Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority

The audit found that the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA)cannot reliably assure that it has effectively regulated vocational education and training (VET) providers.

Of most concern is that VRQA has yet to implement a quality assurance regime over the work performed by its contracted auditors. The auditors’ work is fundamental to VRQA knowing whether or not providers meet regulatory standards. Over the past two years about 4 000 audits have been conducted. Although VRQA has put in place adequate quality controls for the work of contracted auditors, it does not have a system for assessing whether these controls are actually operating as intended. Such a system is expected to be implemented late in 2010.

The documentation that supports VRQA decisions to register VET providers is incomplete. It is not clear therefore when making decisions about providers, that VRQA’s decision-makers know whether their staff assessed auditors’ reports in line with VRQA’s expectations.

When it formed in July 2007 VRQA was aware of serious shortcomings in its predecessor’s approach to registering VET providers. The actions it took to address these issues up to mid-2009 were steps in the right direction, but did not resolve the problems. In September 2009 VRQA identified a range of further corrective actions that it is still implementing. Those which it has completed have not been in place long enough to assess their effectiveness.

While VRQA has been progressively implementing a range of reforms to its regulation of VET providers, these have been slow when considered in the context both of the significance of this sector to the economy and the fast pace of change in the sector that has occurred since 2007.

Back to top