Australia’s Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector involves multiple overlapping regulators, bodies, and frameworks. Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) must navigate regulators, policy bodies, funding departments, industry councils, and registers. And they often need to liaise with multiple organisations at the same time. Knowing which body is responsible for what, and who to contact when something comes up, isn’t always obvious.
That’s why we’ve put together this guide. In this article, we explore:
- How the VET regulatory framework is structured
- Where each type of body fits in
- The key organisations RTOs interact with
- What each organisation is responsible for
- Where to go for more information
VET Regulators
VET regulators are responsible for registering RTOs and ensuring they meet national standards. The body that oversees your RTO depends on your location and the type of learners you provide education services to. Australia has one national regulator and two state-based regulators.
Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA)
ASQA is Australia’s national VET regulator. They register RTOs and accredit courses in all states and territories except Victoria and Western Australia. They’re also responsible for regulating RTOs that deliver training across states or to international learners. ASQA monitors compliance with the Standards for RTOs 2025, investigates complaints, and conducts audits. They also can issue penalties and suspend or cancel an RTO’s registration if it fails to meet regulatory requirements.
Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA)
The VRQA regulates RTOs based in Victoria, as well as schools and other education providers. For VET purposes, they perform an equivalent role to ASQA. They register RTOs, monitor compliance with state and national standards, and can enforce penalties where relevant.
Training Accreditation Council (TAC)
The TAC is the VET regulator in Western Australia (WA). Unlike VRQA, their scope is limited to VET providers only. They handle RTO registration and course accreditation for WA-based providers. They also monitor compliance with state and national standards.
Note: WA and Victoria operate as a shared zone. Either state regulator can cover registered training organisations delivering within it. However, RTOs that deliver training beyond that zone, including those who offer online delivery in other states, are governed by the national VET regulator.National Policy and Funding Bodies
National policy and funding bodies shape the VET system at a macro level. They don’t register or regulate RTOs directly. Instead, they set the standards RTOs are audited against. They also determine the funding priorities that influence which VET courses providers are incentivised to deliver.
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR)
DEWR is the Australian government department responsible for VET policy and funding at a national level. The National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (NVR Act) falls under their portfolio. This is the legislation that establishes ASQA’s authority and sets the framework for RTO registration and compliance.
This means that DEWR leads the process of adapting RTO standards to meet evolving Australian workforce needs. For example, DEWR led the development of the Standards for RTOs 2025. This involved consultation with states, territories, VET regulators, and sector peak bodies. The process took more than four years.
DEWR also administers financial support for people undertaking training, including VET Student Loans and scholarships.
National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER)
NCVER is the national body responsible for collecting, managing, analysing, and communicating research and statistics on Australia’s VET sector. Their data informs policy decisions across government, industry, and training providers.
To gather this information, training providers report their activity using AVETMISS, the national data standard. AVETMISS reporting feeds directly into NCVER’s national statistical collections. While compliance with AVETMISS is enforced by regulators like ASQA, the standard itself exists to support NCVER’s role as the custodian of VET data.
Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA)
JSA is an independent body that advises the government on Australia’s current and future workforce needs. They publish the annual Skills Priority List, which identifies occupations in shortage across Australia. RTOs can use this to align their course offerings with workforce demand and anticipate shifts in government funding priorities.
Skills and Workforce Ministerial Council (SWMC)
The SWMC provides a forum for national cooperation and stewardship across the VET system. It brings together federal, state and territory ministers responsible for skills and training. The Council collaboratively progresses items of national importance, including those set out in the National Skills Agreement. For RTOs, SWMC decisions matter because they set the direction for national standards, funding, and skills reform.
Training Product and Workforce Bodies
Training product and workforce bodies shape what gets taught in the VET sector. They develop the training packages RTOs deliver. They also set the standards those packages must meet. Understanding what drives training package updates helps RTOs anticipate changes to their scope.
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF)
The AQF is the national policy for regulated qualifications across Australia. It covers schools, VET, and higher education sectors, and defines the ten levels of qualification from Certificate I through to Doctoral degrees.
For RTOs, the AQF determines the level at which each qualification sits. It also covers the learning outcomes expected of graduates. Part of this involves setting an expected volume of learning for each qualification level. This requirement can be impacted by a number of factors, including credit transfers and recognition of prior learning. RTOs must factor the volume of learning into their program design, justifying any adjustments to it.
The AQF establishes the national recognition of VET qualifications across all states and territories. It ensures employers and industry can trust the value of a qualification, no matter which RTO issued it.
Jobs and Skills Councils (JSCs)
JSCs are industry-owned organisations that develop and maintain Australia’s training packages. There are ten JSCs, each representing a different group of industries. When a qualification or unit of competency is updated, it is because a JSC has identified a need for change. Before any updates are implemented, they are assessed by an independent Training Package Assurance function within DEWR to ensure they meet national standards. RTOs should monitor updates from the JSC relevant to their scope.
State and Territory Training Departments
Each state and territory has its own VET funding and policy department. These departments manage funding contracts with RTOs. They also administer state-based training priorities, apprenticeships, and traineeships. Their activity is shaped by both state priorities and the National Skills Agreement. That agreement sets shared investment obligations across the VET system. RTOs delivering funded training must meet both state and national requirements.
New South Wales (NSW)
Training Services NSW is a division of the Department of Education. It manages publicly funded training in NSW. This includes the Smart and Skilled program.
Victoria
The Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions (DJSIR) manages VET funding and policy in Victoria. This includes the Skills First program.
Queensland
The Department of Trade, Employment and Training (DTET) oversees government-funded training in Queensland. This includes the Skills Assure Supplier program.
South Australia
The Department of State Development administers training investment and subsidised VET in South Australia. Its Skills SA division handles this at the operational level.
Western Australia
The Department of Training and Workforce Development (DTWD) manages VET funding and policy in Western Australia. This is delivered through the Jobs and Skills WA program. Apprenticeships and traineeships are administered through its Apprenticeship Office.
Tasmania
The Department of State Growth funds and oversees vocational training in Tasmania. This is conducted through its Skills Tasmania division.
Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
The Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate oversees VET investment and subsidised training in the ACT. Funded programs like User Choice and Skilled Capital are delivered through Skills Canberra.
Northern Territory (NT)
The Department of Education and Training administers publicly funded VET in the NT. This includes the Skills NT grant program and the User Choice program for apprenticeships and traineeships.
Key Registers and Databases
Key registers and databases are publicly accessible resources that record information about providers, courses, and qualifications across Australia’s education system. They help prospective students find registered RTOs, employers verify qualifications, and regulators confirm a provider’s scope. RTOs interact with these as both contributors of information and users of it.
Training.gov.au
Training.gov.au (TGA) is the national register of VET in Australia. It lists all registered RTOs, their scope of registration, and all endorsed training packages and accredited VET courses. RTOs must ensure their scope on TGA accurately reflects the qualifications and units they are approved to deliver. It’s the primary reference point for students, employers, and regulators verifying that information.
Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS)
CRICOS is the official register of Australian education providers and courses approved to deliver training to overseas students on a student visa. RTOs must be registered on CRICOS before they can enrol international students. Registration is administered by the Department of Education and carries additional compliance obligations beyond standard RTO registration.
Quality and Standards Bodies
Quality and standards bodies set the benchmarks that education providers must meet. They operate primarily outside the VET sector. However, some RTOs will interact with them. This is most relevant for dual-sector providers and those approved for international student delivery.
Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA)
TEQSA is Australia’s national regulator for higher education. They register and regulate universities and other higher education providers against the Higher Education Standards Framework.
RTOs are not regulated by TEQSA. However, those offering both VET qualifications and higher education courses must meet TEQSA requirements for their higher education operations. This is on top of obligations to ASQA or their state-based regulator.
Tuition Protection Service (TPS)
The TPS is a government initiative that protects students if their education provider is unable to deliver a course they’ve paid for. It applies to providers offering courses to domestic students under VET Student Loans (VSL). It also applies to CRICOS-registered providers delivering training to international learners.
RTOs approved for VSL or CRICOS delivery are required to be registered with the TPS. If a provider closes or withdraws a course, the TPS works to find a suitable alternative placement or arranges a refund.
Other RTO Compliance Resources
Understanding the landscape is one thing. Navigating it in practice is another. The articles below go deeper on specific compliance topics. They cover everything from setting up your RTO to meeting your day-to-day obligations.
