We have had an excellent response from ASQA with our new policies and procedures, which have been written against the new Standards for RTO’s 2015. So far this year we have had 7 ASQA Audits, with our policies and procedures being 100% compliant at all audits so far, this is a great achievement that we are very proud to boast.
Once again this year, ASQA have a big focus on Assessment Tools and Trainers Skills and Experience, but we have also noticed a much bigger push towards Industry Engagement, with the most important factor being “how have you consulted with industry and how have you taken the feedback from consultation to improve your training and assessment practices”. Your industry consultation should be incorporated into your Training and Assessment Strategy, and we have found that the Auditors are very much focussed on what you have included in your TAS regarding improving your training based on the feedback you have received from consultation. This consultation could include Surveys that you have conducted, but also meetings you have had with industry. With most RTO’s we find that they are often collecting data from industry, but they cannot provide evidence of how they have utilised the data collected to improve their practices, the TAS is the perfect place for providing evidence of effective Industry Engagement. With all our clients, we have a systematic approach to Industry Engagement, which allows the client to develop a TAS that is much more effective during audits.
Other areas that we are finding the Auditors are focussing, is on the new requirements of the standards, in particular Assessment Validation, Complaints and Appeals and how you manage Third Parties. We have paid particular attention on updating these within our policies and procedures to ensure that we are compliant.
