Why are so many New RTOs being cancelled or sanctioned by ASQA?

Starting an RTO is a time consuming and expensive exercise,  The last thing you want to happen to you after you have gone through the process of becoming an RTO is to have your licences cancelled.

Having your licence cancelled means you have not complied with the Standards for RTOs 2015 or the National Code 2018. The main question new RTO owners want to know is why are RTO being cancelled the answer is simple the majority of these training organizations appear to have poor quality controls and do not follow their policies and procedures correctly, particularly around marketing, enrolment and assessment collection and marking.

If you are a new RTO ASQA generally understands if one or two mistakes are made. Having said that if they find evidenced that the problem is systemic and steps will need to be taken to rectify and eliminate the glaring compliance issue, this is where ASQA will use its powers to ensure the students are properly taken care of and not taken advantage of. Get a list of common compliance mistakes made by RTO managers. Avoid these mistakes by reading this full guide on the steps required to registering an RTO.

What is the most important thing every new RTO needs to be aware of?

As harsh as this sounds, new RTOs need to make sure their Compliance Managers or Compliance Consultants are knowledgeable and are given full access to all of the organisation’s records.RTOs also need to ensure that they listen to their Compliance Managers or Consultants and enact the recommendations given as soon as possible. Delaying any recommendations can potentially place your RTO in grave danger and in turn, jeopardise your students’ and your employees’ future, and the future of your business. Visit this website for more information about understanding RTO compliance standards

Many a time recommendations are made to RTO owners to change their policies or procedures or change their assessment tools as they do not clearly meet the unit of competency being assessed, and instead of adopting these recommendations in its entirety to ensure their RTO are compliant and are not unnecessarily exposed, they have decided that it is a waste of money for them to implement these changes and let it go wayside.

Inevitably, ASQA comes knocking, and they are shocked when they are slapped with a sanction or worse still, a notice of cancellation of registration.

Is there any recourse if ASQA sanctions an RTO?

ASQA generally provides an RTO with an opportunity to address any non-compliances found following an audit. Avoid these mistakes made by new RTO owners by clicking here. An RTO needs to genuinely show ASQA that they are willing to make amends for their errors and will ensure that no future learners are impacted by their mistakes. You can always outsrouce the RTO advice by visiting this website.

If a rectification submission is rejected by ASQA,  an RTO has the option to either take it further with the Australian Administrative Tribunal (AAT) or accept the decision passed down by ASQA.

The wisest decision is to always remain compliant and conduct regular continuous improvement activities to examine whether the policies and procedures are working for the RTO and are still compliant (as changes do occur from time to time which can significantly impact an RTO). As long as you stay on top of your compliance obligations, you will not need to worry about being sanctioned by ASQA!