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Accreditation and Registration Council (ARC)

What's New? (April 2009)

Quality Indicators Update. 28 April 2009.Many RTO staff attended workshops run by the ACER and the ARC Secretariat in March 2009. The Secretariat would like to remind RTOs of their obligations under the AQTF to continue to collect data for the three quality indicators.

For example, ACER's FAQ provides answers to two common questions that came up in those ACT workshops in March:

Q. Am I able to customise the questions in the Learner Questionnaires and Employer Questionnaire to bettersuit my client groups?

A. It is a requirement of your registration that you administer these questionnaires as doing so will allow you to benchmark with other RTOs and will also aid Registering Bodies in their risk assessment activities. However, you may choose to administer these surveys at the same time as other surveys which may contain questions that are directed more specifically towards your particular client groups.

Q. Can institution-specific questions be inserted into the survey instruments?

A. Institution-specific questions are not able to be inserted into the standard paper and online survey instruments. RTOs should consider how best to integrate the Learner and Employer Questionnaires into any current data collection activities. If appropriate, the surveys may be administered concurrently with other instruments. Alternatively, the Learner and Employer Questionnaires may be used to replace current surveying instruments.

Reporting to ARC:
The first round of reporting to ARC on the competency completion quality indicator is due on 1 July 2009. More advice on this indicator can be found at: http://www.acer.edu.au/aqtf/completionqi.html

The National Quality Council has agreed that 2009 will be a transitional year for implementation of the Quality Indicators.
RTOs will only be required to report on the competency completion indicator for 2008 activity by 1 July 2009.
On 1 July 2009 it is optional for RTOs to report on the learner engagement and employer satisfaction Quality Indicators.
RTOs will be required to report on all three Quality Indicators for 2009 activity on 1 July 2010.

More information can be found at www.training.com.au/aqtf2007 . Then click on the Quality Indicators link which takes you to the ACER page http://www.acer.edu.au/aqtf/. Please consider the advice to RTOs contained in the User Guides
and FAQs available on the ACER site. http://www.acer.edu.au/aqtf/faq.html .

RTO staff who have questions about the ARC approach to managing the reporting on Quality Indicators should contact MrChris Whitton at ARC Secretariat on 6205 7066, or email arc@act.gov.au.

Consultative Forum

The ACT Accreditation and Registration Council is seeking expressions of interest from individuals to participate in a consultative forum. Participants will assist Council to identify the issues that can strengthen the quality assurance and development of the tertiary education sector in the ACT over the next twelve months.

Please forward you expression of interest to the Council Secretariat by email to: arc@act.gov.au by 4 May 2009.

For more information about the Council and its work, please visit www.arc.act.gov.au or phone Chris Whitton on 6205 7066.

The ACT Accreditation and Registration Council (ARC) is responsible for:

registration of vocational education and training organisations and higher education providers in the ACT
accreditation of vocational education and training and higher education courses in the ACT
improving the quality of vocational education and training and higher education in the ACT and nationally.

Services provided by ARC

advice on and support for training, registration of training organisations and accreditation of courses in vocational education and higher education sectors
monitoring and auditing in the vocational education and higher education sectors
support for training organisations and employers in implementing national training initiatives
promotion of consistent national standards for:
- accreditation of vocational education and training courses and higher education courses; and
- registration of vocational education and training organisations and higher education providers; and
- the issue of qualifications and higher education awards

Australian Quality Training Framework 2007

The national training website contains further information about the operation of the Australian Quality Training Framework 2007: http://www.training.com.au/aqtf2007/

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

Annual Report

ARC Annual Report 2007/2008 (part of DET Annual Report) (1.25mb)

ARC Strategic Directions 2005 � 2009

The ACT Accreditation and Registration Council Strategic Directions document can be downloaded here: ARC Strategic Directions 2005-2009 (1.8mb)

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)
RTO Issuing Qualifications policy document currently under review (September 2008)
Teach Out (pdf 93kb)
Offshore Delivery by Registered Providers (pdf 44kb)
Change of Legal Entity of a Registered Training Organisation (pdf 44kb)