Delivering training online is not a new thing for the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. For more than a decade, training providers have delivered both accredited and non-accredited training online, with the quality of online delivery varying from excellent to really poor.
The question of quality in the delivery of training online has recently been put into the spotlight with the release of ASQA’s 2020-2022 Regulatory Strategy, which outlines the key risk areas and high-risk qualifications that ASQA will focus on for the following three years. This strategy is updated annually, with changes made where required, to ensure that new issues or concerns in the sector can be addressed as they emerge.
The team at Audit Express have reviewed the ASQA 2020-22 Regulatory Strategy and have prepared an infographic to help you understand the key points and how this will impact your organisation. Click here to download a copy of this infographic.
There are a number of key themes in this year’s release of the strategy that you should be focussing on in your organisation:
Online Delivery
VET in Schools Delivery
Priority Qualifications
If your organisation is delivering training online, you should be aware that this is considered to be ‘high-risk’ and that delivery of training online is now in the regulator’s radar.
Now is the time for you to be looking at the quality of the training programs that your organisation is offering online.
In partnership with educonomy, the team at Audit Express have researched best-practice approaches for online delivery from across the globe. We have looked closely at the way regulators of education in other countries around the world are regulating the quality of online delivery. This has helped us to build a suite of tools to be able to review and audit the quality of courses being delivered online here in Australia.
Click on the link below if you would like to have a chat with the team from Audit Express about how to improve the quality of training that your organisation is delivering online.
Last week Audit Express Express was invited to attend an exclusive launch and private viewing of Rose Office Furniture’s new range of Education Furniture at their West Melbourne Showroom.
[emaillocker id=6291]The champagne flowed and canapés as guests worked their way through the showroom, wowed by the new range of incredibly designed, ergonomic, quality education furniture. The evening was well attended with a number of guests of honour, including The Hon Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle, who congratulated and thanked Rose Office Furniture for its long standing presence as a reputable, well known and well regarded Melbourne business.
Since 1954, Rose Office Furniture has delivered best practice in customer service and has become a Melbourne institution, as it has survived the test of time, supplying office furniture locally and nationally to individuals, businesses and training providers, both big and small.
If your Training Organisation, TAFE or University needs any education or office furniture, we highly recommend that you get in touch with Tom and the team at Rose Office Furniture. Mention this post by Audit Express and Tom will take care of you. You can also take a look at their range of products online by visiting >>> https://www.roseoffice.com.au/
Registrations for this event are currently closed as we have reached full capacity. Thank you for your interest. The VET Development 2018 PD Calendar will be launched soon, check out their website in the coming weeks www.vdc.edu.au.
FREE Professional Development Session!
Audit Express has teamed up with the VET Development Centre to deliver a one off FREE Professional Development Session titled ‘VET Professional Development – How much is enough?’
What is covered in this webinar:[emaillocker id=6291]
This session will cover off on the most common questions that we receive about VET Professional Development, including:
• Understanding of what VET PD is
• What sources are acceptable for PD
• How to quantify
• Establishing an acceptable framework and plan for PD
As 2017 winds up, it is really important that Trainers and Assessors start planning their continuing professional development (PD) for the year ahead (2018) as VET practitioners.
As part of the Registration Standards, an RTO must ensure that all trainers and assessors undertake PD in the fields of the knowledge and practice of vocational training, learning and assessment, including competency-based training and assessment.
In this webinar we will explore what VET PD is, what forms of VET PD could be acceptable, how to quantify VET PD and explore some examples of best practice. Participants will also receive a complimentary 2018 VDC PD Planner.
At the end of this webinar, participants will gain:
• An understanding of what is required of Trainers/Assessors in maintaining their VET Professional Development
• Insight into what they should do in the lead up to 2018 in planning their Professional Development.
• Participants will also receive a complimentary 2018 VDC PD Planner
With all of this talk of Marriage Equality, the plebiscite and postal vote I thought I’d make a timely shoutout to all RTO & TAFE Managers, reminding you of the importance of supporting your Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual, Transgender and Intersex (GLBTI) students.
What does the current research tell us?
Reports from Beyond Blue suggest that the mental health of LGBTI people is among the poorest in Australia. Lesbian, gay and bisexual Australians are twice as likely to have a high/very high level of psychological distress as their heterosexual peers (18.2% v. 9.2%) This makes them particularly vulnerable to mental health problems. The younger the age group, the starker the differences: 55% of LGBT women aged between 16 and 24 compared with 18% in the nation as a whole and 40% of LGBT men aged 16-24 compared with 7%. For more detail take a look at the full report – https://www.beyondblue.org.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/bw0258-lgbti-mental-health-and-suicide-2013-2nd-edition.pdf?sfvrsn=2
Why is it important to support GLBTI students?
School, College or University is often the place where young #GLBTI students feel most safe. It should come as no surprise that this is often the safest place for a young GLBTI person to come out. Are your teachers and training coordinators ready and equipped to handle this kind of classroom situation?
It would appear that in this instance the TAFE wasn’t equipped to support and provide a safe place for their student being bullied. I can’t help but wonder how many RTOs, TAFEs and Universities really would be willing, ready and able to step up and support a young transgender person throughout their educational experience and personal journey of transition.
I have been talking about the need for RTOs and TAFEs to have provision in their ‘complaints and appeals’, and ‘student support’ policies, procedures and business processes to ensure that they are providing a safe and inclusive environment for all learners – including GLBTI students for quite some time now. However simply updating your policies isn’t enough. If your organisation is committed to creating a supportive environment for all students, including GLBTI students the most valuable thing you can do is educate your teachers.
I am interested to know if you believe that your organisation is already equipped to deal with this type of complaint or support need? Perhaps you have faced similar types of issues in your organisation. I would love to hear about what approaches were taken and how you managed the experience for all students in the classroom environment.
What can my organisation do to support its GLBTI students?
I believe that there is a huge gap in the knowledge and understanding of the support needs of GLBTI students in education. Professional development is needed in all parts of our education system from early childhood, right through to higher education. Earlier this year my friend and colleague Rebeckah Loveday from SensWide Employmentteamed up with the VET Development Centre to deliver a webinar titled: ‘Supporting learners of diverse gender, sexuality and orientation’. For more information click here.
There is a lot of work to be done in across all divisions of the education sector to ensure that GLBTI learners are supported. As a Vocational Education & Training Sector consultant and former policy advisor, it is my experience and opinion that many Community Colleges, RTOs and TAFEs are currently leave themselves exposed by putting their head in the sand and by not being proactive in taking action.
Next time you are reviewing the professional development schedule in your organisation, why not take a step up and include a useful informative session for your teachers on ‘how to support GLBTI students’?
If you are wanting to discuss this topic further please feel free to get in touch with Matthew Dale at Audit Express by phoning 1300735541
This years conference theme is ‘Connect with Technology, Collaborate with Industry, Capture Student Imagination.‘
The VDC Annual Conference is always an outstanding event for Australian TAFEs, RTOs and Community Education Providers, and is always hosted at an impressive venue with a great line up of speakers. The 2017 conference will be held at the award-winning resort, hotel and event venue – ‘RACV Torquay Resort’, one of the finest venues in Australia, the RACV Torquay Resort was named among the top 25 in two categories for the Trip Advisor Awards. It was placed 15th in the Luxury category and 17th in the Hotel category.
The 2017 conference boasts an impressive line-up of keynote speakers and presenters including our very own CEO Kevin Ekendahl, who is presentingon ‘Approaches to managing learner satisfaction in education’.
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_accordion style=”salbii” c_icon=”chevron” c_position=”right” collapsible_all=”true”][vc_tta_section title=”Child Safe Standards – Changes Ahead! Is your organisation ready?” tab_id=”1498091586612-4bd016ff-53c0″][vc_single_image image=”6129″ title=”Child Safe Standards”][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-users” add_icon=”true” title=”What are the Child Safe Standards?” tab_id=”1498089365586-a2b69477-3854″][vc_column_text css_animation=”zoomIn”]The Victorian Government has introduced compulsory minimum standards for organisations that provide services for children to help protect children from abuse.
The Child Safe Standards are part of the Victorian Government’s response to the Betrayal of Trust Inquiry (the 2013 Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Non-Government Organisations).
Organisations that operate in the state of Victoria that provide services or facilities for children must implement Child Safe Standards to protect them from abuse.
Training Organisations that are located in Victoria and deliver senior secondary education and training, or courses to CRICOS students under the age of 18, must have systems in place to:
reduce the risk of reportable conduct being committed by a worker or volunteer;
enable any person to notify the head of the organisation (i.e. the CEO, or Executive Officer) of a ‘reportable allegation’; and
investigate and respond to a ‘reportable allegation’ against a worker or volunteer.
The Scheme requires the head of your organisation to:
notify the CCYP of ‘reportable allegations’ within 3 business days after becoming aware of them;
give the CCYP further, detailed information about the allegation within 30 days; and
after the investigation has concluded, give the CCYP information regarding the investigation outcomes, including the investigation findings.
The Child Safe Standards came into force over two stages:[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”zoomIn”]
Stage 1 – Roll out of Child Safe Standards
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From 1 January 2016 the Standards applied to organisations that receive government funding and provide services for children
From 1 January 2017 other organisations that provide services or facilities for children but don’t receive government funding are also required to meet the standards.
Victorian organisations are now required to comply with the Child Safe Standards regardless of whether they do, or don’t receive government funding.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”zoomIn”]
Stage 2 – Roll out of Reportable Conduct and Organisational Duty of Care
From 01 July 2017 the Reportable Conduct Scheme commences in Victoria. It was introduced to enable an independent body, the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP), to have oversight over an organisation’s systems and processes to prevent and respond to allegations of child abuse.
This will include TAFEs, training providers and organisations registered with the Adult Community and Further Education Board that provide senior secondary education or courses to international students.
From 01 January 2018, the Scheme applies to:
-Residential facilities of boarding schools.
-Overnight camps for children.
-Other disability service providers that provide services for children, including those registered with the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
From 01 January 2019, the Scheme applies to:
-Approved education and care services (e.g. kindergartens, after hours care services).
-Childrens services (e.g. occasional care providers).
-Statutory bodies that have responsibility for children, such as public museums and galleries.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-exclamation-triangle” add_icon=”true” title=”What does your organisation need to do?” tab_id=”1498089365633-95fc3169-b7a6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”zoomIn”]
Revise your organisations Child Safe Policy (you should already have this in place. If not this should be developed and implemented ASAP!)
Develop and implement systems and processes to identify, respond to, investigate, and if necessary notify the CCYP of reportable allegations made against the workers and/or volunteers of your organisation
Communicate with the staff and volunteers in your organisation to ensure that they understand their obligations in relation to Child Safety
Ensure that the staff and volunteers in your organisation understand what types of allegations are reportable
Ensure that the staff and volunteers in your organisation understand that any allegations of a reportable nature should be raised with the head of your organisation, for them to report to the CCYP; and
Finally ensure that your organisation has developed and implemented processes to enable the head of your organisation to report allegations to the CCYP.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-check” add_icon=”true” title=”Want more information or help implementing Child Safe Processes into your organisation?” tab_id=”1498090510861-6e6ce7dd-ec93″][vc_column_text css_animation=”zoomIn”]More information can be found at the CCYP’s website https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/reportable-conduct-scheme/
[/emaillocker][/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”zoomIn”]If you would like help with the development and implementation of Child Safe Policies, Procedures and Business Processes for your organisation please get in touch with the team at Audit Express today! Phone 1300735541[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][/vc_tta_accordion][/vc_column][/vc_row]
