Here, we unpack the What, How & Why of ASQA’s Annual Declaration on Compliance and what this means for your RTO.
What Is It?
Essentially, the Annual Declaration on Compliance is a survey submitted by providers to ASQA that confirms their compliance, states that they’ve identified and corrected any issues that have come up, and is equipped to ensure compliance moving forward.
In order to complete the declaration, an assessment of the RTO’s compliance with the Standards is needed. If RTOs are not regularly undertaking self-assessment, this process may take longer.
Click here for ASQA’s Self-assessment tool if you need help getting started.
All current RTOs that were registered as of 31st December 2020 must submit the annual declaration. If your initial registration commenced in 2021, you are not required to submit the annual declaration until next year.
How Is It Submitted?
The annual declaration is submitted online. An email was sent to the CEO of every RTO, as listed on training.gov.au, on Friday 12th February which contained a unique URL to their survey. The survey takes between 15 and 30 minutes to submit in most cases.
Important: The deadline last year was moved to 30th April to accommodate providers at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, submissions are due on 31st March. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Failure to submit the declaration with full and accurate data can result in ASQA taking regulatory action.
Why Is This Necessary?
ASQA views this declaration as a useful tool, both for them and for providers.
For ASQA, they collect the information and are able to ‘identify emerging systemic issues in the VET sector’, while providers should view this as an opportunity to perform a self-assessment and make sure that their information is up-to-date with ASQA.
ASQA states that the purpose of this declaration isn’t to cause undue stress or hardship on providers. It’s quite the opposite. ASQA hopes to assist providers in achieving and maintaining compliance, partly through the use of ongoing evaluations and improvement techniques.
To read more about the Annual Declaration on Compliance, click here.
Source:
https://www.asqa.gov.au/news-events/news/annual-declaration-compliance-open-until-31-march-2021
