ASQA Update - May 2022

Welcome to the May edition of the ASQA Update

I am delighted to share with you that last month, the Hon Stuart Robert MP, Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business and Acting Minister for Education and Youth, announced the appointment of the inaugural members of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Advisory Council (the Advisory Council). The members are Mr Peter Costantini OAM (Chair), Professor Valerie Braithwaite, Ms Renee Hindmarsh, Dr Grant Klinkum, Ms Adrienne Nieuwenhuis, Mr Neil Quarmby and Dr Don Zoellner. Members have been appointed on the basis of their extensive expertise in the areas of governance, regulation, industry engagement, and education and training. The Advisory Council – established in response to a key recommendation of the Rapid Review of ASQA’s Regulatory Practices and Processes – will provide a valuable source of strategic advice on the VET Regulator’s functions and signals ASQA’s ongoing commitment to learning from the expertise of others as we continue our focus on best practice regulation.

I am also pleased to share ASQA’s participation in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet’s Best Practice Cost Recovery Project. This project will review how a select number of Australian Government regulators use cost recovery to inform their decisions regarding resource allocation, regulatory performance and organisational design. The findings from the project will inform future reforms to regulator performance as part of the Australian Government’s broader Deregulation Agenda.

ASQA’s work to co-design a model for self-assurance with and for the VET sector continues. We recently released a draft model, which has been co-designed following extensive engagement with providers and other key sector stakeholders. The model is intended to provide a framework within which providers can develop and continuously improve their self-assurance capability, and a tool to support providers to ensure they are meeting their obligations under the Standards for Registered Training Organisations 2015. ASQA continues to work with the sector to further develop and refine the model and explore the resources and guidance providers require to support self-assurance and continuous quality improvement.

ASQA is committed to best practice regulation, adding value as a regulator, and ensuring we are efficient, effective and continuously improving. This is why feedback from applicants, providers and course owners on our regulatory practices is important to us. Our annual provider and course owner survey will open later this month and we welcome your feedback (an invite to respond will arrive by email). Findings from the survey will help inform our assessment of our performance against key performance measures, the outcomes of which will be included in ASQA’s 2021–22 Annual Report.

Over the coming weeks, we will release chapters in our next Spotlight On series, which is focused on student support. Spotlight On offers a lens on ASQA's 2021–22 Regulatory Risk Priorities, and is intended to support providers to self-assurance and improve their practices in areas of identified risks.

Stay safe and well,

In this edition

• Advisory Council

• Findings released: A draft model for self-assurance

• Continued support for those affected by floods

• ASQA to join ‘Best Practice Cost Recovery’ review

• Spotlight On Series 4

• Complete the Provider and Course Owner Survey

• Reminder – New fees and charges from 1 July

and more