in focus 1 February 2010

Implementing AQTF 2010

In 2007, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) released a document entitled Best Practice Regulation - A Guide For Ministerial Councils And National Standard Setting Bodies. The Guide set out eight principles of best practice regulation along with a commitment “to maximise the efficiency of new and amended regulation and avoid unnecessary compliance costs and restrictions on competition”.

In late 2009, the regulatory best practice guide appears to have been thrown out in the rush to introduce additional governance, consumer protection and data collection requirements for existing RTOs in response to the failure of a small number of CRICOS registered RTOs to meet national standards. Rather than thoroughly examine how the relevant regulatory agencies could allow such breaches of the standards to occur, a new set of standards has been introduced for implementation by March 2010.

One might question how effectively the process of developing AQTF 2010 met the requirements for “relevant and effective” regulation or whether government consulted “effectively with affected key stakeholders at all stages of the regulatory cycle”. However, there is no question that there has not been “effective guidance to...regulated parties in order to ensure that the policy intent and expected compliance requirements of the regulation are clear”. To date all attempts to clarify the arrangements for introducing AQTF 2010 by March of this year have been unsuccessful and many institutions are uncertain of how best to meet their new obligations.

The situation is further confused in Victoria where additional guidelines established for RTOs go beyond, and in some cases, appear to conflict with AQTF 2010.

ACPET is in communication with all jurisdictions in an attempt to understand the arrangements for introducing AQTF 2010 in order that accurate advice can be provided to members at the earliest possible opportunity.

The revised standards can be found at http://www.nqc.tvetaustralia.com.au/aqtf_2010 and further updates will be provided by ACPET as they come to hand.

Please do not hesitate to contact me at andrew [dot] smith [at] acpet [dot] edu [dot] au ((click to email )andrew [dot] smith [at] acpet [dot] edu [dot] au (Andrew Smith)) to discuss any of the above or to provide your ideas and input into the ongoing development of the Council.