More than 3,300 people have had their vocational educational training (VET) qualifications revoked, after authorities found the college they attended was not training them properly.
Last year, the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) revoked Gills College’s licence, finding it had failed to ensure “students had successfully satisfied all requirements.”
Graduates appealed the decision to the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART).
This week, the ART found AQSA’s decision was right, confirming that the graduates’ qualifications were revoked.
Deregistration
Last year, ASQA cancelled Sydney vocational institute Gills College’s registration as an educator, finding it had been “critically non-compliant” with regulatory requirements.
An investigation found the school failed to ensure that students were completing the tests required to graduate.
It also found evidence that some students had been issued certificates through a program that grants course credit for relevant work or career experience, without ever being properly assessed.
Additionally, the college failed to ensure its trainers and assessors were qualified to teach the subjects on offer.
The college, which offered 18 qualifications, shut down in October last year. Students were then notified that their qualifications were void.
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Graduates were able to appeal the decision to revoke their qualifications at the ART.
Appeals
In January, the ART received two separate applications from Gills College graduates seeking a review of ASQA’s decision.
The ART ruled in favour of the regulator both times, finding “there is little or no evidence” that the college met the standards required to award a certificate.
In one case, Senior Member Mark Harrowell found that college could not provide “the required training and assessment necessary to achieve the learning outcomes for the qualification”.
Warning
ASQA CEO Saxon Rice warned students of “non-genuine providers and bad-faith operators” who seek to take advantage of them.
Since late 2024, the regulator has shut down several providers, leaving almost 30,000 former students without valid qualifications.
“There is no place for any training provider who seeks to undermine the sector or exploit students,” Ms Rice said.
