Protecting jobseekers from bait advertising

The Palaszczuk Government will introduce tough new measures to protect job seekers from scammers tricking them into training programs. 
 
Minister for Training and Skills Development Di Farmer said the additional safeguards follow an independent review into ‘bait advertising’ by the Queensland Training Ombudsman. 

“Someone who is looking for a job shouldn’t have to worry about being scammed by a dodgy training provider,” Ms Farmer said. 

“This is all about cracking down on those doing the wrong thing so people can feel confident that when they apply for a job that the position exists. 

“The government has accepted five of the report’s recommendations in full and accepted a sixth recommendation in principle. 

“We’ll communicate better with apprentices, trainees, students, employers and training providers, review penalties for non-compliance and act quickly to prevent people being misled. 

“We will also support a new Queensland VET Quality Forum, with representatives from the Australian Skills Quality Authority, Office of Fair Trading, Office of Industrial Relations, Department of Employment, Small Business and Training, and the Queensland Training Ombudsman. 

“The forum’s first task will be to improve the way student complaints are handled between the regulatory bodies. 

“The government called for the investigation in August and welcomes and supports its findings. 

“The vast majority of training providers do the right thing – but we have a message for those who don’t – we won’t tolerate any organisation making false and misleading claims. 

“While the Ombudsman’s review did not find any evidence of breaches of legislation by Queensland recruitment companies or training providers, investigations are ongoing, and we want to ensure we have the strongest deterrents in place. 

“We upgraded compliance monitoring in July 2020 with the introduction of the Skills Assure initiative for registered training organisations. 

“We have introduced additional criteria for new training provider applications and strengthened compliance measures to ensure government funding goes to quality training providers. 

“We’ve invested more than $1 billion in training in 2020-21 and we want our investment to create jobs and give Queenslanders more opportunities for employment.” 

The independent review was part of a plan initiated by the State Government this year that also included a dedicated Training Scammer hotline to report unscrupulous operators. 

Complaints can be lodged with the Training Scammer hotline on 1800 773 048  or online: https://trainingombudsman.qld.gov.au/ 

The State Government response and the Queensland Training Ombudsman's report: Review of Training Delivery linked to Advertising of Vacant Positions in Queensland is available at www.desbt.qld.gov.au/QTOgovtresponse 

Media contact: Richard O'Leary 0447155332