Establishment of and transition to the National Standards Council
As you all will no doubt be aware, the NQC is in the process of transitioning to the National Standards Council (NSC).
It is currently expected that the NSC will commence operation in early July 2011, coinciding with the delegation of powers by some jurisdictions to the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA).
AQTF Condition 5
The NQC recently undertook a project to test the options that RTOs must meet if they wish to collect student fees in advance, as per AQTF Condition 5.
In reviewing the findings of the project, the NQC agreed that:
- the policy intent of the protection of student fees paid in advance is consumer protection, which takes a number of forms (i.e. protection against direct financial loss, protection against loss or disruption to a student’s tuition); and
- the existing five Options described within Condition 5 provide the basis for implementation of AQTF Condition 5 by 1 July 2011, with minor amendments and clarification to the AQTF Users’ Guides.
Therefore, RTOs / applicants that intend to or currently collect student fees in advance will be required, from 1 July 2011, to comply with one of the five options for protecting student fees in advance. To support this, the NQC is currently developing guidance to provide clarity around each of the options for collecting fees in advance and their practicality. This includes:
- criteria for what constitutes an approved Tuition Assurance Scheme and the proposed process for approval in support of Option 2; and
- principles underpinning alternative fee protection measures of equal rigour to be applied by Registering Bodies in support of Option 5.