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The training packages are updated on a regular basis to ensure that they continue to meet industry and regulatory requirements. Training organisations are expected to perform a significant amount of maintenance work when there is a transition to a new package. The failure to manage transition planning can have negative consequences for your training organisation, students, and regulatory status.
VET stakeholders benefit when learners are trained, assessed, and awarded AQF certification documentation in the currently endorsed or accredited training product unless extraordinary circumstances exist.
When planning the transition from a superseded training product to a current one, you will need information such as:
Always remember the responsibility for compliance sits with the training organisation at all times.
Compliance requirements
The compliance requirements according to SRTOs 2015 – Clauses 1.26 to 1.27—Manage transition from superseded training products state that:
Clause 1.26
Subject to clause 1.27 and unless otherwise approved by the VET Regulator, the RTO ensures that:
where a training product on its scope of registration is superseded, all learners’ training and assessment is completed and the relevant AQF certification documentation is issued or learners are transferred into its replacement, within a period of one year from the date the replacement training product was released on the national register
where an AQF qualification is no longer current and has not been superseded, all learners’ training and assessment is completed and the relevant AQF certification documentation issued within a period of two years from the date the AQF qualification was removed or deleted from the national register
where a skill set, unit of competency, accredited short course or module is no longer current and has not been superseded, all learners’ training and assessment is completed and the relevant AQF certification documentation issued within a period of one year from the date the skill set, unit of competency, accredited short course or module was removed or deleted from the national register
a new learner does not commence training and assessment in a training product that has been removed or deleted from the national register.
Clause 1.27
The requirements specified in clause 1.26 (a) do not apply where a training package requires the delivery of a superseded unit of competency.
Interpretation:
The interpretation of the compliance requirements are:
Terms and definitions
You should know the terminology and definitions used in transition management. Some of these terms are:
Release date/date endorsed: The date when a training product is released and/or updated on the training register.
Replaced/Expired/Deleted: Where a training product has been removed from the national register.
Superseded: When a new training product replaces an existing training product the existing training product is referred to as superseded.
Training Product: AQF qualification, skill set, unit of competency, accredited short course and module.
Transition: When a training product is superseded, removed, or deleted from the National Register, the allowable time frame within which the student’s training, assessment, and AQF certification issuance must be completed, or, in the case of a superseded training product, the allowable time frame within which the student is transitioned into the replacement training product.
Teach out: Describes the timeframe in which a learner’s training, assessment, and AQF certification documentation issuance must be completed once a training product has been superseded, removed, or deleted from the National Register and any transition period has elapsed.
Transition management
You must follow the guidelines and general directions published by the regulatory body when managing the transition.
The first criteria you must consider is – Do you need to apply the training product to your scope or not. If the training product has been deemed equivalent and superseded they are usually added to your scope without separate application. Where a training product is deemed not equivalent the training organisation is required to apply to add the training product to their scope.
You must know that the process for accredited courses is different as they are not automatically updated on RTO’s scope.
You will be now required to:
Learning and assessment resources
You must review your existing learning and assessment resources to understand how the content matches the requirements of the new training product. Wherever you identify gaps you are required to fill them with gap assessments, new training and assessment resources if transiting the students to the new course. If you decide that it is in the best interests for enrolled students to complete their studies in the superseded course, and regulatory requirements allow you, you will not be required to make these changes.
You should customise the content to the needs and requirements of your learner cohort and delivery mode and must also pre-validate the training and assessment resources before you implement them in practice.
Hypothetical scenarios
Let’s go through some of the hypothetical scenarios now to understand what should be done or not in certain circumstances.
Scenario 1
An organisation would like to become an RTO and deliver a few training products that have been recently superseded. The organisational representatives have been preparing the application over the last two years and can not wait any longer.
Outcome:
The regulatory body, in our experience, has always asked for the current training products as the organisations can not register as an RTO to deliver superseded, removed or deleted training products.
Scenario 2
A unit of competency has been superseded by a new unit. The RTO has noticed the change but when they check training.gov.au they realise that the unit has not been updated in the qualification they are delivering and have decided not to replace the superseded unit of competency with the new unit.
Outcome:
The regulatory body has in writing suggested that RTOs should follow the qualification package rules and training package guidelines (Clause 1.27) at all times. If a unit of competency is part of a training package then the RTO cannot change it when it gets superseded.
You can read more information regarding the training products with current transition extensions at Training products with current transition extensions | Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA).
Some helpful strategies related to transition management
If you need help with transition planning and management, do not hesitate to approach us at info@caqa.com.au.