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2018 VET Data Collection Changes - what they mean for your RTO

29/1/2018

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The start of 2018 saw the implementation of a new National VET Data Policy which introduces a number of changes in the way Registered Training Organisations Collect and Report Data. In this post we give a brief overview of the major impacts of these changes.
We are assuming that your Student Management System Provider will have upgraded your system to ensure that the correct data is collected and will have provided the necessary Professional Development.
VET Data Collection 2018
What ASQA has to say
ASQA in their publication - New National Vet Data Policy - summarises the changes as follows:
  • consolidation of the policy to provide guidance about data collection, reporting, use and disclosure in one document
  • enhanced AVETMISS reporting functionality to enable RTOs to report activity data as events occur throughout the year
  • clarification that all student enrolment activity must reported with a USI, including for students who withdraw or otherwise do not complete
  • streamlining of data reporting exemptions for community service organisations (exemptions on the basis of national security are largely retained)
  • removal of partial data reporting exemptions for delivery of short courses and to employees and volunteers of enterprise RTOs
  • introduction of a mandatory notification to students informing them of how their personal information may be used or disclosed
  • more transparent and defined rules in relation to disclosure and use of data from the collections held by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research.
What the AVETMISS changes mean at the actual coalface
In our opinion the following changes will affect your administration processes the most:​
  1. Privacy Notices and Student Declarations
  2. USI
  3. Quality Indicator Surveys
  4. Activity Start Date
  5. Completion Dates
  6. Email Addresses
  7. Highest School Level Completed
  8. Outcome Codes
Privacy Notices and Student Declarations​
Privacy Notice and Student Declarations
All students are required to be informed about how their personal information collected by or on behalf of governments may be used. Enrolment Forms must include a specific Privacy Notice and Student Declaration.
​USI
All students must now have USI’s and exemptions for one day courses are no longer applicable. Details regarding USI Exemptions can be found on the USI Website

Information regarding USI Collection and the requirement to sign a Privacy statement should be clearly communicated to students prior to enrolment. Our 2018 Student Handbook has been updated to include this information.

The only students who are exempt from providing an USI are;
  • International students undertaking their entire VET course outside Australia (also known as offshore training).
  • Students who have completed their VET training prior to 1 January 2015 but have not yet been issued with a qualification or statement of attainment in respect of that training.
  • Students who have applied for and obtained an individual exemption in writing from the Student Identifiers Registrar because they have a genuine personal objection to being assigned a USI.
 
USIs must be collected at enrolment and you cannot issue a Statement of Attainment or Certificate to a student who has not supplied a USI. Further, missing USIs will mean you will not be able to lodge your 2018 data which will put you in breach of the ASQA Data Provision Requirements.
Exemption for RTOs not to report USIs
Exemptions will only be awarded if there is a National Security Issue around data reporting or if you are a not–for-profit community organsiations/charity providing emergency or safety related services to volunteers. You must contact ASQA to ascertain your eligibility entitlement (this includes all RTOs who were previously approved although there is a transition period for applications until 30 June 2018).
AVETMISS USI
Quality Indicator Surveys
It is now mandatory that you report if a student has been given a Quality Indicator Survey . Your SMS  may have an in-house system of issuing these surveys and may, therefore, automatically update this field – check with your SMS Provider,
Activity Start Date
Start date for online training is the day students access materials not the day they are given to them.
Start date for Clustered Training is the the first date activity started in the specific subjects included in the cluster.
Start date for Credit Transfer is  when the credit transfer is administratively processed by the training organisation.
Completion Dates
Completion Dates are now reported for your program completions (rather than just a year). This may also be the Issue date of a certificate and may automatically be updated by the SMS – check with your SMS Provider.
​
Email addresses
You can now collect and report a second email address for all students.
Highest School Level completed
Is now the highest level successfully achieved.
Outcome Codes
​
Changes to Outcome codes are as summarised in the table supplied by NCVER
AVETMISS Outcome Codes
So these are the changes we felt would have the most impact on your RTO,we hope you found them useful. A good publication for full details of all changes is: AVETMISS 8.0 for VET providers: what's changing from release 7.0 by NCVER.
RTO has developed a 2018 Policy Update Kit which includes the relevant changes for RTOs. Changes are highlighted for easy identification and can easily be uploaded to your existing policy documents no matter what their source. 
Note: if you have previously purchased an RTO2Go.com Policy Manual,these documents  are free; if you have not already received them, please contact us. ​
2018 Policy Update Kit
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Smart and Skilled 2018 - 5 Changes That Impact Your RTO

27/1/2018

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To write this article we trawled the Smart and Skilled Operating Guidelines 2018, the 2018 Contract Terms and Conditions and the Smart and Skilled Policies and Supporting Documents comparing them with those of 2017. This was not high on my list of fun things to do over a holiday weekend but, hopefully, my time spent can be put to good use by those of you juggling all it takes to run a successful RTO.
Smart and Skilled 2018
Those aside, we have identified the following changes as the ones that will most impact you in your administration and management of the Program:
  1. Changes to AVETMISS Reporting Requirements
  2. Changes to the Smart and Skilled Fee Administration policy
  3. Additional Fee Exemptions
  4. Changes to the Subcontracting and Brokering Process
AVETMISS 8.00 2018
​Possibly because the time-frame of the program is only 6 months (Jan – June 2018), changes are minimal and on the whole legalistic,  mostly focusing on inserting clauses that ensure the Department has the power to take action with any identified non-compliance in program delivery or when an ‘event of default’ occurs.
Details of the 5 changes most likely to have an impact on your current management and training systems are discussed below. We have also compiled a list of all of the Changes to the Contract and Guidelines and you can buy updated documents in our Smart and Skilled Update Kit 2018 (discounted for existing customers).   
Changes to AVETMISS Reporting Requirements
​In most cases your Student Management System provider will have updated your system to ensure that data collection meets the new National VET Data Policy, however, there are some administrative changes that require implementation for the Smart and Skilled collection process.

As in all things, as a Smart and Skilled provider, you are expected to meet all legislative requirements for Registered Training Organisations including those in the new Data Policy, more information on these changes can be found in our post: 2018 VET Data Changes - what they mean for your RTO. However, in this article we focus only on those relating to Smart and Skilled as listed below.

When to use AVETMISS 7.0 and 8.0:
  • if you did not submit all your reports for student who completed in 2017 by the Jan 7 deadline then you have until  28 March to do so using AVETMISS 7.0 . After that date all reports must be submitted using AVETMISS 8.0
  • for training activity that started in 2017 but will complete in 2018, you must use AVETMISS 8.00.
  • any Trainings Activity that commences in 2018  requires AVETMISS 8.00
 
There are also some Data Entry Changes that have reporting implications for S&S training activity, these are:
  • Outcome identifier- two new codes: 41 (Incomplete due to RTO closure) and  85 (Not yet started),
Hopefully, none of you will find you have to enter 41 but you also have the option of not entering Code 85 as this field can be left blank if the student has not commenced.
  • 90 (Not yet available at interim collection) has been deleted and Code 70 is to be used when a student has not completed training in the Activity Period that is being reported
 
Changes to Smart and Skilled Fee Administration policy
Again, there is only a minor change in the Smart and Skilled Fee Administration Policy; a statement has been added to the effect that when a student obtains a Commonwealth Government student loan, the RTO must comply with all the requirements of the program. This applies to only those Providers who have received Commonwealth funding (which is normally through the VET Student Loans Program). The RTO2Go.com, Smart and Skilled Fee and Refund Policy has been updated to include this statement.​
Addition of classes Fee Exemptions (Notification of Enrolment Policy)
Fee Exemptions for Victims of Domestic Violence and Refugees and Asylum Seekers have been  added to the Eligibility Criteria.​​
Picture
  • Exemptions for victims of domestic violence come under Fee Free Scholarships and are for anyone over 15 who declares themselves to have, or to been,  a domestic violence victim or a  dependent of one. Proof of eligibility is in the form of a letter of recommendation from a Domestic and Family Violence Service, Refugee or other Support Agency.
  • Fee Exemptions for Refugees and Asylum Seekers; evidence required to support this application are Visa Documentaion  or Immicard – refer to Appendix 7 of the Smart and Skilled Fee Administration Policy for approved type of visas.
​Updated documents that reflect these changes can be found in the  Smart and Skilled Update Kit 2018.

​Changes to Subcontracting and Brokering Policy
I found it hard to ascertain exactly when this policy was changed to include the definition of Brokering but the major change for 2018 is the addition of a statement to the effect that the Department is unlikely  to accept applications for Brokering arrangements unless under special circumstances where the case is put forward  for support of  students with specific needs.

There is also a slight change in the application procedure whereby a Provider is required to email the Department to inform them of their intention to apply for approval to set up Subcontracting or Brokering and the Department will then inform which application form to use.

For a full list of the Program changes found in the Smart and Skilled Operating Guidelines and Contract for 2018, please click below. 
Smart and Skilled Updates 2018 - Buy Now
Changes to Smart and Skilled 2018
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    Hi, I am Anne

    On this blog I share tips on changes in VET Compliance and how  to stay up to date with Smart and Skilled. For updates please sign up below.

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