The Administrative Review Tribunal (the Tribunal) has made a second decision to affirm the Australian Skills Quality Authority's cancellation of a qualification issued by the former registered training organisation (RTO) Gills College.
Following extensive compliance investigations ASQA cancelled the registration of Gills College in November 2024, finding it was critically non-compliant and had issued qualifications and statements of attainment without adequate assessment. ASQA also found that Gills College did not ensure students had successfully satisfied all requirements prior to issuing them with VET certification.
To protect the public and the integrity of the VET sector, ASQA subsequently cancelled the qualifications and/or statements of attainment that Gills College issued to more than 3,300 individuals.
An application to review ASQA's decision to cancel a qualification was made to the Tribunal on 31 January 2025 (Tribunal Number: 2025/0927) by an individual who obtained a Certificate IV in Kitchen Management after they were approached by an education and migration agent from the organisation eHub.
The individual supplied documents and made a payment of $1,150 to eHub after the agent advised them that they could obtain a qualification via Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) due to their work in hospitality.
However they were not advised of the need to attend Gills College for an interview, did not receive any tailored RPL guidance material and never met or interacted with a qualified VET assessor. The individual also received no guidance from Gills College or eHub about how their professional experience could map to the requirements of the units that made up the qualification.
The Tribunal considered whether Gills College had provided the necessary training and/or assessment for the individual to achieve the learning outcomes for the Certificate IV in Kitchen Management and if it was appropriate for ASQA to cancel the individual's qualification.
In the Tribunal's decision Senior Member Harrowell affirmed ASQA's decision to cancel the qualification.
"There is no evidence of any member or staff of the College being assigned the task of carrying out assessments for the purpose of recognition of prior learning generally, let alone in respect of the application made by the applicant," Senior Member Harrowell said.
In the decision, Senior Member Harrowell also stated that individual had not acted inappropriately to obtain the qualification using RPL.
"There is no suggestion that the applicant has acted inappropriately or failed to do what was asked of him by eHub in making the RPL Application," he said.
ASQA CEO Saxon Rice said that students should be aware of what to look for when a RTO, broker or agent is offering qualifications through a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) model.
"Students should avoid marketing that includes phrases such as 'no classes to attend', 'no study or exams required', 'no time off work', 'receive your qualification in 7 days', '100% guarantee of a successful qualification' and 'fast tracked pathway to skilled migration'.
"Put simply, if it seems to be good to be to true, it probably is," Ms Rice said.
"Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is a legitimate part of the VET sector and recognises the skills, knowledge and competencies gained from prior learning and experience. Many quality providers utilise RPL, using a robust framework and processes to work with students and undertake individual competency-based assessments to determine if any training is needed to fill gaps in a student's knowledge or skills."
ASQA has produced guidance for students on unethical and misleading practices of non-genuine providers, brokers and agents attempting to lure them into enrolling through the promise of fast-tracked qualifications, often purporting to use a model of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) without the need for any training or assessment.
A Fact Sheet for students is available on the ASQA website about Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
Since late 2024 ASQA has cancelled the registration of 15 RTOs, including Gills College, who were found to have fraudulently issued qualifications without the appropriate training or assessment.
ASQA has cancelled over 29,000 qualifications and/or statements of attainment issued by those RTOs to more than 26,000 individuals, with investigations ongoing into other non-genuine providers and bad-faith operators.
"There is no place for any training provider who seeks to undermine the sector or exploit students," Ms Rice said.
"The targeting of non-genuine providers and bad-faith operators is one part of an ongoing program of work by ASQA to ensure the integrity of VET sector for students, industry and the community.
"ASQA works with federal, state and territory government partners to detect, deter and disrupt fraudulent behaviour which undermines and threatens the vast majority of providers who provide quality vocational education and training to millions of Australians."
