The Albanese Government is moving to lift the quality and integrity of the nation's vocational education and training (VET) sector, with the release today of revised Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs).
The Commonwealth and all state and territory governments have agreed to build a high-performing and world-class VET sector with TAFE at the heart, in which all Australians can access high quality training from a diverse range of providers.
The current standards have been in place for almost a decade. Through consultation with the sector, it was evident they needed to be updated to better reflect the diversity of the VET sector and to support quality outcomes across different RTO settings and delivery contexts.
The revised standards aim to ensure students receive high-quality training to get them into well-paid secure jobs, with industry-relevant skills and knowledge for today and into the future.
The current standards are complex and difficult to navigate with over 59 clauses and 140 subclauses, driving a focus on administrative processes. The revised standards shift this focus beyond that of baseline compliance requirements and are framed around 22 outcome-focussed standards across four key quality areas - training and assessment, learner support, workforce, and governance.
This represents a step change in all Governments' shared ambition to lift quality and integrity across the sector by enabling a more flexible, robust, and quality-driven approach to regulation.
The revised standards will strengthen the focus on quality outcomes for learners and employers, provide greater clarity for RTOs and regulators, and allow for more flexibility and innovation in training delivery across the sector.
This follows early changes to the standards that commenced in March 2024, which addressed urgent pressures impacting the VET workforce.
Releasing the revised standards now will help the VET sector prepare for the changes before they come into effect on 1 July 2025.
This builds on the Albanese Government's work to strengthen VET, including:
- $37.8 million to support the establishment of an integrity unit within the Australian Skills and Quality Authority (ASQA), upgrade ASQA's digital and data systems, and create a tip‑off line to identify providers that don't meet standards.
- strengthening the Fit and Proper Person Requirements under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011
- new legislation to tackle unscrupulous and non-genuine providers.
Quotes attributable to the Minister for Skills and Training, Andrew Giles:
"A high-quality VET sector is vital to Australia's future by producing the knowledge and skills to position Australia as an economically prosperous, socially equitable and environmentally sustainable nation."
"The revised standards strengthen the focus on quality outcomes, including supports and protections for the wellbeing of students, strengthened governance and VET workforce requirements, and provision of fit-for-purpose and industry relevant training.
"We want to raise the bar for VET providers. Revised standards will embed quality aspirations and foster a shared understanding of what constitutes high-quality delivery for all users of the VET system. This will provide clarity and set the expectation of the outcomes and the requirements all RTOs are expected to meet.
"Revised standards will ensure students and employers can have confidence in a VET system that will deliver the high-quality training required to equip them with the skills needed."
