Quality and compliance in a changing RTO landscape: insights from ACPET Member interviews and Health Checks

Claire FieldChief Executive Officer

Overview• Member interviews – a focus on RTO resilience

• One year on: ACPET Health Check data

• A new regulatory approach?

• ACPET: Quality Support

Regulatory concernsASQA findings – RTOs have ongoing problems complying with

•SNR 15: Assessment – lack of understanding of what constitutes valid assessment & poor use of good assessment materials

•SNR 15.4: trainer vocational competence and current industry skills

•SNR 24.1: marketing and advertising

Regulatory concerns cont/…

ASQA Strategic Review 2013 review recommendations include: •revisions to national regulatory standards (esp Marketing)•revisions to training packages, including minimum duration of training (Aged Care & White Card) and volume of learning benchmarks•information workshops on training and assessment and marketing practices, including use of brokers (Aged Care & Marketing)

Qualitative research - ACPET RTOs Aim was to explore similarities & differences between RTOs with high and low reliance on govt funding•Qualitative research with 26 RTOs•Located in capital cities & regional areas of:

– NSW– Vic– Qld– WA– SA – NT

ACPET member interviews Across the RTOs interviewed:•a small minority of RTOs are engaged in workplace development activities with employers•the approach of those that do is underdeveloped, although a number indicated they believed this was an area for growth (especially non-accredited training) •of those that engaged in employer workplace development activities, it formed part of the RTO’s business strategy with designated business targets•RTO relationships with employers are most likely to be informal partnerships – cited as employers’ preference

ACPET member interviews (2)• R&D is more common among RTOs highly reliant on

government funding, half of whom have designated staff • RTOs generally willing to try new ventures, only ¼ were

looking for more government funding for this• RTOs identified a range of barriers to business

diversification:– regularity of government policy changes – shortage of qualified trainers & assessors– costs of regulation– lack of capital to expand

ACPET member interviews (3)• Only just over half of RTOs described their business as

financially stable • The majority of RTOs did not have written contingency

plans for sudden change but some had them ‘in their heads’

• Virtually all articulated a business vision for the short and medium term, but not all have incorporated the vision into their strategic plan.

• Marketing strategies and budgets are not universal. Some RTOs prefer to rely only on ‘relationships’ and reputation

ACPET member interviews (4)• RTOs use a variety of means to keep abreast of developments

in their industry and in the VET system• RTOs believed their executive staff were highly tolerant of

change, whereas they deemed their staff to be less so• The majority described themselves as compliant or very

compliant with SNR standards and ‘very compliant’ with government funding contracts,

• The majority believe their management structures were adequate for the future needs of the business, and

• Their management systems were very strong and reliable and could support the business into the future

ACPET member interviews (5)– ‘high reliance’ RTOs were more likely to be employer

focused or ‘employer connected’, but their employer relationships were often under-developed and limited.

– approx 1/3 of ‘high reliance’ RTOs were not interested in new relationships with employers

– ‘high reliance’ RTOs identified more barriers to business diversification than low reliance RTOs, particularly • shortage of qualified staff • shortage of capital • issues related to government funding and regulation

ACPET member interviews (6)– ‘high reliance’ RTOs expressed serious concern about

the costs (financial and other) of constant changes in government policy around funding,

– ‘low reliance’ RTOs markedly more likely to describe business as financially stable than high reliance RTOs

– while some high reliance RTOs are well placed to develop and diversify their business using a stronger employer focus, work with both RTOs and employers to strengthen connections would be a necessary preliminary step

ACPET Healthchecks43 Healthchecks of ACPET members & 16 more in/train scheduled. Key features:•used by members in lead-up to re-registration or as an external quality review between regulatory audits•focus is on engendering RTO confidence in their approach to quality outcomes and compliance •two-stage process•uses benchmarks for sufficiency of evidence moderated internally and with HC consultants

ACPET data – Standard 15

ACPET data – Standard 16

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Std 16.7

Std 16.6

Std 16.5

Std 16.4

Std 16.3

Std 16.2

Std 16.1

Yes

Not Quite

No

N/A

ACPET data – Standard 17

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Std 17.4

Std 17.3

Std 17.2

Std 17.1

Yes

Not Quite

No

N/A

ACPET data – Standard 18

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Std 18.2

Std 18.1

Yes

Not Quite

No

N/A

ACPET data – Standards 19 & 20

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

20.2

20.1

19

Yes

Not Quite

No

N/A

ACPET data – Standards 19 & 20

ACPET data – Standards 21 & 22

ACPET data – Standard 23

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

23.5

23.4

23.3

23.2

23.1

Yes

Not Quite

No

N/A

ACPET data – Standards 24 & 25

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

25

24.2

24.1

Yes

Not Quite

No

N/A

Healthcheck feedback• “very valuable and got a lot out of it”• "the Health Check consultant was wonderful, she asked

very clever questions that really got us thinking“• “we would do it again, it was a massive wake up call”• “I was really happy with how the ACPET Health Check was

conducted”• “I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, dealing with

Catherine was like having a highly experienced, knowledgeable colleague and mentor on staff”

ACPET Quality Support TeamThree levels of support for ACPETmembers:

1.Foundation

2.Diagnostic

3.Integrated

Quality Team Support: Level 1

Foundation (basic level of support)

1. ACPET PD webinars (incl ‘pre-purchase all national webinars)

2. ACPET Helpdesk• 2 hours free of specialist helpdesk assistance every

year for all paying members PLUS• purchase additional hours as required

Quality Team Support: Level 2

Diagnostic (helping you identify and address issues)

ACPET health checks • standard RTO health check • CRICOS • becoming a RTO• government-funded provider (available in Vic & QLD

currently) • higher education • facilities check

Quality Team Support: Level 3

Integrated/On-Site

dedicated on site support from an ACPET Quality Support Team member to support your quality and

compliance needs

The quality stamp