The article that I've linked to is referring to an issue that is becoming somewhat problematic over the past few months and refers to a number of groups "acting" as RTOs (Registered Training Organisations, basically a private TAFE) and basically sticking people into debt while promising them a qualification in return (and they don't wind up receiving one). For those of you overseas, these are the actual "diploma mills" that you may have heard of.
The Age did another brilliant article on this which sums up the method of scamming. All of it centres around the use of VET-FEE-HELP. This is a government initiative whereby people are able to take out loans (through the government, so interest-free, just indexed annually) to cover the cost of studying either a Diploma or Advanced Diploma at TAFEs or RTOs. They're also currently trialling it for some Certificate IV courses in areas where there are genuine shortages (i.e. aged care, agriculture, disability care and so on) although the trials are mostly through TAFE.
The scam works a little like this:
- vulnerable individuals (unemployed, intellectually disabled, elderly and foreigners among others) are approached by salespeople in a variety of ways (this can involve phone calls, emails, going door-to-door in areas where they know there's a high population of vulnerable individuals, and enticed to sign up for a course promising things such as free laptops or cash (both are illegal), a nationally recognised qualification (while yes the qualification is a nationally recognised one, it's a rubber stamped one and that person will not have had any real training short of read here, sign here, answer this and so on) and that the course will not cost them anything (this is not the case). They are then basically encouraged to sign a "Request for VET-FEE-HELP" form without being provided any further information about it.
- From there, the provider submits all the forms to the government stating that yes, this person is a student of our dodgy training school, this is the course they're doing, this is what they're being enrolled in and so on. The "student"receives online training of sorts, but they are given no support from teachers at all and nothing is taken into account for their disabilities. if they do receive the qualification, it's only been rubber stamped if the student hands in any work at all.
- The provider then receives up to $18,000 per student. Some of that money may also go to the sales staff or course "brokers" as a brokerage fee.
- Meanwhile the poor student is saddled with a debt that they may not ever be able to pay back to the government and this can have far-reaching impacts for their credit score. They are also generally left without a reliable qualification or support.
While it is possible to get the VET-FEE-HELP debt removed when situations like this happen, many of the people who are targeted are not provided with this information, or they may be provided with it as part of the "general information" which they'd then be encouraged to ignore or throw away being told it's "unimportant".
My own opinion on these is that those specific providers who do something like this are disgusting and really need as many people coming down hard on them. On top of that, it is also giving genuinely legitimate providers a bad name. There are some good providers out there who do attempt to do the right thing by the regulations set by ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority, who are responsible for managing this stuff) and they really do outnumber the ones that give the rest a bad name. Some organisations may skirt the line on what's good and dodgy or may engage in the occasional dodgy practice, but they are called out on it and make an effort to change or update their policies to better reflect the standards. (This may come in the form of changing their orientation session or the procedure for complaints)
So you may be wondering, why doesn't everyone just go to TAFE? There are a few reasons why TAFE may not be an option for students.
- There are a number of barriers for students that make travelling to and from a TAFE campus difficult. Some courses are offered online, but not all courses are available online through the TAFE institutions in each state.
- Processing applications for TAFE can take quite a long time, as long as 2-3 months or more, whereas more reputable RTOs may be able to communicate to students sooner. (I've worked in a TAFE for a period of time handling these so yes, they do take quite a period of time) This is partially also to account for any allowances and entitlements that the person is able to receive (there are various subsidy options for each state), as well as the software that is used. A private RTO that does not receive that funding would therefore be able to process it quicker.
- Some (key word SOME) institutions are designed to cater to the needs of a particular community and may thus may have staff trained to cater for these students needs (example: most Deaf Societies provide programs in Auslan from Cert II all the way up to Diploma level for both deaf and hearing students. Most TAFEs do not provide anything beyond a Cert II in Auslan. Students who complete these courses can then move on to take a Diploma in Interpreting and then move on towards becoming professional interpreters for the government or the private sector. The teachers in this course would therefore have a solid understanding of students needs)
- Some RTOs only focus on providing certain units to fulfill an industry requirement that may need renewing over time (examples of this are Child Protection/Mandatory Reporting, First Aid, CPR, Anaphylaxis management, Asthma Management) . For some students, moving interstate can also trigger a need to update their requirements according to state legislation (example: SA has Mandatory Notification training which is currently not a nationally recognised unit but is a regular requirement, while NSW requires you to undergo Child Protection training which forms part of the Cert III in Childcare) and it is important they access this quickly to allow them time to settle into work straight away. Not all TAFEs provide these short courses to students or with enough frequency to make this accessible.
- Finally, the nature of some courses pretty much restricts them from being easily accessible via TAFE. Creative Arts courses (this consists of any Dance, Music, Drama, Visual Art and some Design courses) require plenty of space and specialised equipment that some TAFEs may not have the space to keep hold of. These courses however, usually require students to undertake an audition, interview or both in order to determine if they will benefit from these courses and students who do not meet these requirements are not granted entry.
So now you're probably thinking "OK, so how do I know if a RTO is legitimate?" I'll cover a few quick things to keep in mind here and I'll do a more thorough post on this subject later, along with how I believe the system could be fixed.
An RTO that is legitimate...
- WON'T stand in shopping centres, Centrelink or canvass communities directly.
- WON'T provide inducements to students to get them to sign up (Note: providing small trinkets like pens or mousepads to get names on the mailing list is different to getting them to sign up for a course)
- WON'T advertise anywhere that their courses are free, government funded, you don't pay it back until later or some variant of the above (they can explain this to students, but it comes under course information and is not to be used as a hook)
- WILL offer more courses than just Diplomas or Advanced Diplomas. If you're still in doubt, check the training.gov.au website
- WILL publish their data on the training.gov.au website, with clear information about what the course is, what's offered and so on.
- WILL provide clear information about what VET-FEE-HELP is, how it works and so on.
- WILL be a member of ACPET (basically if they shut down, you'll be refunded any fees and given the option to pick up where you left off elsewhere at no extra cost-this applies to private colleges only)
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