COAG approves national VET regulator

COAG today agreed to establish a national regulator for the VET sector which will be established under Commonwealth legislation.  The regulator will be responsible for the registration and audit of registered training providers, and the accreditation of courses.

A national standards council will also be established to provide advice to the Ministerial Council for Tertiary Education and Employment on national standards for regulation. Its responsibilities will include: registration, quality assurance, performance monitoring and reporting, auditing, reviewing and renewing providers, and the accreditation of VET qualifications.

Victoria and Western Australia will continue to regulate providers operating in their States and will enact legislation to mirror the Commonwealth legislation.  Nationally, all providers wishing to operate in more than one jurisdiction or enrol international students in post-secondary educational institutions will be registered through the national regulator.  This COAG decision is noted by Victoria and Western Australia.

The framework for the new national regulator will be negotiated through an agreement between governments by the end of May 2010, and the regulator will be operational from 2011. Click here for the Deputy Prime Minister’s media statement.