tertiary education sector