Snapshot of Compliance Trends

Snapshot of Compliance Trends at 30 June 2024

This snapshot provides a summary of compliance trends of Training Accreditation Council (TAC) regulated providers over three financial years (FYs). In providing this Snapshot, the Council aims to highlight areas where there may be risks to quality delivery and to support continuous improvement for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) regulated by TAC.

Audits are one of the tools TAC uses to monitor RTO performance against the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015 (the Standards) and offer a point-in-time insight into the quality of training and assessment services being provided. During the reporting period, audits include multiple audit types and individual providers may be audited multiple times, perhaps due to delivery of training products identified as being at higher risk. If the outcome of the main audit is that the training organisation is non-compliant, they are provided with an evidence review period of 20 working days to address outstanding issues.

Compliance at main audit

Compliance outcomes of RTOs at main audit has varied over time, at 65% in FY 2023/2024 compared to 77% in FY 2022/2023 and 63% in FY 2021/2022. For an RTO to continue to operate, non-compliances must be resolved.

The decrease in compliance at main audit in FY 2023/2024 compared to FY 2022/2023 can be partially attributed to the compliance levels in audits initiated by TAC, where audits may include training products the Council has identified as an area of focus due to industry concerns about risks to training quality. For more information on the audit process, please refer here.

Compliance at Clause Level

Compliance data at Clause level is derived from the number of times the Clause was audited during the FY 2023/2024. At audit, a number of clauses are usually audited. An RTO’s non-compliance against one clause will result in overall non-compliance at main audit, regardless of other clauses audited being compliant. Due to this, the compliance levels for individual clauses is generally higher than the overall compliance at main audit.

The three clauses in Standard 1 with the lowest compliance at main audit include:

Clause 1.8: RTOs have an assessment system that complies with training product requirements.

74% of audits achieved compliance for Clause 1.8 at main audit in FY 2023/2024 compared to 82% of audits in FY 2022/2023 and 69% in FY 2021/2022.

Assessment systems remain the most common area of non-compliance by RTOs and continues to be a core focus for the Council in its regulatory activity. With the planned implementation of the revised Standards for RTOs in July 2025, the Council will continue this focus on assessment systems in its regulatory activity.

Clause 1.1: RTOs have training and assessment strategies that are consistent with training package requirements.

85% achieved compliance for Clause 1.1 in FY 2023/2024 compared to 93% in FY 2022/2023 and 83% in FY 2021/2022

Clause 1.3: RTOs have sufficient trainers, support services, resources and facilities when delivering training.

86% of audits achieved compliance for Clause 1.3 at main audit in FY 2023/2024 compared to 89% in FY 2022/2023 and 88% in FY 2021/2022

TAC Focus on Quality: Regulatory Strategy 2023-2025

TAC’s Regulatory Strategy 2023-2025 (the Strategy) informs RTOs and VET stakeholders about the specific focus areas the Council has identified as posing the highest risks to the quality of VET and the regulatory actions to monitor and minimise those risks. One of the specific focus areas in the Strategy is to conduct audits for selected high-risk training products.

In FY 2023/2024 for audits of training products identified within the Strategy, compliance was 56%, which is lower than the compliance level for all audits conducted by TAC (65%).

This lower level of compliance indicates that Council’s focus on these training products is warranted and demonstrates that TAC is effectively targeting risks.

The non-compliances identified at audits associated with the Strategy varied amongst RTOs, however the most common non-compliances were in relation to:

• quality of training (Clauses 1.1 and 1.2) and included RTOs not meeting the threshold for the amount of training required for units of competency; and training and assessment strategies not clearly explaining the activities, delivery, and assessments that contribute to the training product.
• quality of assessment (Clause 1.8) and included assessment tools not addressing the requirements of the unit of competency; practical assessments which did not include observation criteria for assessors to use in determining whether learners had demonstrated the requirements of the unit; and assessment systems not meeting the principles of assessment.

Based on these audit outcomes, it is important that RTOs consider their training and assessment systems, particularly in high-risk training products identified in the Council’s Regulatory Strategy.

Renewal of Registration

In FY 2024/2025, approximately a fifth (19%) of TAC regulated RTOs will need to apply for a Renewal of Registration due to expiring registrations.

The risk of non-compliance in Renewal of Registration audits was observed to be higher if an RTO has not had any regulatory contact with TAC for three years or more.

For RTOs applying for Renewal of Registration, TAC strongly recommends engaging with the TAC Education program, particularly the Renewal of Registration webinar, to assist with readiness for and meeting the renewal of registration requirements. To assist RTOs in preparing for their Renewal of Registration, the lowest compliance for Renewal of Registration audits in FY 2023/2024 was related to:

Systemic validation of assessment (Clause 1.11a)

RTOs not being able to demonstrate systemic validation was being undertaken by person/s with:

• vocational competencies and current industry skills relevant to the assessment being validated; and/or
• current knowledge and skills in VET teaching and learning; and/or
• training and assessment credentials.

TAC Education Program

1,361 participants attending workshops either in person or online in FY 2023/2024.

The Skills and Workforce Ministerial Council has endorsed the revised Standards for Registered Training Organisations (the Standards), which are planned for implementation from July 2025.

TAC is committed to providing guidance that enhances the capability and understanding of RTOs and their staff in implementing the revised Standards. This includes an Online Guidance Hub on the TAC website, a series of webinars, updated TAC Fact Sheets to align with the revised Standards and new Fact Sheets where required. To stay informed about these resources as they become available, please refer to the TAC Education Program.

The information presented in this snapshot should be read in conjunction with information about the TAC audit process and regulatory approach.

Please refer to the following links:

• TAC Regulatory Approach
• TAC Risk Framework
• Focus on Quality: TAC Regulatory Strategy 2023-2025
• TAC Audit Process Flow

Print Version Available:

Snapshot of Compliance Trends - at 30 June 2024 (PDF)