policy matters

1. AQTF 2010 – Update from the National Quality Council
2. Indigenous Economic Development Strategy

1. AQTF 2010 – Update from the National Quality Council
The finalised conditions and standards, together with the updated user guides for RTOs and related national guidelines that support the AQTF will be available by mid June 2010.

COAG endorsed key reforms to the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) Essential Standards for Registration in December 2009 in response to issues that had been identified in relation to training provided to international students.

In endorsing the new conditions and standards COAG agreed that implementation of the new arrangements, including strengthened national guidelines for risk management and managing non-compliance would be led by the Ministerial Council for Tertiary Education and Employment (MCTEE) for implementation by March 2010.

Advice to the NQC and the National Senior Officials Committee received from registering bodies and industry peak bodies indicated that a number of definitional and other issues needed to be resolved before the conditions and standards could be implemented effectively by RTOs and registering bodies. These include a range of governance and financial management issues as well as student records management system issues.

The NQC and NSOC have established a Joint Working Group to oversee the Strengthening the AQTF project. The project is reviewing guidelines and other documents that support the AQTF in order to align them with the revised AQTF Essential Standards for Registration, and seeking to ensure a consistent and complementary approach with the registration requirements under the ESOS Act.

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2. Indigenous Economic Development Strategy
The Australian Government has released a draft of its long-term strategy to increase participation of Indigenous Australians in the economy.

The Indigenous Economic Development Strategy is a national framework which builds on the Government’s strategy to cloese the gap on Indigenous disadvantage and will be used to guide and inform future policy decisions in Indigenous economic development.

The draft strategy focuses on five key areas for improving the prosperity of Indigenous Australians, the most topical for ACPET Members is Education and building the capacity of individuals to participate in the economy. The other four areas are:

• Creating and filling job opportunities;
• Business and entrepreneurship;
• Financial security and independence; and
• Creating the incentives and environment for full Indigenous economic participation.

ACPET Members with an interest in this area and would like to contribute to a submission are encouraged to contact ACPET’s Manager of Policy and Research Ben Vivekanandan by ben [dot] vivekanandan [at] acpet [dot] edu [dot] au (email) or by telephone on 03 9412 5912.

You can view the Indigenous Economic Development Strategy by clicking here

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