RTOs must ensure that they address non-compliances found in practices and behaviours especially when they impact on students or industry outcomes. In an audit situation ASQA will provide RTOs with the opportunity to address non-compliance to ensure future learners are not negatively affected and any impact on past or current learners is remediated. The following information will assist your RTO in identifying and mitigating risks associated with compliance of your trainer files.

Training and assessment credentials:

If you identify trainers or assessors cannot evidence that they hold a relevant TAE qualification, skillset or recognised higher level qualification your RTO should not permit them to train and/or assess until you can confirm they are appropriately qualified. Where you have trainers and/or assessors that hold a TAE10 credential you need to ensure that they also have completed both upgrade units as required by Clause 1.14 in the SRTOs 2015. You must ensure you have this evidence on file so you can verify the documentation and maintain appropriate records. If you determine that you have staff who do not have sufficient evidence of holding the required training and assessment credential your RTO must develop a plan that identifies actions required to rectify the issue. This plan could include details of required supervision and support to obtain the necessary credentials.

Vocational competencies:

If trainers or assessors do not hold the relevant industry qualification and/or unit(s) of competency (or their equivalent) and cannot demonstrate equivalence through mapping relevant industry work experience, skills & knowledge they should not be permitted to deliver training or conduct assessment until your RTO can evidence their vocational competence. To rectify non-compliance relating to vocational competencies you should remove these staff from your matrixes in your training and assessment strategies (TAS’s). It may be a simple case of providing missing or incomplete records where a trainer or assessor lacks sufficient evidence. You will need to develop a professional development plan if your trainer or assessor does not hold an industry qualification or cannot show equivalence of their work history to the units of competency being delivered then you that enables them to obtain relevant and sufficient industry experience. The plan could identify return to industry to gain relevant experience for a specified period of time for the specific units of competency they are delivering. According to ASQA if a trainer/assessor have no vocational competence (experience) in the area they are teaching in or no formal training or assessment qualifications, training and assessment delivered by them may be inadequate and learners impacted therefore it is critical for RTOs to ensure vocational competence of staff is confirmed and sufficiently evidenced.

Some training products require that trainers and/or assessors hold mandatory vocational qualifications, licences or accreditations which are usually referred to in the assessment conditions of units of competency or in training package companion volumes or implementation guides. RTOs must confirm that trainers have evidence of holding the specified vocational qualification if required. If you have trainers that cannot provide these credentials you should not permit them to assess the units of competency they are delivering until they can provide the required evidence. Specific units of competency make reference to required industry experience in assessment conditions e.g. hospitality, hairdressing, fitness, civil construction. RTOs must have documented evidence that assessors have industry experience that meets these requirements. If you have assessors that do not have sufficient evidence of industry experience you should place them on a professional development plan that includes return to industry so as to obtain the required experience and not permit them to assess students until the evidence has been obtained.

Industry currency:

Your trainers and/or assessors must be able to evidence maintenance of their industry currency. Your RTO should have a policy in place that determines what evidence is considered recent enough based on industry feedback. If you have trainers or assessors that cannot evidence industry currency for some of the units of competency they are delivering you need to develop a professional development plan for them that details how they are going to obtain this evidence. The plan should identify appropriate currency activities for each unit of competency they are against on the staffing matrixes in your TAS’s. Ensure that you plan when these activities should be completed preferably before the next delivery of the specific units of competency requiring evidence. RTOs need to consult with the relevant industry sectors for specific training products regarding appropriate currency activities for trainers and assessors to complete to maintain industry currency.

VET currency:

Trainers or assessors should undertake professional development in VET training and assessment at least annually to ensure they maintain their VET currency on an on-going basis. RTOs should determine the relevant PD to be undertaken by implementing a training calendar. Staff who lack evidence of maintaining VET currency should commit to undertaking PD in the coming 12 months and document it in a professional development plan.

Compliance status:

RTOs can ensure compliance with trainer files by effectively monitoring professional development plans in place to address trainers or assessors needing additional evidence. RTO managers should ensure timeframes for completion are met and individual goals achieved to return trainers and assessors to compliant. This can be done by having regular performance conversations between management and staff.