Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Vocational Education, Training and Apprenticeships) Share this | Hansard source

I present the explanatory memorandum to this bill and move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Today I introduce the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Amendment Bill 2019. The Australian vocational education and training, or VET, sector delivers outstanding education and training for a variety of institutions through public and private registered training organisations within universities and schools. It is a dynamic and responsive sector that supports millions of students to obtain the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in an ever-changing economy. It provides flexible opportunities to engage in education and training as a starting point to a career pathway or as a solution to upskill or reskill.

That is why last year this government committed $18.1 million to support reform of the national VET regulator, the Australian Skills Quality Authority, or ASQA, to improve its engagement with the sector and increase its focus on training excellence over a minimum standards compliance regulatory approach.

This bill is the first tranche of changes to ASQA as we move the agency towards a more transparent and balanced regulator that builds quality and capacity in the VET sector. ASQA has a wide range of legislative responsibilities important to the success of the Australian VET sector, including registering and monitoring some 4,000 RTOs, accrediting courses, undertaking compliance audits, collecting and distributing information about VET, and taking appropriate re-entry actions. It is important that we have a trusted, respected and independent regulator that takes action to protect students and ensure confidence in the quality of training.

This bill responds to recommendations from both the 2018 Braithwaite review into ASQA's primary legislation and the 2019 Joyce review into vocational education and training, to ensure the legislation is fit-for-purpose and supports ASQA and the sector in delivering quality VET services. To this end, the bill strengthens registration requirements for RTOs, to ensure only those RTOs genuinely committed and adequately resourced are able to operate in the sector. As such, organisations applying to ASQA to become registered will be aware of the high expectations placed on them and the need to show they are prepared and committed to providing high quality training from the first day their doors open and throughout their registration.

Further, the bill introduces a new requirement on RTOs to notify ASQA when significant changes to their businesses are likely to occur. This will ensure ASQA has better and more timely information about an RTO's operations and assist ASQA to mitigate risks to students and to VET quality.

Where ASQA must cancel an RTO's registration for noncompliance with the VET Quality Framework, the amendments provide ASQA with flexibility and discretion in determining when cancellation or refusal of registration takes effect, so as to minimise the impact on students. In practice, the amendments will allow providers in some circumstances to continue operating for a period while students complete their training or arrange to transfer to another provider.

It is critical for ASQA to follow standard regulatory procedures so RTOs are afforded the principles of natural justice and that decisions are supported by sound evidence. There are existing natural justice requirements in the NVETR Act that ensure providers are notified of ASQA's intention to cancel and provide time for RTOs to respond to the notice. These remain unchanged by these amendments, and RTOs will continue to have access to appeals processes.

Improving the transparency of ASQA's regulatory actions will ensure the sector has confidence in the ability of the regulator to make appropriate, consistent and proportionate regulatory decisions. To achieve this, the bill provides for publication of audit reports, expands information entered on the publicly available national register, as well as enabling ASQA to share information electronically with others responsible for administering laws relating to VET.

ASQA will also be able to authorise a National Centre for Vocational Education Research, NCVER, to disclose information that would reasonably inform a person's choice to enrol in VET and that would encourage compliance or improvement in training quality.

In addition, the secretary of the department responsible for VET will be able to release information on students' and employers' experiences of training provided by RTOs. This information will assist students in making informed enrolment decisions and provide employers with better information about training quality.

Combined, these measures will ensure students are informed and protected through the availability of consistent and transparent information about RTO services and ASQA's regulatory assessments of training organisations.

To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of ASQA's operations, the bill makes amendments to enable ASQA to request documents in electronic form and expands its powers to use enforceable undertakings to take action against an RTO where it deems an undertaking is more effective, aligning it with similar powers of other regulatory regimes. In addition, ASQA will have powers to stay regulatory decisions if an RTO seeks internal review by ASQA, providing flexibility to support training delivery so students' studies are not interrupted during a review process.

To ensure the minister responsible for VET is able to respond effectively to sector issues, the bill clarifies the nature of directions the minister may issue to ASQA to improve its regulatory processes. This will assist the minister to support and direct ASQA, without impinging on the statutory independence of the regulator. Improvements to the efficiency of the NVETR Act will enable a simpler and faster acting appointment process for ASQA commissioners.

The chief commissioner is ASQA's chief executive officer, so there is a high risk of complications if unexpected circumstances mean that there is a vacancy in that office. The bill will enable the minister to appoint a commissioner to act as deputy chief commissioner during a vacancy in the office or whilst the deputy chief commissioner is absent from duty. As a result, the deputy or acting deputy chief commissioner will automatically act as the chief commissioner where there is a vacancy in the office of the chief commissioner. Further, the minister may also appoint an acting commissioner. These changes will improve appointment time frames to ensure ASQA can continue to operate effectively and with a quorum.

The bill also aligns ASQA reporting requirements with broader Commonwealth requirements. Currently information required in the annual operational plan is also required in the corporate plan, pursuant to the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. The bill will remove the duplication, allow the corporate plan to reflect the most current information and allow for the plan to take effect from 1 July annually. The bill also makes minor administrative changes to update definitions and streamline the operation of the act.

The quality vocational education and training sector protects students. It is responsive to industry, has a strong and balanced regulator and supports students to obtain the skills they need to succeed in a modern economy. This bill is a critical element in the government's reform to ASQA's regulatory approach and will improve confidence in the regulation of training across the sector. It will ensure ASQA has legislative support to continue to be an effective and responsive regulator. Streamlining processes, increasing scrutiny of new entrants to the market and ensuring ongoing capacity to deliver quality training will benefit Australia's VET sector. Improvements to transparency of information and access will assist VET students to make informed decisions about their future and will provide better oversight for ASQA to monitor RTO activities. This bill supports the continuous commitment of this government to improve the regulation and quality of the VET sector.

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