In a recent appearance at Senate Estimates the CEO of ASQA, Saxon Rice, provided a new (and welcome) level of detail on the agency’s efforts to tackle serious integrity issues in the VET sector.

She disclosed the following details:

  • ASQA has cancelled or refused re-registration to 159 providers in the last 12 months
  • They are also dealing with a further 73 matters involving investigations into individuals linked to former RTOs or non-RTOs for matters like false and misleading advertising/qualification fraud), and
  • Almost two-thirds of the 159 RTOs they have taken serious action against are international education providers (ie they are registered on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students – CRICOS).

Ms Rice also explained the very serious issues ASQA is dealing involving cases of alleged fraud (eg cash for qualifications, fabrication of assessments and evidence), ghost colleges, funding fraud and visa migration risks. She also explained that all of the 159 cases against RTOs involve ASQA working with other Commonwealth/multi-jurisdictional agencies eg the Department of Home Affairs, licensing bodies, other funding bodies, or the disruption of criminal networks.

Specifically ASQA is:

  • working with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions on criminal prosecutions
  • a witness in a Queensland police fraud case
  • supporting the New South Wales police with a proceeds of crime case
  • involved in four “Fraud Fusion Taskforce” criminal operations involving people alleged to be defrauding the NDIA and threatening qualification integrity
  • supporting security licensing bodies, particularly in New South Wales and Victoria, in relation to criminal investigations into people alleged to be engaging in unlawful behaviour
  • supporting two Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) criminal investigations being undertaken by the Commonwealth Department of Education and working with regulators in the ECEC sector to address bogus qualifications
  • involved in action with the ACCC focussed on “organisations and bad faith actors playing ”facilitatory’ roles” – which was not explained any further but suggests they may be focussed on people working as brokers, and
  • working with the Victorian and Northern Territory police, plus New South Wales and Queensland police to support their ongoing investigations (it was unclear if for the latter two jurisdictions if these were the same matters identified above or other cases).