Accreditation and Registration Council (ARC)

Accreditation and Registration

The ACT Accreditation and Registration Council (ARC) quality assures the provision of vocational education and training (VET) and non university higher education in the ACT.
ARC registers education and training providers that demonstrate their capacity to deliver, assess and issue qualifications for nationally recognised education and training. Once registered by ARC, providers become a ‘Registered Training Organisation’ (RTO) in the VET sector, or a Higher Education Provider (HEP) in the national higher education framework.

Registration

All organisations who seek ARC registration must demonstrate compliance with either:

• the AQTF 2007 Essential Standards for Registration, available from www.training.com.au 
  ( in the VET sector); or
• the National Protocols for Higher Education Approval Processes, available from DEEWR website (Higher Education Sector).

ARC’s registration of providers is initially for 12 months. In the VET sector, a post-initial audit is conducted prior to the expiry of the initial registration to assess an RTO s continuing compliance before they can be considered for a further four years registration.
In the higher education sector ARC monitors annual reports from providers and related course approval monitoring to assure quality of provision.

Registration to deliver to international students: In addition, both VET and higher education providers including universities can apply for approval to deliver to international students. Providers must first be registered under the standards framework applicable to their education sector before being considered by ARC. The national standards for registration in this context are:

• National Code of Practice for Registration Authorities and Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2007 available from the DEEWR website - National Code.

Detailson seeking approval to engage in delivery to international students is available here:
International Education Approvals.

Amending registration

Providers may apply to change their scope of registration (the qualifications/courses and/or units of competency they deliver and assess) during the period registration. More information here: Extending Scope for RTO

Providers must notify ARC of any substantive change to registered details, for example address, phone numbers, websites and names of responsible staff. Some changes could prompt a site audit in some circumstances. The form for this process is found here: Notify RTO Detail Changes.

(February 2010: Higher Education Providers may use the RTO form, while a specific form is being developed).

Quality Standards that support accreditation and registration

The national VET sector quality standards, known as the Australian Quality Training Framework 2007, are available from: http://www.training.com.au/aqtf2007.

Quality standards for the higher education sector are known as t he National Protocols for Higher Education Approval Processes, and are available from the DEEWR website. Protocols A and B relate to the non-university higher education providers registered by ARC. The Protocols refer to providers as “non self-accrediting higher education institutions”, reflecting the fact that registration of this provider type first requires ARC accreditation.

In both sectors, the national standards give both the provider and the registration body clear direction on registration requirements, monitoring and auditing of the provision of education and training, accreditation of courses and the issuing of qualifications.

Complaints and Disputes concerning registered providers

The Australian Quality Training Framework requires VET providers to have an effective and transparent complaints handling process in place. Consumers concerned about the quality of their experience with their provider should first lodge their concerns directly with that organisation.

If consumers believe their complaint remains un-resolved, they should contact the ARC secretariat on 6205 7091 for advice.

A National Guideline for Responding to Complaints about Vocational Education and Training Quality supports the quality of Australia's VET system, and can be accessed through the national training system's website: http://www.training.com.au/aqtf2007. This National Guideline is an agreed framework developed jointly by the Commonwealth, States and Territories and highlights service standards consumers can expect from all training providers and the regulators of those providers.

In the higher education sector, clients of registered providers follow the same principles of due process outlined above, found in the national Guidelines to the National Protocols (Section 17.5).

If learners, consumers or other persons believe their complaint or dispute with an ARC-registered education and raining provider remains un-resolved, they should contact the ARC secretariat for advice on 6205 7091.

Publications

ARC Strategic Plan 2009 - 2011

The ACT Accreditation and Registration Council Strategic Plan 2009 - 2011 document can be downloaded here: ARC Strategic Plan 2009 - 2011 (62kb)

ARC's Operational Plan for 2009 - 2010, in support of the Strategic Plan, can be downloaded from here: ARC Operational Plan 2009 - 2010 (62kb)

ARC's response to the Australian Universities Quality Agency request in 2005 for a follow-up report on the audit it conducted in 2003 of ARC's higher education approvals processes can be downloaded from here: ACTDET Response AUQA Follow-up June 2005 (296.6kb). This 2005 report is provided because the AUQA plan to audit the ARC again in 2010 for compliance with the National Protocols.

ARC Annual Report

ARC’s Annual Report is within the ACT Department of Education and Training Report: Annual Report 2008-2009  (9.51mb). Pages 306 to 316 contain the ARC report.

ARC Policies
These policies are current and effective as per the "Last Updated" date at the end of each document.
Assessment Only RTOs  (pdf 84kb)
Dispute Management  (pdf 157kb)
Teaching Out Existing Students  (pdf 93kb)
Offshore Delivery by Registered Providers (Updated Dec 2009)  Change of Legal Entity of a Registered Training Organisation  (pdf 44kb)

National Audit and Registration Agency: RTOs seeking to transfer their registration to the National Audit and Registration Agency (NARA) can complete the ACT ARC Application to Transfer to NARA  (146kb). Completed forms should be posted to the address given in the form.