Training providers must meet high standards or risk being shut down

The Palaszczuk Government will continue to weed-out underperforming and incompetent training providers as it strives to improve the quality of vocational education and training (VET) across Queensland.

Minister for Training and Skills Development Shannon Fentiman said that Queenslanders had the right to receive high-quality training and there was no place in the VET space for organisations unable to meet the required standards.

“Since the Palaszczuk Government was elected in 2015, 174 training providers have been closed down either because they were not providing quality training or have not been up to the task,” Ms Fentiman said.

“We have shown we will not tolerate inadequate performance and there will be no let up either in standards or scrutiny.”

Ms Fentiman said the performance of training providers was regularly monitored and those pre-qualified suppliers who failed to meet strict requirements faced losing their authority to deliver government-subsidised training,

“Under the Palaszczuk Government, Queensland has led the way in partnering with the Australian Skills Quality Authority – the national regulator of vocational education and training, to raise confidence in the quality of training in our state,” she said.

In 2017 the Palaszczuk Government introduced the Queensland VET Quality Framework to ensure continual improvements, to set the standards for training, to provide information to students and employers, to monitor the effectiveness of programs, and to ensure compliance.

Ms Fentiman said she made no apology for setting high standards for providers.

“Queenslanders deserve nothing less than the best vocational and skills training available,” she said.

Since it was established in 2015, the Queensland Training Ombudsman had secured more than $500,000 for students in fee refunds and helped thousands of complainants to resolve their issues with training providers.

“The message to providers could not be clearer – only the highest-quality training is good enough for Queensland students and in this way we will continue to improve the productivity and quality of Queensland’s businesses,” Ms Fentiman said.

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Media contact: Bernadette Condren 0417 296 116