There is no specific method that RTO’s must use to record evidence of consultation with industry as advised by ASQA. When undertaking consultation with employers and other stakeholders, RTOs must evidence that the training and assessment provided is industry-relevant and graduates skills and knowledge are able to be applied in the workplace. Some funding agreements also require that feedback is gathered from industry relating to the delivery of government subsidised courses. Here are some tips to help you understand how to document your industry engagement activities effectively.

Industry engagement strategies:

RTOs should implement strategies to engage with employers and other relevant industry stakeholders that confirms training provided is relevant and achieves the desired employment opportunities for your students. Your consultation must ensure that the appropriate contexts, methods, resources and trainers and assessors to deliver training and to conduct assessment are endorsed by industry. RTOs must use feedback obtained from industry for the following purposes:

to inform training and assessment strategies;
confirm resources are suitable;
verify training and assessment provided is relevant to help design your strategies;
seek feedback about how you provide training and assessment, and;
confirm your trainers and assessors have current industry skills

Training package requirements:

Most training packages or VET accredited courses provide guidance in relation to industry expectations for the skills and knowledge of VET graduates in publications such as companion volumes or implementation guides. RTOs should refer to these key documents particularly when develop training and assessment strategies (TAS) to ensure the requirements are addressed in these strategies. Engaging with industry stakeholders (such as employers and industry associations) is critical in ensuring training and assessment is aligned to current methods, technology, products and performance expectations for the workplace tasks specified in the relevant training package or VET accredited course.

Evidence requirements:

You must retain evidence that you have gathered feedback from employers and other industry stakeholders and used that information in the development and ongoing reviews of your TAS’s. According to ASQA, it is not sufficient to have industry representatives ‘sign off’ your generic TAS’s as that does not provide meaningful input towards your strategies. Documenting your discussions with industry and recording how the feedback was utilised to inform your TAS’s ensures that the input provided by industry was considered appropriately. A summary of actions taken by your RTO relating to the feedback received can be referenced in your TAS documents.

Records of conversation:

RTOs can document either formal or informal discussions held with industry representatives in a record of conversation template. By evidencing the engagement and consultation whether conducted in person, via email or by phone you can ensure you have captured the key points and feedback given effectively and use that information for your strategies.