VET News

Co-Designing a Model for Self-Assurance

The development of the co-designed model for self-assurance is one of ASQA’s key priorities to support the shift to self-assurance in 2021-22 and, once finalised, will provide a framework for the systems and practices providers can undertake to monitor quality and compliance and continuously improve their performance against the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015 (the Standards).

ASQA are currently testing the following definition of self-assurance with the sector:

Self-assurance refers to how providers manage their operations to ensure a focus on quality, continuous improvement and ongoing compliance with the Standards. It involves providers having systems in place to critically examine their performance against the Standards and training outcomes, on an ongoing basis, to meet obligations and identify ways to continuously improve.

Providers and stakeholders agree that the model should not be prescriptive or encourage providers to take a ‘tick-the-box’ approach, but rather should be flexible and fit-for-purpose for all providers, regardless of their size, type, operating context and self-assurance maturity – how one provider demonstrates effective self-assurance may look considerably different to another, and the model – and ASQA’s regulatory approach – should allow for this.

It should be a tool to support providers to assure themselves that they are meeting their obligations under the Standards without being an additional business process for providers or duplicating existing regulatory requirements.

Read more from Saxon Rice, CEO, Australian Skills Quality Authority in Velg Training's latest eZine magazine here.

Date posted Jun 1, 2022