The ACTU welcomes today’s announcement that the Albanese government will seek to pass legislation to crack down on dodgy providers in the vocational education and training (VET) sector.
The proposed Bill will give powers to the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) to act against registered training organisations (RTOs) who have been using their operations to avoid regulatory requirements or conduct fraudulent activity.
The Bill will put greater scrutiny on RTOs and increase fines for non-compliance of their obligations.
It will also give the Minister more power to intervene in the registration of new RTOs.
This reform is a great first step in a much-needed process to remove the worst-behaving providers from the VET system and ensure that we can rely on VET to deliver the skilled workers we will need for the jobs of the future.
Quotes attributable to ACTU Assistant Secretary Liam O’Brien:
“This proposed Bill will improve the integrity and trust of our VET sector. We are pleased that the government is looking to weed out the chancers and the charlatans.
“We want to see a system that puts quality and training at the heart of Registered Training Organisations and not a system where there are training providers whose primary purpose is extracting huge profits.”
