Revisions to the Standards for Registered Training Organisations

The revised Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) (the revised Standards) are now available.

These revised Standards have been shaped over the course of the past four years through an extensive program of sector consultation on revisions to the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015. In addition to this, DEWR has worked with the states and territories, VET regulators, and sector peak bodies, to strengthen the focus on quality outcomes for learners and employers, provide greater clarity, and allow for more flexibility and innovation in training delivery.

The revised Standards represent a step change in all Governments’ shared ambition to lift quality and integrity across the entire sector, through enabling a more flexible, robust, and quality-driven approach to regulation. Together, Commonwealth and state and territory Skills Minsters have endorsed the revised Standards for RTOs for public release.

Changes to the Standards are designed to better reflect the diversity of the VET sector and ensure the Standards are fit-for-purpose across different RTO settings. This will help to embed quality aspirations and ensure the Standards clearly articulate characteristics required of RTOs to foster a shared understanding of what constitutes high-quality delivery for all users of the VET system.

The revised Standards provide a clearer and more direct link between the requirements RTOs are expected to meet and the outcomes they are expected to deliver.

The revised Standards will come into full regulatory effect from 1 July 2025. The Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015 will apply until then.

Policy Guidance has been developed and is available to support training providers, trainers and assessors in understanding the intent behind changes to the revised Standards.

Structure of the revised Standards for RTOs

To facilitate clear and outcome-focussed Standards that go to the heart of quality training delivery, the revised Standards for RTOs comprises of three elements:

This approach reflects early feedback from the sector that the mix of quality-oriented and compliance-focused requirements in the current 2015 Standards causes an undue focus on prescriptive compliance at the expense of good organisational practises that deliver quality outcomes for learners and employers, and that the current Standards are complex and difficult to navigate.

The revised Standards build on the early changes to the current Standards that came into effect on 1 March 2024, to alleviate VET workforce pressures and provide more immediate benefits to the sector.

Have your say: Feedback on the Credential Policy and Compliance Requirements

We are now seeking your feedback on the draft Credential Policy and Compliance Requirements to ensure they are clear, that their purpose is understood, and to identify any concerns with how RTOs might meet the requirements. Your feedback will inform the development of the legislative instrument to enact the Standards prior to the revised Standards taking regulatory effect.

A survey on the draft Credential Policy and Compliance Requirements is now open to the public via the department’s Consultation Hub website.

Take part in the survey

The survey will close at AEDT 11:59 pm on 20 October 2024.

You may wish to refer to the following fact sheet while completing the survey:

Enacting the Standards

Final agreement to the legislative instruments to enact the revised Standards for RTOs will be sought from Skills Ministers in late 2024. This will enable the revised Standards to be in place from January 2025, coming into full regulatory effect from July 2025.

Please note the exact wording of the revised Standards, the Compliance Requirements, and the Credential Policy may be subject to change in order to meet formal legislative drafting requirements. Final legislative instruments will reflect the policy drafts, subject to legislative drafting requirements.

Transition to the revised Standards

The revised Standards will come into full regulatory effect from 1 July 2025.

For further information on how to prepare for the implementation of the revised Standards, please visit the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) page, Preparing for the revised Standards.

Standards for RTOs: Outcome Standards - Policy Guidance

Policy Guidance has been developed and is available to support training providers, trainers and assessors in understanding the intent behind changes to the revised Standards. Importantly, a key focus of the policy guidance is to describe the policy intent of the Outcome Standards to support a consistent understanding and application of these among training providers.

Separately, an overview of revisions to the Compliance Requirements and Credentials Policy is also available.

Following your review of the guidance, should you have additional questions or feel that further clarification is required, please reach out to DEWR via the Online Questions Form below. At this stage, and in anticipation of feedback from the sector, the policy guidance is presented as a draft and will be updated incrementally over the coming months. We welcome your feedback on the draft document using the form available below.

Please be aware VET Regulators will release more detailed supporting resources over the course of the coming months, which will provide further information on self-assurance, and adhering to and demonstrating compliance with the Standards.

ASQA is preparing guidance for providers to support a smooth transition to the revised Standards, in partnership with peak bodies, the ASQA Stakeholder Liaison Group and DEWR.

ASQA will be progressively releasing draft Regulatory Guidelines to support providers to transition to the revised Standards. Ahead of releasing the full suite of guidance materials, a Preparing for the revised Standards document is now available.

This outlines areas to consider when assessing and self-assuring your operations against the revised Standards. This will be incorporated into ASQA’s Regulatory Guidelines, that will be released, as initial drafts, in tranches from October 2024. There will be further opportunities to have your say on these resources to help ASQA tailor and improve their educative materials to meet your needs.

Policy Guidance Videos

Coming soon

Online Questions Form

The purpose of this form is to provide stakeholders with the opportunity to ask questions about the policy intent of the revised Standards and to provide feedback on the Standards for RTOs: Outcome Standards - Policy Guidance document. Questions will not be responded to individually, but the results will be aggregated to identify broad patterns or trends so these can be addressed through resources such as the Frequently Asked Questions section of this webpage. These questions and themes may also be shared with VET regulators to inform the development of further guidance and education materials.

Any personal information you provide as part of this form will be managed in accordance with the department’s Privacy Policy. Your personal information is protected by law, including the Privacy Act 1988.