October Members Lunch Box - Connecting the Quality Dots: How to ensure your RTO is humming

Maria Langwell has worked within the vocational education and training (VET) sector for over 30 years, commencing within TAFE NSW. Within this organisation, Maria held several positions, from Head of the Labour Market Programs Unit at Blacktown Institute of TAFE, through to her final role as General Manager, Strategic Planning and Policy for Western Sydney Institute. On her relocation to Melbourne, Maria worked within the Victorian public service, as the Manager of several priority VET and employment services and programs, such as the Youth Employment Scheme (Victoria’s flagship youth traineeship program), Community Based Employment (CBE) Program, and the Victorian industry training advisory bodies (ITaBs). Her last appointment in the public service was as the Manager, Funded Programs, where Maria was responsible for funding the VET private RTO sector through its user choice and other VET programs. Maria moved into service delivery within Victoria, where she worked at AMES, prior to heading up Spectrum Education and Training (SET), a small community based RTO based in Broadmeadows, Melbourne. Within this period and in recognition of the leadership and vision for servicing the most disadvantaged community members within this region, SET was awarded the 2010 Small Training Provider of the Year. Maria moved to the Australian Council of Private Education and Training (ACPET), where she held the positions of VIC Executive Manager, as well as the General Manager, Business Development. In her time at ACPET, Maria supported compliance and quality across ACPET’s membership base of over 1,000 members as well as the wider VET community, through her initiation of ACPET’s professional development program and health check services. Both services were well received and utilised, with over 8,000 VET professionals attending the PD sessions in 2013-14 alone. Since early 2015, Maria joined the Vocation Group as the Head of Quality Assurance and Education and led 4 out of the RTOs to a fully compliant status. In 2015, Maria embarked on her boutique RTO consultancy service, where she supports RTOs nationally to interpret and apply the range of regulatory and funding requirements.

Maria holds an Executive Master in Public Administration and Management (University of Melbourne), a Master in Education (Administration and Management) (University of Sydney) and a Diploma in Teaching (Sydney Teachers College).