The Compliance Risk Putting Your RTO in Jeopardy
Based on the Australian Skills Quality Authority’s (ASQA) own figures, the majority of non-compliance issues are related to the practice of assessing and assessment tools.
There’s an extraordinary number of RTOs that don’t pass audit on the first attempt because of the assessment tools they present. This is a shocking representation of our industry, especially as this is part of an RTO’s core product.
When they fail, many organisations will blame the auditor or ASQA, or find a way to pass the buck — but I have a very different view. Over the past 15 months I’ve participated in over 180 ASQA audits for clients and partners, the majority of which have passed at the time of audit, or at least by the time the audit report is written.
I’ve worked with hundreds of RTOs and I believe that when it comes to problems with assessment tools, the key issues generally relate to two distinct areas.
1. Laziness and quick fixes
RTO owners purchase assessment tools, believing the assessment tool developers when they say, ‘our tools have passed ASQA Audits’. Unfortunately, this is most often not the case. We find serious compliance issues with the majority of tools that are on the market today, and most need to be amended and fixed in order to pass audit.
Many RTO owners pursue this ‘quick fix’ strategy, as they want to start earning money today! And what’s wrong with that? In theory, nothing — but in practice, these tools are often very deficient, and relying on them without tailoring, input, and re-development is extremely risky. Using these tools straight off the shelf is the equivalent of serving raw food in a cafe just to open today, or driving a defective car and risking your family’s life just so you can get moving.
We often forget that assessment tools are an integral part of the VET sector and are critical in ensuring a quality education system. As such, defective tools impact on people’s lives. Poor tools mean graduates join the workforce with insufficient skills and, depending on the units or qualification, the possible consequences can easily lead to serious injury or death.
Poor tools also lead to wastage in the business, costing time and money. Assessors waste time because there’s minimal guidance, administrators waste time because they don’t know where things get filed, and CEOs often don’t sleep well at night, knowing their tools could be better, but keep their head in the sand because it’s all too hard.
2. Ignorance and non-education
To be a trainer and assessor, you need to hold the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. Right? This means you understand assessment tools… right?
Sadly not. Based on my own observations, which are echoed by many people in the industry, holding a Cert IV doesn’t always mean an assessor is competent. We need to fix how we teach trainers and assessors before we can fix the system, but that’s an issue for another blog.
Also — just as a side thought — we need to ensure that more resource developers are educated in the same way our staff are educated, to ensure we’re all talking the same language. This year I participated in 5 RTO/VET conferences and at each of these events, there were a handful of resource developers selling ‘off-the-shelf’ assessment tools. I observed their participation to see if they made any effort to listen to what presenters where saying, and sadly most didn’t. I personally think that shows a lack of commitment to developing their own skills and products. Now obviously that’s not all developers, however I would like to see a significant shift next year.
Back to our trainers and assessors. Working or writing assessment tools is NOT like riding a bike. It’s not a skill most people hold once acquired, especially when they haven’t worked on the tools for a while.
These two key issues- purchasing defective assessment tools, and having a poor understanding of assessment tools- are not mutually exclusive. We often see RTOs with both these issues.
What’s the solution?
When it comes to writing and supplementing assessment tools, the process isn’t necessarily difficult — but it can be time consuming and necessitate an in-depth understanding of what’s required. Having said that, I make no apology for the time or money it takes to develop tools that are fit-for- purpose. As I said, you’re playing with people’s lives!
I believe every RTO has a moral and legal responsibility to ensure all their tools have met industry needs, as well as the unit and training package requirements. No RTO should ever believe that the tools they purchase are ‘fit for use’ without first reviewing each unit. Also, never rely on the mapping guide without checking it.
The RTO should also ensure all staff fully understand the requirements of assessing. When I write or review assessment tools, I always echo the phrase, ‘verb and context’. This means it’s critical to understand the verb(s) contained within the performance criteria and other parts of the unit, and the context of the verb. You need to read the whole criteria/phrase and refer to the application and context of the element, and the unit as a whole. This is critical when developing valid tools.
This is just a snapshot of the issues facing industry assessment tools, and RTOs’ attitudes towards them. It’s the responsibility of the RTO, not the provider of the tools, to deliver quality assessment tools. The provider won’t get slapped on the wrist for giving you poor assessment tools, but the RTO will. It’s also the RTO’s responsibility to ensure they have the right attitude towards assessment tools, the right education to ensure their people have the expertise to write and validate assessment tools, and that they’re regularly checked and updated to meet industry needs.
Doing the above will ensure that the risk to RTOs is diminished, and improved outcomes are possible for the industry and sector, with the overall result being better performing graduates.
Til next time, happy assessing!
About the author: Maciek Fibrich is the founder and CEO of RTO Consultancy, a leading firm which delivers specialist support to improve profitability, scalability, and sustainability for Australian RTOs. Maciek works with a passion to give RTOs simplicity, peace of mind, and the freedom to love what they do. You can connect with Maciek on LinkedIn.
