ACT Education Group has registration cancelled

19 June 2017

The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) has cancelled the registration of ACT Education Group Pty Ltd (RTO number 40264) as a provider of vocational education and training services.

ASQA’s decision against the training provider, which trades as Adelaide College of Technology, will take effect from 20 July 2017 unless it seeks a review of the decision in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).

Chief Commissioner Mark Paterson said the RTO currently has around 160 international students all of whom would be assisted by the Australian Government’s Tuition Protection Service to find an alternative training provider with which to study or obtain a refund.

“ASQA audited ACT Education Group because of the number and nature of complaints it had received. The RTO was a large provider in the VET FEE-HELP sector in 2015 and 2016,” Mr Paterson said.

“The RTO was found to be non-compliant with the requirements of the VET Quality Framework in its enrolment and delivery practices and, on the basis of this finding, ASQA made the decision to issue a notice of intention to cancel the RTO’s registration.”

The key areas of non-compliance were:

marketing and enrolment practices were not accurate or factual, and learners were not appropriately enrolled into a suitable training product;
learners were not provided with support, or sufficient resources, to assist them to complete the course;
the RTO did not have an appropriate amount of training, or implement an assessment process, to ensure learners had the skills needed;
learners were not appropriately transitioned into the most current training product; and
the RTO did not monitor the third parties that recruited students on its behalf.

Mr Paterson said the provider’s response to the notice of intention failed to address the issues identified and ASQA made the decision to cancel its registration.

ACT Education Group is the eighth training provider to have its registration cancelled following scrutiny as part of ASQA’s 2016 VET FEE-HELP Strategic Review. The others are:

ASCET Institute of Technology (RTO number 20770);
Smart City Vocational College Pty Ltd (RTO number 6494);
Australian Vocational Learning Institute (RTO number 21289);
Conwal and Associates Pty Ltd (RTO number 31190); and
Asia Pacific Training Institute Pty Ltd (RTO number 21378);
MHM Australasia Pty Ltd (RTO number 6980); and
Gurkhas Institute of Technology (RTO number 22088).

Three providers have had courses removed or suspended from its scope of registration as part of the Strategic Review. They are:

Franklyn Scholar (Australia) Pty Ltd (RTO number 7134) – courses removed from scope of registration;
Merage Group Pty Ltd (RTO number 91798) – suspension of scope of registration; and
The Australian Academy of Business Pty Ltd (RTO number 32128) – suspension of all diploma-level and higher qualifications from scope of registration.

The decisions against ASCET Institute of Technology, Smart City Vocational College, Australian Vocational Learning Institute, Conwal and Associates, Asia Pacific Training Institute and MHM Australasia have come into effect.

Gurkhas Institute of Technology, Franklyn Scholar (Australia) and Merage Group have each sought a review of ASQA’s decision in the AAT, and these matters are ongoing.

Merage Group has been granted a stay of the decision pending the outcome of the review. Gurkhas Institute of Technology has applied for a stay of ASQA’s decision. This application is yet to be considered by the AAT.