The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) has welcomed the investment announced earlier today by the Australian Government in our compliance, investigative and enforcement capabilities to strengthen our response to integrity issues in the vocational education and training (VET) sector.
ASQA - the national regulator for vocational education and training - will:
- create a dedicated Integrity Unit, alongside an uplift in digital and data systems, to further support our capability to identify and respond proactively to risks. This will support inter-agency intelligence and compliance work, preventing and disrupting illegal behaviour and the exploitation of vulnerable students
- establish a VET tip-off line to provide a safe and confidential avenue for current and former students, staff and other potential whistleblowers (including as homestay hosts and employers of international students) to report, anonymously if they wish, alleged illegal and serious non-compliance activity.
ASQA CEO Saxon Rice said these initiatives to boost ASQA's capability reflected the current threats to the integrity of the VET sector.
"The nature of our operating environment is highly dynamic, and we must ensure our regulation is equipped to meet this challenge," Ms Rice said.
"These measures will enable us to scale up our work to stamp out criminal and non-genuine behaviour, including by better enabling students and members of the public to come forward with tip-offs about those not doing the right thing, and through more effective information- and intelligence-sharing across government."
ASQA already undertakes extensive performance assessment, monitoring and compliance activities, along with education and overall work with providers to build their capability and uplift their practices for assuring their own delivery and continuous improvement of quality training.
These initiatives, which the Australian Government will invest $33.3m in over 3 years, will support our actions to tackle integrity in the sector as identified in the Rapid Review into the Exploitation of Australia's Visa System, led by Christine Nixon AO.
"We know the majority of providers are motivated to deliver quality training outcomes but unfortunately, there are some within the sector that don't share that motivation. This puts students at risk, and risks damaging the overall reputation of the sector," Ms Rice added.
These initiatives builds on the measures recently announced by the Australian Government to target unethical, dishonest or non-genuine providers that undermine confidence in the VET sector.
This included strengthening the rules for the fit and proper persons test, which gave ASQA broader authority to scrutinise people who own, operate and manage registered training organisations and ensure they meet higher and broader standards.
ASQA's tip-off line will be open from 9am AEDT tomorrow, Wednesday 4 October. Anyone with information is encouraged to call 1300 644 844 or go to our website to provide a tip-off through our webform.
