Navigating the 2025 Standards: A Comprehensive Guide to RTO Re-registration

Welcome to the RTO Superhero podcast with me Angela Connell Richards. Each week we break down the standards for RTO's 2025 and turn them into clear actions you can use. You get real examples, compliance tips and straight answers for running a quality RTO. Let's get started. [Music] [Music] Welcome to the RTO Superhero with me Angela Connell Richards and today I'm joined with my check. Hello! And we're still in Darwin. Oh beautiful is it back. Oh it's been beautiful. So maybe two degrees. Yeah. Beautiful weather. And it was 12 degrees back home. Yep. Okay so today we're going to be talking about re-registration and preparing yourself for re-reg under the new standards and what you need to know. Very interestingly what we're hearing is maybe you won't, may not go to an audit but you may go to an audit so let's see what happens. Okay so let's start. I've got a couple of clients who are up for re-reg this year and they've one had asked me the question when can I submit my application for re-registration and you can submit up to 12 months before. So you don't have to wait for the three months before you can do the 12 months before. And then the next question I got asked was will I go to audit then I said well possibly but you don't know. So they might actually see you being proactive with submitting your application early and might just go okay we're busy right now. Let's just push you through. Correct. And I think a lot of that is happening at the moment is that they're pushing the applications that are low risk. They're doing obviously their risk assessment based on scope, complaints etc. And I guess picking the organizations or the RTOs that are seen as a high risk to audit and the ones that are let's call it flying under the radar, no issues etc. Or what's the point of auditing then if our resources are stretched at the moment and we need to look at other things. Yeah. Yeah. Although it's really interesting I will say one of my clients lost their crycos registration because they submitted for their crycos renewal two days late and even though they got told that's fine, put it through but because they had no students at the time and two days late they said well we're canceling your registration and the reason was because it was lodged two days late. So and it wouldn't be fair on existing crycos providers. So that didn't sit well with me. The client wasn't too fast because whatever. But it was still a significant investment that because two days. So the less an area is do not be your re-registered. Yeah, I say that all the time and if anybody comes to us for re-registration we want at least six months. 100% before, so you've got nine months before re-registered. Yeah, to prepare them because they need to know what we don't they often come to us because they know they're non-compliant. They just don't know how non-compliant they are. I mean the re-registeration application itself is about a 15 minute ask for job. So the lodgement is there's no excuse not to lodge even at 11.45pm the day before the cutoff. Because you can lodge it, you can submit it and then at least prepare for it but do not miss the deadline. Yeah, yeah and I wouldn't wait until the three months before you know submit it before then. The three months is a guideline. Correct. So you need to understand what is happening in your RTO and if you think it's non-compliant do something about it. And this is something that I really identified in the standards is being proactive. As opposed to reactive. Opposed to being reactive and really identifying what are the risks that you have currently within your RTO. So that's under the governance requirements is making sure you have a risk register. But it's making sure that you don't just have the policies and procedures. It's that you have the understanding of the understanding and the demonstrated practices. Yeah. I think the critical thing to remember is if you plead ignorant, ask was going to come down harder than being proactive and demonstrate. Look, these are the things that we've identified. This is how we fixed it or how we are fixing it at the moment. The moment you can demonstrate that you've identified an issue with an assessment tool or whatever it was. But you've actually put down a process to fix it. Ask, we'll look at that and go, good on you. Well done. No RTO is going to be 100% compliant. Except out. You know, you included right? Yes. But ask were aren't there to go. You're looking for non-compliance as we're looking for evidence of compliance. And if you are non-compliant, what is your process for rectifying that? So and and no one thing I say, be honest with you and your declaration of compliance. Because if you do go to an audit following and ask were upset this, they will be looking back at your technical declaration and what you submitted. Yeah, it's one of those things that I always had to to anyone that asks me. You know, it's a balancing act between self-incrimination versus declaration about the truth. Because at the end of the day, you're signing a stat deck. I think it's a stat deck, isn't it? Or it's just the declaration. And yeah, you don't want to really want to be turning around and saying, yeah, to the best of my knowledge, recomplying, yet knowingly deep down inside, you know that there's flaws. We all know that there's issues. Yeah. Identify and put in a redress process and then fix it. Yeah. And I think your annual declaration of compliance should be closely tied with your risk register, identifying what those risks are and then action plan. And hopefully, you're monthly ongoing compliance practices that you're implementing to go, let's not like this concept, I know we've always spoken about this annual internal audit, etc. You know, I'm much more inclined to suggest people look at a monthly checklist of something rather than just doing it as an annual thing. Because that suggests that you ignore it for a year and then focus it on it for a small period of time, put a band-aid on it and then ignore what's happening exactly. Right. So if we take on that approach where we're constantly reviewing things, constantly seeking feedback, constantly doing our continuous improvement, and actually implementing what the concept of the standards is about, then you're going to be far less inclined to have issues at audit, firstly because you're going to know the standards and the auditors are going to, of the performances, are going to see that you understand the standards, and that you're going to understand your practice is a much, you know, much deeper level. Yeah. And ensure that you're complying with them. So what we implement with our clients is we have a poster with the continuous improvement cycle and every month we look at a couple of standards. So breaking it down instead of having to do it all in one go, so each month you're focusing on one area. We don't have the poster, we would have compliant schedule, which goes over the 12 months, picking out the various areas. And then we tie that with our VET PD, so the VET PD will focus on that. And the idea is for our clients to then watch that webinar, then review what their practices are and what they're doing. Yeah. What else would you recommend for re-registration? Again, similar to initial, don't fear. People that fear audit, don't understand the concept of the environment that we live in. Audit is just part of what we do. Part of your registration. And it's running a business, you can be audited by the ATO, you can be audited by ASQUA. So don't fear it, don't live in fear of an audit, focus on your practices. Focus on that culture of compliance that we always talk about. Focus on that operational requirements across your whole of business, not just a compliance person. Don't rely on a consultant to fix you six months before re-rage. We can perform miracles sometimes, but we can't make stuff up. And we don't know who your order or assessor is going to be. And so, yeah, just don't look at the negatives, look at the positives, and don't be scared to identify potential issues that you can fix. But also implement a process to start fixing them, as opposed to, let's just wait for audit, because the audit is going to identify them anyway. That's not a good look. No, because once again, they're going to be looking for evidence of compliance and that you are implementing your policies and procedures. So, part of that should be your risk management and your continuous improvement. So, how are you implementing that? One of the things that I also recommend is, you know, don't leave it to the last minute. Definitely don't do that. We can not wave the magic wand until you're going to have the best audit, because we don't know who's going to be audited. We also don't know what skeletons are hiding in the closet. we need plenty of time and that's what we were talking about earlier. Like you need about nine months to prepare or a year. That's ideal. Well, depends on how bad your house keeping is. With the change of standards. Yeah, look, for me, the change of standards, yes, they are. I mean, the biggest, they've moved the date from the end of the standards for RTOs to the beginning. So instead of being standards for RTOs, 2015, it's down to 2025 standards for RTOs. But look, I would probably say 70 to 80% is still somewhat comparably aligned to, from the old standards to the new standards, from an in principle perspective. The wording has changed a little bit, yes. But a lot of the things, like I said, your tazes are still your tazes. There's tweaks that you can, that you need to put in there about student support and so forth. But overall, if your tazes was compliant pre July 1, there's not really that much that you need to do with it. So as long as you're updating it, correct, right? And but that's not a difference between the standards. That should be your operations as it is anyway, whether it's the old standards or the new standards. So from my perspective, it's really just, again, it goes back to that simple word, culture of compliance. Yeah. And what do you think are the biggest differences now that we're a few months in to the new standards? What do you think are the biggest differences that people will need to be aware of and make sure that they have implemented that? I think if we break down the outcome standards, the outcome standards really, that student support focus on outcome standard too, that's probably been the biggest area that we need to focus on. And demonstrating how those support mechanisms are in place within your organisation, suitable for the client and demographic and core type that you've got. The whole of workforce management is probably a big one. And then outcome standard 4.2 around that risk and conflict of interest. They're the main ones that have sort of jump out at me. A lot of the other ones, in some respects, have been simplified a little bit. But then forgetting the outcome standards, if we have a look at the compliance, requirements/compliance standards as they're now called according to viewer. A lot of them are mapped across to areas of the 2015 standards, whether it was the USI, whether it was the issuance of qualification policy. So a lot of them will still map across. The only funny part between the two things for RTOs that are operating at the moment is that the compliance requirements have got their pre-enrollment information at the beginning, about the incentives and all that. But also we have 2.1, which talks about providing information to ensure suitability of product. So I made the decision to effectively move marketing out of compliance requirements and bunch it together with the outcome standards under 2.1 to make it part of that student's journey, being that information. Because I think the compliance requirements that's talking about marketing and information versus in 2.1, it's just information. To me, that makes sense to have the two bunched up together because it means marketing. Then we talk about that student support and enrollment aspect and we move on. And I think information makes sense because in particular, if you're different RTOs, don't all have FIFA service, they don't have marketing, they have internal information that they need to provide. So when it comes to information, it's ensuring that the student has a clear understanding of what are the requirements to complete this training and be successful in it. And it's not rocket science, is it? No. It's just, be honest with what you, ensure that the students know what they're studying. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they know if they've got work placement, how is that conducted? Do they need to find the work placement? Does the RTO find the work placement? And you need to make that clear in your information that you provide prior to course commencement. The other one, so I'm up in Darwin because I delivered a workshop on support services. One of the questions I got asked is by one of the audience was around we've got, we deliver qualifications and training in health services. And is it, is it a breaking the standards with regards to diversity and inclusion if we say that students need to be physically fit? No, no. No. Because part of the requirements is they need to do first aid and they've got to be able to get themselves up and down off the board. Anywhere where we're doing the first aid, we always make it that as part of the entry or the course requirements is that they have to be physically fit to perform two minutes, at least two minutes of continuous CPR on the floor. Yeah, and anything in health, if you're working as a nurse or there's so many things you can't go in with a bad back. No, I'm just saying, we always talk about physical fitness when it comes to any type of physical activity. And one of the requirements that we always put on our marketing flies is also that if you are under the influence of anything that may or under stress or any mental health issues, etc. That could impact on your ability to participate in the course or be a safety concern to you and others in the class, then you'll be excluded from the class until that's resolved. We make that as a standard statement within our client's marketing information because it's about protecting them. Yeah, yeah. I just remembered a very interesting conversation I had with an RTO where they had a student who came in for working at Heights and they did all of the theory side and then they had to go up on. And they all scared Heights? They all scared Heights. I said, no, I can't go out there because I'm scared of Heights. They're like, this is working at Heights, but can't you just give me the certificate? No. And again, we assume and we know what this view means, right? And so one could argue that, okay, that's an opportunity for improvement, maybe in our marketing flyers we have to put, you will be required to work on a platform at least of three meters or higher. So if you're scared of Heights. Yeah. But I had a diving client and we had to make sure that they'll physically fit for diving purposes, CPIs and other good ones. So yeah, it's. We often assume and we laugh, but at the end of the day, you know, we have to make sure that everyone understands that I call it idiot proof how doctor was. Well, that's right. And that information you're providing prior, not on your induction day, not after they've enrolled, prior to enrollment, because like what I saw C with the support standard, so quality area 2, it's all about successful completion. And we should all be looking at how can we ensure successful completion? And one of the things. And that includes starting before they enroll? That's right. That's right. And you should work back from successful completion to prior to enrollment. So what that information is. And what I highly recommend all RTOs do right now is have a look at your completion ratings now and set a KPI for in 12 months time what you're. That's a great statistic to provide not only internally for your team and others within the industry, but then ultimately ask her as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think when it comes back to the topic of re-registration, we were talking earlier off audio. You were saying you have an experience, Denny. Going to audit following. So no existing client of mine. I've had people approach me about re-region and we've gone through that. And similar to you, we've worked with them leading up to it. We've taken them through. We've made sure that everything was in line and they had all the evidence. But what I find is that a lot of clients that have what would be seen as a lower risk. They lodge their application, applications approved. But they may get an audit 12 months after. That's right. Now, being the pessimist sometimes, I sort of wonder if that's a bit of a what's a cost recovery methodology? Yes. Because I don't know whether the cost of the audit is included in the initial Reg, in the re-registration fee anymore. No. Because it used to be $7,000 for re-registration. And it's a lot cheaper now to apply for re-reads. So your re-reads fee is just the fee? Which is only if you go to audit, you pay per hour. Correct. Yeah, so I don't know. Look, I generally think Asquiz taking on their risk approach properly. And you hear a lot of RTOs that have been closed down. Qualifications being cancelled. So I think there's the larger players at the moment. The smaller RTOs that are just focusing on the niche industries. I think there's a bit of, well, there are lower risk compared to what the issues that we've got to look at at the moment. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, so we've had a mix. We've had some who just went straight through submitted their re-reads and got their re-registration. And then, but as you said, it was more the high risk. So if you've got childcare on your screen. go disability community services, any of those ones, they tend to be the higher risk and anything that involves equipment is more higher risk because I want to see the equipment. So I think that's where you're looking at but you don't know. It's hidden, miss. But again, if you're going into the set post initial registration renewal, so it's two years after with a fear of audit, you need to change your mindset because you need to be operating in a way to basically say, "A square, come on in, have a look, we're proud of what we do." Yeah, and see it as an opportunity for improvement. Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, I think, don't fear audit. Focus on running your business, running your RTO in a compliant manner and learn the standards and you'll be right. Yeah, I think so too. Great advice. Thanks, May Check. That's another wrap up of the RTO Superhero podcast. So good. From Darwin. From Darwin. Why? Just see you in person. You like guys. And May Check's off on the road again today, doing his second lap around Australia. Yeah. Yep. We've been, I've been, because this is my plan, is to also do the lap around Australia. So I've been learning lots from May Check over the last couple. Off to Kakadu. Yes, yes. Awesome. So thank you very much. Thank you. And we look forward to catching up with you again soon on the next podcast. Bye for now. [MUSIC]