The Australian Government is currently examining a new bill to amend the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act (NVETR Act) 2011.
- Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter to receive the latest news from Australasia’s lifting industry.
- Don’t miss a lift and subscribe to our monthly magazine.
- Download our latest digital magazine to catch up on the biggest news and developments in the crane industry.
The proposed changes would bestow new powers upon the National VET Regulator to address integrity risks posed by non-genuine or unscrupulous NVETR Act registered training organisations to promote a quality vocational education and training sector that benefits students, industry, and the community. Made up of seven amendments, the bill would see:
- the regulator able to swiftly terminate an RTO’s licence if they are not “demonstrating a genuine commitment to training delivery”.
- prevent RTOs from changing the courses it is registered to deliver in its first two years of registration.
- expand the regulator’s time to conduct internal review of decisions made on RTOs from 90 days to 120 days.
- the Regulator to consider and make decisions in relation to initial applications for registration in an order determined by the Regulator to prioritise certain applications.
- Ministerial power to determine a specified period where the regulator is not required to, or must not, accept or process initial applications for RTO registration under the NVETR Act.
- the expansion of and strengthening of civil penalty provisions regarding false and misleading representations made by RTOs.
- the increasing of penalty units when the NVETR Act is breached by RTOs.
The changes have already encountered some backlash, with Independent Tertiary Council Australia (ITECA) saying the strengthening of the regulatory framework represented an overreach by the Federal Government, with ITECA Chief Executive, Troy Williams, saying the amendments were a “degree of market intervention that we’ve not seen before”.
“ITECA will always welcome measures that seek to put students at the heart of the skills training system and protect them,” he said. “Although the Australian Government’s legislative amendments have this broad intent, there are also some concerning aspects to what’s proposed.”
The proposals to change the bill can be read in full here.
READ MORE:
- Federal Government announces new Infrastructure Policy Statement.
- Safer Freight Vehicles package introduced by Federal Government.
- National Skills Agreement receives $12.6bn boost from Federal Government.