On 29 July ASQA released it’s July 2024 update. In it, there was there was a section on ‘Taking compliance action’. With additional help from ASQA, it would appear international providers fare well, further questioning the integrity concerns that have been made publicly.
Given the significance of international education in the public eye at the present time and its social license being brought into question, The Koala was particularly interested in unpacking the following section which looked at compliance action:
Taking compliance action
Most providers are committed to and capable of delivering quality training, and they are continuously reviewing their performance and act as required to ensure ongoing compliance.
Where non-compliance was identified, an Agreement to Rectify (ATR) may be offered – 33 providers entered an ATR within an agreed timeframe.
In addition, 33 ATRs were also finalised – of these, 25 providers returned to compliance.
The ATR depended on the nature and impact of the non-compliance, the conduct of the provider and its understanding of the problem, its commitment to continuous improvement, and its willingness to take action to ensure the solution is effective and sustained.
In cases where a provider did not demonstrate a commitment or capability to delivering quality training, or to make necessary changes in response to identified non-compliance, our response was to compel that provider to act using an escalating range of regulatory tools.
During this period, we took compliance action by:
- issuing 83 sanctions to cancel registration in full or not renew registration
- imposing 20 sanctions to suspend registration
- imposing 22 conditions on registration
- issuing 345 written directions and 51 warning letters.
The Koala followed up with ASQA to ask if there was additional data that could separate CRICOS registered providers (providers of education to international students).
The below is what was received from ASQA:
From 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024, ASQA made 63 sanction decisions against CRICOS providers (delivering to overseas students) to either cancel or reject a provider’s renewal of registration (52) or suspend registration (11). These decisions were taken with respect to 33 providers. (Please note – all sanction decisions made by ASQA may be subject to internal and/or AAT Review which may result in a different outcome).
For your information, below is an outline of all compliance decisions made by ASQA in 2023-24. These figures represent the number of decisions, not the number of ‘providers’. That is, one provider may have had a number of relevant decisions. However, the last line in the table shows you the total number of providers that the total decisions relate to.
The Koala finds the last statistic particularly interesting and relevant. It would appear 13 per cent of decisions made with respect to this number of providers being CRICOS registered.
For context, and as stated in the June 2024 Regulatory update ASQA states:
“As at 30 June 2024, we regulate 3,859 (92.90%) RTOs which comprise the national VET provider market.”
“Of the 3,859 RTOs we regulate:
2,936 are approved to deliver VET to domestic students
648 are also registered to deliver VET to overseas students
275 are also registered to deliver VET and English language courses to overseas students.
In addition, we regulate a further 79 providers that are registered to deliver English language courses only to overseas students.”
The Koala thanks ASQA for its collegiality in providing this additional data.
