VRQA-registered RTOs can continue to enrol students in certain superseded qualifications within their scope of registration beyond the mandated 12 month period.
This is in response to the disruptions caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) extending the transition period for a large number of its qualifications and courses.
To ensure a nationally consistent approach to VET-sector regulation and to alleviate any disadvantage to Victorian RTOs, VRQA RTOs can transition within the same extension periods set by ASQA.
This arrangement comes after the Minister for Training and Skills issued a Ministerial Direction instructing us to exercise regulatory discretion in relation to auditing an RTO's compliance against Condition 9 of the Australian Quality Training Framework.
Under Condition 9, RTOs must manage the transition from superseded training packages within 12 months of their publication on the National Register.
We will therefore refrain from conducting a compliance audit of an RTO against Condition 9, or take other actions to enforce compliance concerning the Condition 9 of the AQTF in relation to ASQA qualifications with extended transition periods.
The arrangement applies until 31 December 2021, or until a later date as fixed by the Secretary of the Department of Education and Training. We will advise RTOs if this occurs.
Although course transition periods are extended, we encourage RTOs to move to the newest versions as soon as practicable so their students are not disadvantaged.
For more information about the VET course transition process, see:
To read the ministerial direction, see: