Foreword

Accredited courses play an important role in Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) sector.

In a rapidly evolving economy, accreditation provides nationally recognised training and qualifications in new and emerging skills that employers need or to meet community needs, but which are not already covered by existing training package qualifications.

The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) as the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator ensures that accredited courses meet nationally consistent standards, so that students, employers, governments and the community can have confidence in the integrity of national qualifications issued by training providers.

The Standards for VET Accredited Courses 2021 (the Standards) and the Australian Qualifications Framework sets out the requirements courses need to meet to be accredited by ASQA.

This guide is intended to help course owners seeking accreditation for a new course or wanting to renew accreditation of an existing course. It provides guidance to understand the Standards that apply to an accredited course. It provides information about each of the standards, tips for how to gather and present the information required for the accreditation process, and case studies to illustrate how this can be done.

I urge all current and prospective course owners to use this guide to understand the Standards required for accreditation and to meet and maintain compliance with these Standards. This will ensure that Australia’s VET sector continues to offer the highest possible quality training now and into the future.

Saxon Rice
Chief Executive Officer
Australian Skills Quality Authority