The following terms, definitions and acronyms are used in the VET sector in Australia and by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA).
They are provided as general information only and this is not intended to be an exhaustive list.
S
The particular services and products that a provider is registered to provide.
Standing Council on Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment
Senior Executive Service
Skills Service Organisations develop and maintain training package content – including qualifications, skill sets, and units of competency.
The national standards against which applicants for registration as a VET (vocational education and training) provider, and existing VET providers, are assessed.
A legislative instrument used to formally identify the requirements for accrediting VET (vocational education and training) courses.
A legislative instrument used to formally identify the standards for VET (vocational education and training) regulators performing functions under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011.
A statement given to a person confirming that the person has satisfied the requirements of units of competency or modules specified in the statement.
Industry-wide reviews undertaken by ASQA to obtain information about areas of the training sector that may require targeted regulatory action.
A person being trained and/or assessed by the RTO for the purpose of issuing AQF certification documentation.
An approach to audit that focuses on the practices and behaviours of RTOs, as well as checking on the compliance of RTOs’ systems and processes
Skills Service Organisations (SSOs) may revise training packages. When a training package is revised, the new version is published on the national register, training.gov.au.
When qualifications and units of competency contained in the revised training package replace the previously endorsed qualifications and units of competency, those previously endorsed products are referred to as ‘superseded’.
The Skills Service Organisation must indicate whether the revised qualifications and units of competency are equivalent or not equivalent to the superseded product:
- Equivalent means that the outcomes of the new and old (superseded) products are equivalent.
- Not equivalent means that the outcomes of the new and old (superseded) products are not equivalent.
The national register may also use the term ‘superseded’ for a qualification or unit of competency that has been deleted from its training package without having been replaced.