The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) has tabled its Annual Report 2023-24 in the Australian Parliament.
ASQA continued to perform an essential role in assuring consistent, high-quality vocational education and training through effective and vigilant regulation and supporting the sector to build capability and capacity in 2023-24. We achieved all five of our strategic objectives aligned to our purpose and enabled by the principles of regulatory best practice - continuous improvement and building trust, being risk-based and data-driven, and collaboration and engagement.
We adjusted our practices through 2023-24 to respond to government priorities and remain agile and responsive in our regulatory approach, ensuring we were able to employ a mix of education, compliance and enforcement tools to support continuous improvement and act on risks.
This year we have been proactive in our stewardship as the national regulator and have worked closely with policy agencies and the sector on a range of legislative and regulatory practice reforms. These reforms are about supporting the regulatory system to adapt to changing circumstances and risks and ensuring that it is fit-for-purpose and serves to improve outcomes for students and industry stakeholders.
A key focus of these reforms has been on upholding the integrity of the sector in the face of serious threats that have emerged since COVID, particularly around the delivery of training to international students and the harmful behaviour of some non-genuine providers.
We established the Integrity Unit and Tip-off line, which have increased our intelligence, analytic and investigative capacity to respond to VET integrity risks. This investment is also supporting an uplift in our legacy systems through staged digital reforms.
Our implementation of strengthened Fit and Proper Person Requirements now extends these requirements beyond CEOs and high managerial agents to any person who exercises a degree of control or influence over the management or direction of a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) - further safeguarding the sector.
We have matured our collaboration and networked intelligence and coordinated compliance efforts across government. As at 30 June 2024, more than 50% of our serious investigations were linked to multijurisdictional actions, such as the Fraud Fusion Taskforce and Operation Inglenook, which work to deter and disrupt criminal elements exploiting government programs and funding.
Through these actions we are protecting students from criminals who seek to exploit the VET system for their own gain.
As outlined in the Annual Report we also:
- supported self-assurance to build sector capacity for excellence in training outcomes
- identified Regulatory Risk Priorities through environmental scans, stakeholder engagement, assessment of complaints and intelligence reports to inform decision on regulatory action
- implemented regulatory activities to treat identified risks: including Strategic Review of Online Learning in the VET Sector; VET in Schools sub-group meetings, Trainer Assessor Capability education, international student direct mail campaigns on return to compliance, agent behaviour and fee relief
- provided guidance to new assessors with the Assessor Indication and Training Program.
Read the ASQA Annual Report 2023-24
