ASQA Update - September 2023

Welcome to the September edition of the ASQA Update

Last month marked the publication of our 2023-24 Corporate Plan. I focused my introduction on the eight Regulatory Risk Priorities identified in the Plan, providing an overview and committing to keeping you informed as we develop and publish new resources and guidance to assist the sector to mitigate these risks in the year ahead.

This month I return to our commitment to share information about our regulatory activities and performance on a regular basis, building on the information I shared in our March and June editions.

I’m pleased to include a snapshot of our activity during 2022-23. This was a year that was again characterised by a high number of applications – for new registrations or market entry, for renewal of registration and particularly for change of scope. Through our performance assessment and compliance activity, we also found that there were more providers who were unable to demonstrate the capability and commitment to quality VET and this is reflected in a higher number of sanction decisions. By the end of June, we had:

• determined 7,077 applications – consisting of 424 new provider registrations, 734 provider registration renewals, 5,822 changes of scope of registration, 28 course accreditations, 47 course re-accreditations and 15 amended course accreditations
• completed 831 assessment activities – consisting of 228 initial registration assessments, 317 monitoring activities, 236 performance assessments and 50 evidence reviews
• undertaken 239 compliance actions, including 15 warning letters, 35 providers entering into an Agreement to Rectify, 94 written directions, 13 conditions on registration and 82 sanctions of which 63 were decisions to cancel or not renew a provider’s registration
• received 571 complaints regarding concerns with provider compliance, and
• received 52,283 inquiries, through our Infoline and online student enquiries.

During this time, we maintained a concerted focus on delivery to overseas students, actively engaging across government to support compliance activities, surveillance, and monitoring activities where concerns around provider practice are raised. We also collaborated and engaged with stakeholders through multiple channels and platforms to assist providers to better understand and meet their regulatory obligations and to inform and improve our own regulatory practice.  I look forward to providing a complete outline and analysis of our performance in our Annual Report, which will be published next month.

I also said last month that we would be looking at our key external communication mechanisms, including the ASQA Update, and considering opportunities to ensure these are maximising their purpose.  We are committed to ensuring our communication is clear, relevant, and timely and strikes a balance between key information and changes relevant to the sector and operational or compliance information relevant to providers. What this means is we are re-shaping the ASQA Update, to a quarterly newsletter, which shares important information about our work and regulatory practice and trends and changes impacting the sector. This will be supplemented by a monthly Provider Lens, with information and guidance specific to provider obligations and continuous improvement.

These changes will take effect from early next year, which means that the October edition will be the last monthly iteration of the ASQA Update and the next ASQA Update will be in January 2024. Our first monthly Provider Update will be sent to all providers from November 2023.

As always, I appreciate your feedback about the effectiveness of our communication and welcome any suggestions you might have for our first quarterly edition. 

Stay safe and well.

In this edition

• Publication of Guide to Working with Consultants
• Concurrent enrolment
• Fit and Proper Person Requirements

and more