Newbery Consulting

The decision to register an RTO is an important one. It’s surprising that some arrive at it very easily and with minimal information whilst others go to extreme lengths to gather and analyse information to make that right decision. Why do organisations seek to be an RTO? I have provided consulting support toward the registration of many RTOs and identify the three main types of applicants. These are:

• Small organisations that are currently delivering under a partnership arrangement and have reached that point where they want to go it alone and have their own registration (Ex-Partners). This is definitely the largest group.
• Enterprises who are fed-up with training that is poorly delivered and is not in the right context (The Enterprise), and
• New entrants to the sector who are seeking to establish a profitable business (New Entrants).

All of these groups have varying knowledge of the sector and about what it takes to become and maintain an RTO. The best placed are easily the Ex-Partners. They have a good knowledge but are generally carrying some baggage. “We didn’t need to conduct assessment like this with our partnering RTO”. They sometimes need a little convincing of the virtues of a high quality approach.

The Enterprise applicant on the other hand is usually highly motivated toward high quality and high context. The context is the main benefit they are seeking and to reduce the training cost on the business.

The last remaining group is the New Entrant. This group may have a background in the VET sector but in many instances do not. They are generally eager to learn and have a positive approach to training quality. This group feel that their quality in training and services will be the component that gives them the winning market advantage. Of course there are exceptions to all these generalisations, but it give us a context to explore as we move through this series of blogs exploring RTO registration.

Why am I writing a blog series on registering an RTO?

Because I feel that there is a genuine thirst out there for guidance and perspective on how to approach RTO Registration. People can go onto the ASQA website or the VRQA website and can download the guides and standards for registration. Really,, for people with minimum background or knowledge, these documents do not make lots of sense. Even for people who have worked in the sector, it is really daunting! I often get calls from really experienced people who just do not know where to start. If this blog helps fill in some of those blanks then, that is great! I really do want to pass on what I know. I will base the context of my commentary on an ASQA initial registration. At least in Jan 2012, that will cover most of Australia. Sorry you guys in Victoria and West Australia! You really need to sack your current governments and vote in someone who is progressive and oriented toward the national interests. I will try and start with what I think needs to come first and work my way through to the initial registration audit. I will stick to what I know and that is training systems compliance. I will not give advice on things that are outside my area of expertise. Mainly this means the financial planning aspects. You need to get yourself an accountant to assist with business financial planning. Everything else, I feel confident talking about.

 

The Context for our series is as follows:

• Registering Body: Australian Skills and Qualifications Authority (ASQA)
• Jurisdiction: NSW based that intends on operating in NSW and QLD
• Type of entity: Private Company (2 x Directors, equal shareholders), based in Sydney
• Type of organisation: New Entrant (see previous comments). The Directors have a strong business development background and expertise in sales and marketing. One Director (Dave) intends to deliver the training for the initial period of operation (he has a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) and the other (Mary) will focus on the RTO administration and compliance. They have decided that Mary will be the Chief Executive Officer.
• Intended scope of registration: BSB40610 Certificate IV in Business Sales
• Target market: Medium to large enterprise, contextualised training aimed at current sales personnel.
• Budget: Estimated start up costs $20,000.00. Total cash at bank $50,000.00.

 

I am sure this blog series will grow and change as we get into it. For the moment, I envisage about 22 instalments (I can’t believe I am signing myself up for this!). The number 22 is based on the NVR Standards for RTOs, particularly SNR 4-14 (Initial Registration). There are lots of little components in there and some overlap. As we go through, I will explain. I will start with SNR 7 (Governance) as this is the logical place to begin your RTO journey. Along the way, I will include lots of hyperlinks that will take you to specific information sources on the web. These will be very helpful.

Please leave your comments after each blog. I am very happy to explore different points of view and hear about your experiences.

 Joe Newbery

 

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