VET News Wednesday 19th December 2024 Hello and welcome to VET News, This is our final newsletter for the year. It has been a massive year for everyone. I hope you all will have some time to rest and catch up with family and friends. Next year we will be […]
20/12/2024
News
VET News – 27th November 2024
VET News Wednesday 27th November 2024 Compliance & Regulatory News Retention of NAT files Data submitted to NCVER is encrypted upon receipt to protect privacy. As a result, NCVER cannot match students with their training records and is unable to provide copies of previously submitted NAT files. NCVER advises that […]
27/11/2024VET News – 26th September 2024
VET News Wednesday 26th September 2024 Hello and welcome to VET News, We are still waiting for the new RTO standards. In a joint media release issued by the Skills and Workforce Ministerial Council on the 20th Sep it was flagged that the standards will be release this week. I am […]
26/09/2024VET News – 28th August 2024
VET News Wednesday 28th August 2024 Hello and welcome to VET News, I hope this VET News finds you well. There is a surprising amount of news in this release and lots of events approaching. If you have not booked in to attend the VELG Virtual VET Summit: Artificial Intelligence, there […]
02/09/2024VET News – 31st July 2024
VET News Wednesday 31st July 2024 Compliance & Regulatory News Revised Standards for RTOs to come into effect next July In May, Federal, State, and Territory Skills Ministers agreed to advance the revised Standards for Registered Training Organisations, which will be publicly released in August this year. These standards will come […]
07/08/2024VET News – 11th June 2024
VET News Tuesday 11th June 2024 Compliance & Regulatory News Manage your Annual Registration Charge (ARC) due 30th June 2024 ASQA calculates your ARC on 1st July every year, make sure you take action to avoid charges. Steps to take- 1) Review your organisation’s contact information on the National Register. https://training.gov.au/Home/Tga […]
VET News – 14th May 2024
VET News Tuesday 14th May 2024 Compliance & Regulatory News Disability Standards for Education Review The Australian Government has released its report detailing the progress made in implementing the recommendations stemming from the 2020 Review of the Disability Standards for Education 2005. In response to the review, a range of […]
VET News – 19th April 2024
Tuesday 19th April 2024 Hello and welcome to VET News, Firstly, to all of our loyal subscribers I would like to apologise for our absence over the last few months. A number of factors including staffing issues and work tempo led to the newsletter taking a back seat to other priorities. […]
20/04/2024VET News – 19th October 2023
There is a new National Skills Agreement which effectively funds the Governments strategy to gradually withdraw from a competitive VET market and prioritise funding for vocational education and training into public TAFE. The agreement includes $1.3 billion in new funding for nationally networked TAFE Centres of Excellence and a National TAFE leadership Network to promote cutting edge curriculum for TAFE, amongst other initiatives.
19/10/2023VET News – 23rd August 2023
I hope you are doing well. Can you believe there are just only three months to Christmas!! Far out, where has the year gone? Anyway, we have a jam-packed VET News in this edition. Firstly, I am pleased to release that our next edition of Speaking ASQAneese – Part 2 is available at our website
24/08/2023VET News – 13th July 2023
Thursday 13th July 2023 Hello and welcome to VET News, Thank you to all those who gave amazing feedback on the below article Speaking ASQAneese Part 1. I am working on Part 2 and hope to have that out soon. There are some great articles in this edition of VET News. […]
13/08/2023VET News – 8th June 2023
There is quite a bit of news in today’s newsletter. We have opened a new category in the newsletter for positions vacant. I am quarantining this to senior management positions so if you have a position vacant that is for a senior management position within your training organisation and have posted this to Seek or one of the other recruitment websites, we are happy to include a link in our newsletter.
08/06/2023VET News – 11th May 2023
Thursday 11th May 2023 Hello and welcome to VET News, I hope you are all well. You would be aware that the Federal Budget was released on Tuesday this week. I have to admit that I am one of those tragic’s that rushed home from a meeting to sit down and watch […]
11/05/2023VET News – 13th April 2023
VET News – 13th April 2023, Hello and welcome to VET News, Thank you to those who provided some feedback on the new VET News layout. We have made some minor adjustments and will continue to make improvements. For those responsible for submitting the Annual Declaration of compliance, this can be submitted from the 17th April (next Monday) and will be initiated by ASQA via an email with a unique web link for each RTO. Keep an eye out for this email.
14/04/2023VET News – 13th March 2023
VET News – 13th March 2023, Hello and welcome to VET News, You may notice a different layout to VET News in this edition. We are experimenting with layout to ensure the information is easier to navigate and suitable across different screen sizes. Not sure we are quite there yet, but feel free to provide feedback if you like it or not. Ultimately it is your opinion that matters most. We are finally able to share our full submission to the Inquiry into the Perceptions and Status of Vocational Education and Training. We needed to wait for the committee secretariat to post it to the inquiry website before we could provide a link.
VET News – 28th February 2023
Newbery Consulting VET News – 28th February 2023 Hello and welcome to VET News, Today is the final day for the submission of your 2022 AVETMISS report to the NCVER. If I am just reminding you of this now, I do apologise for ruining your day. Better to get this reminder now from me that […]
02/03/2023VET News – 2nd February 2023
Newbery Consulting VET News – 2nd February 2023 Hello and welcome to VET News, I mentioned late last year an inquiry initiated by the government into the Perceptions and Status of Vocational Education and Training. This inquiry was referred from the Minister for Skills and Training, the Hon Brendan O’Connor MP, on 30 November […]
02/02/2023VET News – 19th January 2023
Newbery Consulting VET News – 19th January 2023 Hello and welcome to VET News, Welcome back everyone. I hope those that take time for Chrismas and New Year had a relaxing break. We are all back on deck now full steam ahead into a new year. Just a couple of things before you […]
28/01/2023VET News – 21st December 2022
Newbery Consulting VET News – 21st December 2022 Hello and welcome to VET News, This is our last VET News for the year. I just realised that we missed out on celebrating our 10-year anniversary of publishing VET News. That was back in November 2021. Oh well, go us! Seriously, I cannot believe […]
21/12/2022VET News – 7th December 2022
Thank you to all of those who wrote to express their agreement about the very poor quality training that is being delivered by some providers and the race to the bottom approach. Hopefully the national regulator is taking notice and will increase its systematic monitoring of the sector. Some of the stories that you shared are just so disappointing and it creates a very difficult market to operate in. Apart from expressing our opinion to the national regulator publicly, I think that next time they send out a survey asking about how they are performing, we all need to give them this honest feedback about these rogue RTOs operating unchecked with impunity.
07/12/2022VET News – 22nd November 2022
I hope you are all well. Before I launch into a bit of a rant, I just want to remind those who have not yet became aware that, the smart and skilled contract is currently open to new applications and it closes off in 8 days (5 pm, 30 Nov). This is a very rare opportunity to secure a contract to offer subsidised training to your students in NSW. If you have not previously looked at this, please do so today.
22/11/2022VET News – 9th November 2022
Big news, last week while we were all distracted by the final week of the Block, The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations have released the draft revised RTO Standards. After a couple of initial reads, I am going early to call them the “Woke Standards”. They seem to crossover into areas covered by other legislative areas that I think it is questionable if ASQA has the jurisdiction to regulate. They water down some aspects of the regulation whilst introducing new requirements. It is a much more significant overhaul than I was expecting and that we have seen since the move from the National Recognition Framework to the Australian Quality Training Framework in the early 2000s.
09/11/2022VET News – 26th October 2022
To all those lucky people heading off to the National VET Conference in the Gold Coast next week. I hope you all have an awesome time. It is always a great conference and hopefully I can make it next year. There are some significant articles in this VET News. Please take not of the newly released National Skills List. This list has a significant influence on the priorities for targeted enrolments and for international education. Another interesting announcement is that ASQA are scrapping their General Directions and rolling these into their guidance material for providers.
26/10/2022VET News – 28th September 2022
The first is very big news that the Smart and Skilled program which is the overarching VET funding and subsidy contract in NSW is opening for applications in Nov 2022. This is seriously significant as this contract has been effectively closed to new applicants since about 2016 from memory. The program will be opening for new applicants who are existing RTOs and those RTOs who have a current contract will also need to reapply. RTOs located outside NSW will also be able to apply and the overall eligibility criteria look very reasonable. This is seriously, once in a decade opportunity so check it out. There is a link to the information in the article below in Other VET News.
29/09/2022VET News – 26th August 2022
VET Data Streaming. By now you would have heard about or received information about the proposed VET Data Streaming initiative that is being led by DEWR. If you haven’t heard about this initiative, you can find out more information at the following webpage VET Data Streaming. Along with other student management system providers, we have been engaging in this project with representatives from DEWR since October 2021. I would have to say that I have been impressed with the level of consultation and engagement with stakeholders from all different levels including providers of all types, Department’s, Student Management System vendors and many more.
27/08/2022VET News – 20th July 2022
Welcome to this edition of VET News and to the new financial year. Thank you to all those who reached out and are reading our new article series on VET course design. I am hoping to publish Part Four in the coming weeks which will turn the focus onto the design phase of the TD process. Thank you for the lovely feedback.I note ASQA have released a clarification regarding some uncertainty in the handling of credit transfer where the unit of competency is both superseded and equivalent. It seems to follow the same practice we have applied for the last 20 years so that was reassuring!
20/07/2022VET News – 23rd June 2022
More changes are occurring with Quality Indicator Reporting. ASQA seem to have reverted back to advocating the use of the now 15 year old AQTF 2007 Learner and Employer surveys. I was hopeful that the VET Student Experience Survey introduced during COVID would fully replace the mandatory collection of this survey . Instead, ASQA seemed to have reinforced the existing quality indicator arrangements by introducing a webform as an option to collect quality indicator summary information.
23/06/2022VET News – 26th May 2022
OK, we have some movement at the station! ASQA has released their long awaited model for self-assurance! Are you ready…………… and it’s a diagram. It requires effective training and assessment delivery at its core and is surrounded by a circle of continuous improvement. It also includes four foundational elements against which providers should conduct self-assurance / continuous improvement activities including leadership / governance; staff capability and development; student engagement and support; and industry and/or community engagement.
26/05/2022VET News – 29th April 2022
I hope you are surviving the election. We are almost halfway! The consensus in the media seems to be that if the Labor Party are elected it is going to be a boom time for public TAFE. You can read all about it here where Labor are very clear that they intend to change the funding arrangements to preference 70% of all VET funding to “Public TAFE” which they refer to as “the backbone of our vocational educational system”.
29/04/2022VET News – 7th April 2022
I mentioned in our last VET News that we were following a matter making its way through ASQA that related to a very wrong audit finding in relation to a trainer’s equivalent vocational competency. I was literally inundated with emails following that last VET News with RTOs sharing their own experience in relation to this area of compliance with one common theme. This is the absolute inconsistency in auditor interpretation of evidence in support of equivalent vocational competency.
07/04/2022VET News – 24th March 2022
Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the devastating floods that have affected the southeast QLD and the Northern Rivers area of of NSW. Those towns which have been impacted by the flooding have had their homes and businesses devastated. We have many clients in this region and wish them a speedy recovery. I think we were all shocked by the impact of the flood and hope that help is getting to those who need it most.
24/03/2022VET News – 23rd February 2022
This is the first VET News for 2022. Apologies for the late start but we are back on track and soon hope to get back to a twice monthly issue. Like many of you, I suspect, I (and my entire family) got COVID over the holidays. Needless to say that my holiday was not the blissful rest that I wanted and/or needed. But, no matter, I am grinding on into the start of 2022 with soldier like perseverance.
24/02/2022VET News – 22nd December 2021
I think we can all agree that it has been a challenging year. When I reflect on our year as a business its almost difficult to comprehend what we and our clients have achieved. I wont bother you with some big achievement list but suffice to say we have been busy in consulting support and RTO Data Cloud has continued its spectacular growth in client users and in capability. I just cannot say enough about our wonderful system development and support team. Their commitment to our clients is a credit to them and I thank them sincerely.
VET News – 25th November 2021
Firstly just a couple of housekeeping matters, the frequency of VET News will move from fortnightly to monthly, just for a few months. Our team member Jen who helps me to prepare VET News has had a lovely baby girl and will be on maternity leave till early next year. Apologies for the disruption, but I am sure we will all survive with one lees email per month! Mum and baby doing well.
27/11/2021VET News – 28th October 2021
Newbery Consulting VET News 28th October 2021 Hello and welcome to VET News, We had an overwhelming response to our new compliance quiz. We have updated the quiz as promised with new questions and you can give it a go at the following link: New Compliance Quiz. Many clients are using the quiz to […]
29/10/2021VET News – 14th October 2021
We have an exciting announcement this week. We have finally launched our Newbery RTO Compliance Quiz. If you consider yourself a guru in RTO compliance or want to test your knowledge, it’s time to put yourself to the test and take the Newbery Compliance Quiz. This 10 question quiz will be refreshed on a regular basis with new random questions drawn from a bank of over 200 questions and growing. Test your knowledge and understanding of RTO compliance. The quiz is time limited and you have only 4 minutes to complete the quiz. Those who demonstrate “Guru Status” will receive an electronic certificate which can be printed and proudly displayed!
14/10/2021VET News – 23rd September 2021
Just a quick note that if you have not done so already, don’t forget to update your delivery locations on ASQA net if that is something you are responsible for. Please refer to the article in compliance and regulatory news below.
I would recommend taking a look at the recent articles highlighted in this VET News about the shift that has occurred toward online learning. I think online learning is fantastic and it has been a savior during lockdown. A worrying trend that I am noticing is an increasing trend of RTOs intending on shifting their courses to an online delivery as a business as usual approach even after Covid.
VET News – 2nd September 2021
There isn’t too much happening this fortnight in VET News. We actually skipped a week due to the low new volume. I am thinking it must be the lockdown and many people are hibernating waiting for it all to pass! If you are inclined, there is an enthralling corporate plan that ASQA has released which should make some good bedtime reading for some.
The only thing of particular note is the extended transition for the early childhood education qualifications to Jan 2023. This was very welcome news for many who are dealing with the non-equivalence issues and the new entry requirements that is making the transition for students very difficult.
VET News – 13th August 2021
For some time now I have been wanting to put our stake in the ground on the proposed shift to self-assurance. We have now done that and you can access our new article on a “systems approach to RTO self-assurance” at the following link (click).
ASQA is yet to publish their “enhanced self-assurance tools” so hopefully we will see something from them in the not too distant future. In the meantime, I hope this article give you some food for thought. Sorry about the length and cheesy graphic but hopefully they paint the picture.
VET News – 29th July 2021
I am very happy to announce that the long awaited changes to the ESOS Act to allow non-CRICOS providers the authorisation to deliver certain “ESOS exempt” courses to international students has occurred with effect of the 29th June 2021. This has been a significant problem for some time. Previously, an RTO would be in breach of the ESOS Act if it enrolled an international student to complete a short course like first aid or RSA. It made no sense at all and was contradictory to the allowance under the visa conditions for these students to work up to 40 hours per fortnight to support their living cost.
29/07/2021VET News – 14th July 2021
I would like to open by saying thank you to all of those people who have written to provide feedback to our article we posted last month about Observation Assessment (click). We have received an overwhelming positive response and it just goes to show the need in the sector for straight forward guidance on topics such as assessment. Thank you and we will keep producing articles to target these areas of VET which are most important. We are also happy to receive any suggestions for future articles.
14/07/2021VET News – 30th June 2021
Great news edition this week. I would particularly recommend the article on Entrepreneurial learning for TVET institutions: an interactive guide. Check that out. It is great to get an international perspective on VET developments in other regions. I have also released a new article on our website today on Observation Assessment (click). Observation assessment is one of those non-compliances we constantly see popping up in audits and I would recommend this article if you are seeking some insight.
30/06/2021VET News – 17th June 2021
There is an absolute bevy of useful news articles, PD opportunities and market information in this edition of VET News. I would particularly draw your attention to the news article on ASQA’s release of guidance on industry currency and vocational competency for trainers and assessors. It is a little superficial and loaded with broad statements that do not quite include enough detail to be completely helpful. I don’t think it included any additional guidance that was already available within its fact sheet on Meeting trainer and assessor requirements (click).
17/06/2021VET News – 4th June 2021
If you missed the recent webinar – ‘Online learning – beyond PDFs and Zoom’, as part of the strategic review of online learning, the webinar recording is now available. This webinar provides the opportunity to hear from a VET consultant, provider and quality assessor on how VET providers can use educational technology to enhance and support the quality of online learning and outcomes for your students.
04/06/2021VET News – 20th May 2021
Unfortunately, I missed the National Regulator’s webinar last week on ASQA’s Regulatory Approach. I was able to catch up on it yesterday via their recording (click). The first question out of the box by those participating related to how the regulator is improving the consistency between their auditors. I thought this was a great question and it reinforces the concern that I raised in my recent article unpacking the new regulatory practices (click).
20/05/2021VET News – 29th April 2021
We had a number of clients this week receive a request from the The Social Research Centre for the first round of VET Student Experience Survey data. I can tell you that the request was not simple. The response requires each RTO to somehow extract data from their student management system according to a report specification with 19 separate data elements by next Friday. My guess is that it was cooked up with very little consultation with providers about their capability to submit the data in the requested format.
29/04/2021VET News – 15th April 2021
Last week the national regulator released its revised regulatory practices model. There is an article below in Regulatory and Compliance News about this where you can access the details. This new regulatory practices model includes a revised approach to assessing RTO performance, to responding to non-compliance and to the review of decisions where required. Overall, the changes look consistent with the pathway ASQA has been on now for the last 12 months but it does include some significant changes to business as normal.
15/04/2021VET News – 1st April 2021
What a wonderful day it was when ASQA finally announced this week in an email to all providers that they were finally killing off the Quality Indicators Learner Survey. Far out! Do you remember when those things were introduced in 2007 and that awful software that was distributed to support the collection and reporting of survey results. Anyway, it is about to go, but wait, it is being replaced by a new VET Student Experience Survey (VETSES) that will be administered by the NCVER.
01/04/2021VET News – 18th March 2021
Everyone seems to be managing a transitioning training products at the moment. If you are unsure about requirements for transition, I would recommend that you review this General Direction from the ASQA website as it does provide guidance on most situations you may be managing:
18/03/2021VET News – 4th March 2021
The long-awaited final report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety was released on Monday this week. As expected, the report included some shocking findings of the state of aged care services in Australia. The report included approximately 148 recommendations, some of which relate directly to the VET sector and its role in improving the quality and safety of aged care services. These recommendations included:
04/03/2021VET News – 18th February 2021
Lots of reminders about the approaching mandatory reports that are due at the end of February and March. These are really important so make sure you either do it today or set a reminder. In the past, I have seen some RTOs receive a significant fine for not submitting these reports. Remember AVETMISS can sometimes be tricky with errors in your data to resolve so, do not leave that to the day before it is due.
18/02/2021VET News – 21st January 2021
This is our first VET News for 2021. Welcome back and I hope you all had a lovely break. Today we have received the Productivity Commission’s report into the National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development. There are some interesting and relatively predictable findings in the report. A link to the report is provided below in the news articles but here are some key findings and recommendations:
21/01/2021VET News – 18th December 2020
This is our last VET News for 2020. I would like to personally thank all of you for sharing the news journey throughout the year. I receive many lovely emails from subscribers throughout the year highlighting their appreciation for receiving a regular news update. We absolutely love putting it together and will recommence in mid to late January.
18/12/2020VET News – 30th November 2020
The national regulator has released a discussion paper about the ASQA Compliance Policy. Submissions are due by the 10th Jan 2021. It is a little unfortunate they have selected the busiest time of the year and the main holiday period to gather this feedback. I hope someone has time to respond!. See article below for more details.
30/11/2020VET News – 18th November 2020
Can you believe that it is only five weeks to Christmas? Let’s bring on 2021 and hope for a better year than 2020. As usual there is lots happening this time of year, particularly in the news. I would draw your attention to a great resource released by the national regulator providing some practical tips to undertaking training and assessment in the workplace and a simulated environment.
18/11/2020VET News – 28th October 2020
Lots of changes in training products over the last two weeks. We are working hard to revise our first-aid assessment packages and are receiving lots of questions about the changes to the business services training package. The new BSB package was released with an 18 months transition period which will certainly assist RTOs to manage the changes which are significant.
28/10/2020VET News – 13th October 2020
The federal budget handed down by the government last week looks broadly positive for the VET sector. The increase in funded training places as well as wages subsidised for apprentices and trainees is likely to give the sector a solid boost. There is also the opportunity to hire a trainee under the JobMaker program to help out with the likely growth in administration and upgrade training related equipment whilst benefiting from the generous instant asset write-off arrangements.
13/10/2020VET News – 25th September 2020
The submission window for annual fee-for-service activity reported directly to NCVER will be open from 2 January to 26 February 2021. Data needs to be reported accurately as at 31 December 2019. Failure to submit data by the due date may result in follow up from the VET regulator.
25/09/2020VET News – 10th September 2020
In response to an increasing number of client questions and regulator focus on the rules relating to the payment of fees in advance (Clause 7.3), we have published a new article on this subject which you can access here (click).
10/09/2020VET News – 27th August 2020
Happy National Skills Week. If you were not aware, it is currently skills week which extends through to 30 August with a focus on raising the profile of vocational education. There are some interesting news items this addition including some important updates to training packages relating to Cyber Security, Arboriculture, Landscaping, and Horticulture.
27/08/2020VET News – 13th August 2020
Quite a busy newsletter this week. The regulator has been publishing various documents including its regulatory strategy and guidance on accredited course development. There are also a number of training package revisions to take note of.
13/08/2020VET News – 30th July 2020
I would like to extend my best wishes to all those people in Victoria who are currently being impacted by the recent surge in COVID19 cases. We have many clients in Victoria including those that operate aged care services and train aged carers. To all of you who are living and working under these conditions, I sincerely wish you all the best.
30/07/2020VET News – 10th July 2020
The new ASQA Stakeholder Liaison Group has been announced. The group looks good and has very broad representation across the VET sector. ASQA has assembled a very good group of informed representatives and we hope the engagement with the sector leads to some positive outcomes.
10/07/2020VET News – 25th June 2020
On the 1st July 2020, the National VET Regulator Amendment Act 2020 comes into effect. ASQA has provided a broad overview of the changes for both RTOs and for its own operation. I think the changes provide more balance to the regulation and where ASQA now has some additional powers, it appears to be seeking to consult with the sector in the implementation of those powers.
25/06/2020VET News – 10th June 2020
If you have not yet had the chance to read the Skills and Workforce Development Agreement Interim Report, I would totally recommend that you do. I know we see lots of these reports these days, but this interim report is likely to result in larger than normal change in the VET sector and is worth taking note of.
10/06/2020VET News – 13th May 2020
The Three Step Framework for a COVIDSAFE Australia sets the direction for easing restrictions and the gradual reopening of the training sector. In preparation for staff and students returning during the coming months, ASQA has highlighted some resources to help create a safe work and training place.
13/05/2020VET News – 30th April 2020
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30/04/2020VET News – 31st March 2020
A change in the timeframe for submitting VET course concepts for initial accreditation will apply to all submissions received by ASQA after 31 March 2020. Where a VET course concept is assessed as meeting eligibility requirements, Course Developers are granted 12 months from the date of ASQA’s written notification that the course can proceed to development.
31/03/2020VET News – 28th February 2020
Just wanted to provide a timely reminder to all of the RTO CEOs out there, if you haven’t already done so, please ensure that you submit your annual declaration on compliance before 31 March 2020. You all would have received an email from ASQA last week inviting you to complete the declaration. It’s important that you follow the unique link to your annual declaration email and submit this before the due date.
28/02/2020VET News – 11th December 2019
It seems like every fortnight at the moment there are big announcements coming through from the VET reform process. Of note this newsletter, is the media release from the government to confirm that they have now endorsed all recommendations from the recent AQF review. That is quite significant because it means that the naming conventions of the various qualification levels is going to completely change.
11/12/2019VET News – 25th November 2019
COAG has announced that it will fast track four important initiatives as part of its VET Reform Roadmap. You can read the complete communique in Other VET News below. One of the initiatives is to carry out “reforms to the Standards for Registered Training Organisations to move the system of regulation from its focus on compliance to focus on excellence in training”. My first thought was, sounds good! It then occurs to me that we will have yet another set of RTO standards to unpack and come to terms with and the minimal regulatory consistency that we currently have will be redundant as the regulator begins yet another process of interpreting a new set of standards. It feels like a familiar train ride!
25/11/2019VET News – 7th November 2019
A fairly damaging segment on the ABC’s 7:30 Report last night. The article is below in other VET news. I totally congratulate the AFP and ASQA for their work in taking down providers like this in our sector; but, I am just so disappointed to see further negative stories on the VET sector in the media. There are so many good providers out there doing good work. We need to tell those stories as well.
08/11/2019VET News – 25th October 2019
The national regulator is absolutely on a charm offensive at the moment. Over the last 3 weeks I have noticed a definite shift in the approach that the regulator is taking in the handling of and engagement with RTOs. All of a sudden, the regulator seems to be a little more conciliatory and eager to be fair. I realise that some will have different opinions, but I do think it is a shame that such damage needed to occur to the sector causing representatives of the government to push back in order to get this change of approach. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think we are completely out of the woods yet.
25/10/2019VET News – 27th September 2019
Breaking news today, the Australian Government today has announced reforms to the Australian Skills Quality Authority. The joint ministerial announcement says: “As part of these changes Mark Paterson AO, the Chief Commissioner of ASQA, has decided the proposed shift in direction for ASQA provides an appropriate time for him to step down and pass responsibility for managing the next phase of ASQA’s evolution to others,”
27/09/2019VET News – 6th September 2019
I hope you are all well. Another big addition of news. See below a recent clarification from the national regulator in relation to third-party arrangements. I participated in the webinar the week before last and it was not particularly illuminating. I like David Garner and his approach to engaging with the VET community.
06/09/2019VET News – 16th August 2019
No doubt many of you would have already been informed about the changes to third-party arrangements. From my perspective, this is one of the most significant changes to the VET landscape since the introduction of the National VET Regulator. There are many businesses out there at the moment who are trying to come to terms with the change of this new policy as it will completely disrupt their business.
16/08/2019VET News – 2nd August 2019
The national regulator has come under fire in Parliament yesterday by Andrew Laming MP. He obviously is very well briefed as he has absolutely described the current state of affairs very accurately.
Next week, I am presenting at the 2019 Defence VET Forum which I am really looking forward to.
02/08/2019Vet News – 3rd July 2019
Newbery Consulting VET News – 3rd July 2019 Hello and welcome to VET News, Wow! There has been a news explosion in the last two weeks. So, we are sending out this edition a little early. Just a couple of things to note which are super important. If you have received an invoice from ASQA […]
03/07/2019VET News – 21st June 2019
You know, it occurred to me recently that we all need to stop and reflect on the great work those around us do on a daily basis. I am very fortunate to be surrounded by some very talented and smart people at Newbery Consulting. Whilst I am the public face of Newbery Consulting, I have a wonderful team working alongside me that support our many clients everyday.
21/06/2019VET News – 5th June 2019
ASQA has announced the schedule for the 2019 Training Provider Briefings. I totally advocate RTO owners and senior mangers attending these. There is so much gossip and ill informed discussion about ASQA’s agenda these days. These provider briefings are the opportunity to get it straight from the regulator and with opportunities to ask questions.
05/06/2019VET News – 17th May 2019
The national regulator has put out a reminder to providers to submit their quality indicator data by the 30th June 2019. I cannot overstate the importance of complying with these mandatory reporting requirements. I am aware of at least 4 RTOs who received a fairly substantial fine from ASQA for not submitting their AVETMISS report. Get this report submitted now or at least set a reminder to complete it in June. Don’t be late!
17/05/2019VET News – 3rd May 2019
I hope you are all well. There are some notable things in today’s news. As many of you would already be aware, the review instigated by the federal government last year by the Honourable Steven Joyce has been completed and a link is provided below to access the report. It is definitely worth reading. Overall, I think it is a quite balanced report.
03/05/2019VET News – 28th March 2019
There is some really big news this addition including two particular items which are worth noting. The Skills Minister has announced an extension of implementation date for new trainer and assessor credential requirements to 1 July 2019.
28/03/2019VET News – 14th March 2019
14th March 2019. By now many of you will have received your annual declaration on compliance invitation. This is obviously due by the end of the month. It is critically important that you do submit this on time. Failing to submit the declaration by the required deadline is technically a breach of your conditions of registration. I have seen the regulator take this fairly seriously and issue letters threatening to impose sanctions soon after the deadline.
14/03/2019VET News – 28th February 2019
28th February 2019. This is our first newsletter for 2019. The year has certainly started in a hurry and I can’t believe it has taken this long to get organised. The plan is to release VET news once per fortnight to keep you on top of all things that are happening across the sector and particularly of any changes in the training packages which seem to be occurring frequently at the moment. There is certainly lots of training package changes notified in this edition.
28/02/2019VET News – 25th October 2018
25th October 2018 Compliance & Regulatory News ASQA’s Annual Report 2017 – 2018 ASQA has released their annual report for the 2017-18 financial year. The report provides an overview of ASQA’s regulatory work and performance against key indicators and metrics over the last year. To read more, click here. Focus on international education, trainer and […]
25/10/2018VET News – 27th September 2018
27th September 2018 Hello and welcome to VET News, I hope you are all well. We have a full newsletter for you in this edition. Firstly, you should take note of the updates which have been released to a number of training packages including TLI, HLT, SIT and SIB. The other news item that I […]
27/09/2018VET News – 5th September 2018
5th September 2018 Hello and welcome to VET News, There are some interesting items in this edition of VET News. I would particularly recommend a report release by the NCVER in August entitled The Fourth Industrial Revolution: The implications of technical disruption for Australian VET. I have found this a fascinating report and a real […]
06/09/2018VET News – 15th August 2018
15th August 2018 Hello and welcome to VET News, Well, after two years in development, we are very proud to announce that our new cloud based student management software is available to the market. After trying for about six months to think of a sexy new name, we ended up with RTO Data Cloud (click). […]
15/08/2018VET News – 1st August 2018
1st August 2018 Compliance & Regulatory News ASQA allowed to seek civil penalties for breaches of the Standards for RTO’s The NVR Regulation Amendment 2018 allows ASQA to seek civil penalties for breaches of the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (the Standards), even in cases where a provider has since rectified that breach. The NVR […]
01/08/2018VET News – 11th July 2018
11th July 2018 Hello and welcome to VET News, This edition of VET News is full of interesting articles. There are particularly a number of training package updates to take note of. We have recently been spending a bit of time looking at third party arrangements on behalf of our clients. There seems to be […]
11/07/2018VET News – 5 February 2018
5th February 2018 Compliance & Regulatory News New National VET Data Policy A new National VET data policy was agreed by skills Ministers at the council of Australian Government Industry and Skills Council meeting on 24th Nov 2017. The policy came into effect on the 1st Jan 2018. The policy allows for a six month […]
05/02/2018VET News – 27 October 2017
27th October 2017 Compliance & Regulatory News Man convicted and fined for issuing fake qualifications A man who issued seven vocational education and training (VET) statements of attainment despite not being authorised to do so has been convicted and fined $3,000 in the ACT Magistrates Court. READ MORE ASQA announces changes to the transition period […]
27/10/2017Vet News – 12 September 2017
VET News 12th of September 2017 Hello and welcome to VET News,It is National VET Conference week!! I will be at the National VET Conference this week Wednesday – Friday. I am delivering a Masterclass session Wednesday and attending the main conference on Thursday and Friday. It is always a great event hosted by our […]
01/10/2017VET News – 14 August 2017
I would just like to take a moment to thanks everyone for all of the positive feedback and comments about our new Audit Guide for the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015. Since releasing the revised guide in May, we have had over 5500 visitors to the audit guide pages on our website. I have received many nice emails and stories of different experiences in regulatory audits.
14/08/2017VET News – 1 August 2017
Ok, I am going out on a limb here so wish me luck! Apart from all of the registration cancellations and the mega RTOs falling over (Careers),, I think we may be re-entering a period of stability and growth. Most RTOs that we are speaking to identify that the 2nd-3rd quarters of 2016/17 (Oct 2016 – Mar 2017) was a very dark time. From about Mar 2017, things seem to be improving and right now, there seems to be a degree of confidence as enrollment numbers are returning to normal.
01/08/2017VET News – 15 March 2017
I am amazed at the constant notifications of cancellations from ASQA. Last month there were 6-7 and this month we have that number again. I am also getting an increased number of enquiries from RTOs who have received that deeded letter of notification to impose sanctions. My typical response to these enquiries is that you are contacting us at the wrong end of the process. Prevention is better than the cure.
15/03/2017VET News – 31 January 2017
Just a reminder, that we are entering the reporting season. Over the next five months the following reports are due in accordance with the Standards for Registered Training Organisations
31/01/2017VET News – 20 December 2016
Well 2016 is almost done and dusted. I think it’s fair to say that it has been a tough year for our sector. We look forward to 2017 with hope that the business environment will improve. I feel that the new year will be a year of innovation as RTOs attempt to find efficiencies in a tough environment.
20/12/2016VET News – 30 November 2016
I hope you are all well. We are waiting to hear the outcomes this week of the Senate vote with respect of the VET Student Loan Bill. The proposed amendments to grant TAFE institutes a 12-month exemption has already been announced. I also understand that there is some fierce lobbying going on the obtain a 6-month delay for all providers to properly assess the likely impact on the sector.
01/12/2016VET News – 28 October 2016
Well, I have been sounding the alarm bells on the VET Fee Help program since 2012. The government made some changes at the fringes in 2015 to clean this sector up. However, this month has brought down the hammer like a blunt instrument on the private providers operating in this sector.
28/10/2016VET News – 21 September 2016
I hope this finds you well. Hello to all of our new subscribers! Fairly sure we had the largest growth in a single month over the Aug/Sep period, so very happy with that. We also attended the National VET Conference on the Gold Coast 14-16 Sep 2016. It was great!
21/09/2016VET News – 26 August 2016
Thanks to everyone regarding the wonderful feedback on last month’s newsletter. It is amazing that almost five years ago we had this crazy idea to launch a free monthly newsletter. We wanted to cut through all of the information clutter out there and present a concise news report on the things we feel are worth focusing on in our wonderful VET sector.
01/09/2016VET News – 28 July 2016
It is a packed VET News this month. If you have previously missed it, ASQA made an announcement this month about changes to the audit process. It is worth taking a look at that. It seems to be a step back from allowing for procedural fairness. The key change in my view is the option for the regulator to move straight to issuing “Notice of intent to impose administrative sanction” without first allowing the RTO to rectify a non-compliance.
28/07/2016VET News – 22 June 2016
Back on the 3rd June I sought clarification form ASQA about what I assumed was a very simple question: Can a domestic provider who is not a registered CRICOS provider deliver unit only courses such as first aid, RSA or Construction Safety (White Card) to international students.
22/06/2016VET News – 18 May 2016
Hi there,I hope you are all well. Just a quick note to let you know that we will be releasing our long awaited revised audit guide this month. This will replace the audit evidence guide released back in June 2012 (click) which was very popular in the sector. We were trying to get it complete for this VET News but couldn’t get there and we cannot hold up the news!
29/05/2016VET News – 15 April 2016
Welcome to this April edition of VET News. The big news in this addition (in my view) is the release of the new TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. It is a very different qualification to its predecessor. It is not equivalent to begin with so that means that the 716 RTOs with TAE40110 on their scope will loose it in 12 months and will need to apply to have the new qualification added to scope. ASQA has established the most rigorous requirements for an RTO to add a new qualification to scope that I have ever seen.
15/04/2016VET News – 9 March 2016
Welcome to our March VET News. A very interesting ASQA update this month with ASQA publicising its decision to cancel the registration of a number of RTOs following the investigation into some VET Fee Help providers. It will be interesting to watch if these RTOs challenge the regulators decision in the Federal Court and if they succeed in reversing the decision.
09/03/2016VET News – 1 February 2016
Hi there,
I have been getting many questions about the approaching requirement for RTO Chief Executive Officers to submit an annual declaration to the National Regulator about their compliance. So, I have put my thoughts down in a Blog to address these questions. You can access that on our website at the following page: http://newberyconsulting.com.au/ceo-annual-declaration. The declaration is due by the 31st Mar 2016 (see here) for the details on the ASQA website.
01/02/2016VET News – 23 December 2015
Hi there,
I hope this newsletter finds you well. Well it’s been a big year (as always!) in the VET sector. We have seen some significant changes including the following:
•The introduction of the Unique Student Identifier (USI) from 1 January 2015
•The first compulsory Total VET Activity report submitted in February 2015
•The introduction of the new Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015 in April 2015
•Introduction of the VET FEE-HELP Guidelines from 1 July 2015
•Commencing the process of replacing Industry Skills Councils with Skills Service Organisations in August 2015
VET News – 19 November 2015
I hope this newsletter finds you all well. I highly recommend reviewing the VET Fee Help audit report released by ASQA recently. I think that we must keep in mind that the majority of providers in the VET Fee Help market are providing great services. I am certainly please however that ASQA is taking action to clean up this sector of the industry.
19/11/2015VET News – 9 October 2015
Hope you are all well. Welcome to our October VET News and welcome to all of our new subscribers that have joined us this month. The big event for us in September was the National VET Conference in Adelaide which was staged by Velg Training. Velg as always did an amazing job and the conference was a great success. We used the conference as a point to celebrate our 10th year anniversary in business.
09/10/2015VET News – 19 August 2015
Welcome to the news for Aug 2015. Please take note of the VET Reform section. This initiative may take some time, but I personally think if would be a very positive move to centralise the funding into the federal Government. Enjoy the news.
19/08/2015VET News – 21 July 2015
We are please today to make available to the VET sector our revised audit tool which has been created to align with the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015. This audit tool replaces previous versions from Newbery Consulting which are in circulation that relate to now superseded RTO Standards.
21/07/2015VET News – 9 June 2015
Are you attending the 2015 National VET Conference in Adelaide 17-18 Sep? We are and am really looking forward to it. We are a Silver Sponsor this year and are proud to be associated with Velg Training who delivers this important event each year. We will have a booth in the trade area (No 35) so make sure you come by and say hello.
09/06/2015VET News – 6 May 2015
Firstly, I apologies for being so quite lately. Over the last couple of months I have had my head down progressing client projects and refining our systems alignment and compliance with the new standards. This has all been very positive but has come at the expense of other things. Anyway,, we are back on track now and racing through the fourth quarter
06/05/2015VET News – 18 Feb 2015
Welcome to 2015! I hope you have all eased back into the work cycle. Heaps of interesting news happening at the moment. Thanks again to Anne Maree who collates and prepares these news items each month. One thing I did want to draw everyone’s attention to is the looming Total VET Activity report that is due to the NCVER no later than the 28th Feb 2015.
18/02/2015VET News – 10 Dec 2014
Well, last VET News for the year! It has been a busy year for us and I am sure for you. The New Year will bring three significant development in our sector. New RTO standards will be introduced, the unique student identifier becomes mandatory and in Feb, total VET activity reporting will also commence.
10/12/2014VET News – 10 Nov 2014
Many of you will be aware that offers were sent out last month for the Smart and Skilled funding contract in NSW. We have had clients contacting us constantly since the 8th October, some with elation (mainly Sydney based) and most with absolute dismay at the small allocation they have been offered.
10/11/2014VET News – 10 Oct 2014
Hi everyone, Sorry for this month being a little late. There has been a bit happening lately! There are a few spectacular news items this month. No doubt some of you will have already heard about these. I will let you read about those but I did want to reflect on the progress the department […]
10/10/2014VET News – 5 Sep 2014
Hope you are all well. Well the news is very light this month, which isn’t a bad thing. We have our new VET Advisory Board as of the 15th Aug 2014. I thought it would be helpful to give them a head start, we could give them a ten point action list to assist them to focus their attention. Here it is:
05/09/2014VET News – 7 Aug 2014
The news items aren’t so sensational at the moment, but still lots happening. For all of our RTO Data users, we are close to finalising our USI functionality. In addition to the updated RTO Data (Ver 4.5, maybe early Oct), all users will also need to obtain a Device AUSkey which is not something well understood out there in Training Land. I think the USI people have done a good job of engaging with the sector, but this little requirement seems to be flying a bit under the radar.
07/08/2014VET News – 8 July 2014
Wow. How much change can happen in four weeks! There has been some significant developments in the last month. Of particular note is the automatic scope update for equivalent qualifications and units of competency. That will make a big difference for RTOs and is a great change to come out of the ongoing VET reform. Of course the other notable item is the release of the new draft RTO Standards. Unlike the last ones, I think we can expect that these will be implemented so it is important to have your say during this short review process.
08/07/2014VET News – 5 June 2014
Hope you are all well. Welcome to our newsletter for June. Can you believe the end of the financial year is here already! I won’t carp on about some issue this month. Too crazy at the moment. Thank goodness Anne Maree is so organised and disciplined to prepare these news summaries each month.
07/06/2014VET News – 2 May 2014
Welcome to this month of VET News. Lots of great articles. The item of significance in this month’s news is the closure of the NSSC. I do feel that we are experiencing the calm before the storm. The government has been very vocal about the over regulation of the sector. There has been much talk on LinkedIn and other forums about the impending closure of ASQA. I just can’t believe the government would be that stupid! Thanks for all the feedback in relation to last month’s VET News. I am sure we all gave the VET Reform Taskforce something to think about.
02/05/2014VET News – 7 Apr 2014
Its fairly interesting what’s happening with all the various reviews at the moment. We have the VET Reform Taskforce, a review into ASQA itself and a House of Representatives Enquiry into TAFE. Well at the end of it all we will certainly know a lot more about ourselves! It seems to me to be an important time to speak-up and have your say. Remember that the world is run by those who turn up.
07/04/2014VET News – 7 Mar 2014
OK,,, I think we can now say confidently that we have a policy shift by ASQA to accept greater risk in the renewal of registration. In the month of Feb and in the last few days of March we have now had five clients have their renewal of registration approved without an audit being conducted. They submit their renewal application and about 6-8 weeks later simply receive an email informing them that “ASQA has finished processing this application and will forward the appropriate finalisation documentation to the organisation shortly” and voila your renewal is complete.
07/03/2014VET News – 31 Jan 2014
In December I mentioned that we have had a number of clients have their renewal of registration approved without an audit. These were all low risk RTOs. We are seeing that trend continue this year already with another client receiving notification of this in January. I think this is really interesting and something to watch.
31/01/2014VET News – 5 Dec 2013
Well our year has almost come to a close. It has been a good year. A few challenges overcome and steady growth as usual. Our biggest achievements this year include the engagement of new permanent staff and a number of new contract consultants who are all doing great work. Our data management system RTO Data also advanced this year with some significant upgrades. RTO Data has become a fantastic platform for Newbery Consulting and our many users. I am also very proud of our many clients who have navigated their way through their initial and renewal of registration audits.
05/12/2013VET News – 7 Nov 2013
Well, happy birthday to us!!! VET News is two years old this month and still going strong. Thank you to all of our loyal subscribers for all the great feedback we receive. I would like to especially thank Anne Maree Newbery (big sister) for her tireless effort every month to search through the multitude of information that various agencies put out to select and present our news items every month. Anne Maree has an eye for relevance and importance and this comes through based on the feedback we receive. I am also pleased that we have kept VET News as a free newsletter and add free.
07/11/2013VET News – 3 Oct 2013
Well, can you believe it has almost been two years since we started to publish VET News! VET News commenced in November 2011 and In that time we have grown our subscriber base, developed the structure of the news content and have transitioned to a manager email services using Mail Chimp.
03/10/2013VET News – 5 Sep 2013
For those who follow my blog, I have posted a recent article on Recording Assessment Evidence. In our audits of new clients as we prepare them for renewal of registration, we are still seeing lots of non-compliance out there in relation to retained assessment evidence. I certainly do not think that the requirements of the ASQA General Direction on Retention requirements for completed student assessment items is yet to be properly recognised by many RTOs and this new blog is an attempt to get the word out so that RTOs can review their arrangements for recording assessment evidence.
05/09/2013VET News – 31 July 2013
Hope you are all well. As always there is lots happening in the VET Sector. Of note is the recent release by ASQA of their revised fee schedule. Whilst the fees did not increase in line with the “proposed” fee schedule, most fees have increased by roughly 100% or more.
31/07/2013VET News – 25 Jun 2013
As the financial year comes to a close, the big news this month is the endorsement by SCOTESE of the NSSC’s standards policy framework, “Improving Vocational Education and Training: the Australian Vocational Qualification System”.
25/06/2013VET News – 13 May 2013
Well after almost 18 months of regular VET News issues, we now have too many subscribers for an Outlook account to manage. So, we have moved to MailChimp in order to manage subscriptions not only for VET News but all of Newbery Consulting’s email lists. This is the first official distribution so I hope it makes it to you safe and sound.
13/05/2013VET News – 25 Mar 2013
It’s hard to know where to start. In the last couple of weeks we have seen the release of some significant documents which stand to have far reaching impact on the VET sector as we know it.
25/03/2013VET News – 12 Feb 2013
We are pleased to welcome Cathy Fisher as new member to the Newbery Consulting team. Cathy commenced in late January and has been appointed as the Applications Manager.
12/02/2013VET News – 07 Dec 2012
Wow! What a year! I cannot believe it is December already. We have had another great year and have continued to support our many clients and have established some new and exciting relationships. I am most please about our new staff and the ongoing development of our system. I think 2013 is going to be a great year.
07/12/2012VET News – 05 Nov 2012
Before we present everyone else’s news, we have some news of our own! We are very pleased to welcome to the Newbery Consulting team, Sarah Funke. Sarah has been appointed as our Client Support Manager and will be providing support direct to our many clients and users of our RTO System.
05/11/2012VET News – 01 Oct 2012
Well,, what a tumultuous month it has been in the media for our friend, ASQA. If you didn’t catch this through the month we have provided links to watch both stories.
01/10/2012VET News – 03 Sep 2012
One thing to note are the published responses to frequently asked questions by ASQA. I think this is a good thing and I encourage you to review this information on the ASQA site.
03/09/2012VET News – 01 Aug 2012
Please enjoy our newsletter this month. We have Anne Maree back on board after a stint away. It’s good to have her keen eye for the news back on deck. Good training!
01/08/2012VET News – 03 Jul 2012
OK,,,, I would firstly like to open this newsletter by acknowledging that I was wrong about QLD becoming a non-referring State!
03/07/2012VET News – 01 Jun 2012
I draw your attention to is “Victorian Training Market Decimated” down in other news of interest. Both TAFE and private providers alike have been dealt a harsh blow by the Victorian Government who withdraw massive amounts of funding without any prior warning. In the next 12 months, I suspect we will see many forced closures and many VET practitioners out of work.
01/06/2012VET News – 30 Apr 2012
I hate to say I told you so,, but it looks like the QLD transition to ASQA is just about in the toilet. Now,, if QLD follow VIC and WA, they will become a non-referring State. This means that all of the RTOs which operate across the State border now (and CRICOS Providers) will still go to ASQA.
30/04/2012VET News – 30 Mar 2012
Hope you are all well. I am glad to say that VET News has now reached over 500 subscribers. We are very proud of this achievement and are pleased that readers find the information so useful that they recommended it. Next stop 1000 subscribers!
30/03/2012VET News – 29 Feb 2012
Lots of helpful information this month. I particularly recommend the Research Messages 2011 from the NCVER. The link is toward the bottom. Like me, I am sure you are all flat out trying to keep across industry developments and trends. I found this document great, as it provides a summary of an entire research paper in one page (fantastic!). It also provides the links to the original report which is great.
29/02/2012VET News – 30 Jan 2012
Hope you are all well and had a great break. The year has certainly taken off in a hurry. I would first like to welcome all of our new subscribers. We had a significant increase in subscribers in Dec as our news letter is pushed on through your email networks.
30/01/2012VET News – 16 Dec 2011
Last edition for the year. We decided to send this edition out a little early. Let’s face it, who wants to get a work email the week before Christmas!! It has been another big year for us and I seriously need to spend some time at the beach reading a good book. Newbery Consulting will be closed over the period 17 Dec 2011 – 08 Jan 2012 returning on Monday the 9th Jan.
16/12/2011VET News – 30 Nov 2011
What an amazing response we had to our first edition! Over the last three weeks we have received 62 new subscribers from right across the VET sector. We have also received great feedback so thank you for your positive comments and for recommending the subscription to others.
30/11/2011VET News – 03 Nov 2011
Since the closure of the Training Packages @ Work in June 2011, there has been a gap in the VET sector in the availability of a regular consolidated news service. To address this need, we will prepare and send you a monthly news letter with all of the consolidated news that specifically relates to the […]
03/11/2011