National Audit and Registration Agency (NARA)
NARA’s Role
NARA, the National Audit and Registration Agency, provides audit and registration services for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) that operate in more than one Australian State or Territory. These are known as multi-jurisdictional RTOs.
The National VET Regulator
On 7 December 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to establish a national regulator for VET. The national VET regulator will be established under Commonwealth legislation and will be responsible for the registration and audit of RTOs, and accreditation of courses. This announcement is, in part, due to requests from the Australian VET sector, for nationally consistent regulatory arrangements. NARA will support the Commonwealth, States and Territories and, NARA RTOs in this time of transition.
Over the next 12 months, NARA will support the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and the State and Territory Registering Bodies to establish the national VET regulator. During this transition phase, NARA will continue operations as normal.
Further information will be added to this site, as it comes to hand. The COAG communiqué and the announcement can be found at: www.coag.gov.au
Transferring to NARA in 2010
Given the COAG announcement to establish a national regulator for VET, should I still transfer to NARA? Will transferring to NARA at this time be beneficial to my business?
NARA will continue all registration and audit operations as normal in 2010 and RTOs can still transfer to NARA. RTOs considering transferring to NARA should be aware that the arrangements for the transition of NARA RTOs to the new national VET regulator in early 2011 are still unclear. RTOs should take the uncertainty into consideration prior to transferring to NARA in 2010.
If you wish to discuss this further you can contact your State or Territory Registering Body or NARA.
Changes to the Australian Quality Training Framework Standards
On 7 December 2009 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) endorsed the National Quality Council (NQC) key reforms to the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) Essential Standards for Registration. These important changes strengthen the AQTF while retaining the broad outcomes focus. The changes are:
- Strengthened Essential Standards for existing RTOs
- New Standards for RTOs registering for the first time
Further information, about the AQTF 2010 is available on the NQC website: www.nqc.tvetaustralia.com.au/aqtf_2010
The NARA Difference
NARA provides multi-jurisdictional RTOs with:
- a toll free 1300 phone number (1300 00 NARA or 1300 00 6272)
- a NARA Client Relationship Manager as a single point of contact for all registration processes;
- a list of NARA endorsed Quality Consultants to choose from in preparation for audit;
- an approved audit team comprising a Lead Auditor, team auditors and technical experts (as required);
- NARA auditors and endorsed Quality Consultants who engage in regular fortnightly NARA moderation activities to develop consistency in audit decision making processes;
- free seminars and workshops to promote good practice among RTOs registered with NARA;
- a regulatory focus on the quality of training outcomes and continuous improvement in line with the AQTF 2007 Standards
- innovative IT solutions and a secure website that reduce compliance related paperwork and;
- regulatory transparency, with NARA's annual audit report against the AQTF 2007 Standards for State and Territory Registering Bodies available online for all stakeholders.
Download a copy of NCVER's 2009 report:
- NCVER Audit Report 2009 [777kb]
- NARA response to 2009 Audit Report [396kb]
Who can Register with NARA?
The National Audit and Registration Agency (NARA) operates under delegation from Australian States and Territories. This means that all multi-jurisdictional RTOs can apply to have their registration managed by NARA, except for RTOs based in NSW or the NT, where delegations are yet to be enacted.
Eligibility for NARA Services
In May 2007 the National Senior Officials Committee endorsed the following eligibility requirements.
'Multi-jurisdictional RTOs' eligible to move their registration to NARA are those that are:
- registered on the National Training Information Service (NTIS) as operating in more than one state or territory and provide the registering body with evidence of multi-jurisdictional operations; or
- registered on NTIS as currently operating in its registered jurisdiction only and provide the registering body with evidence showing that it will commence operations in another jurisdiction(s) within six months; or
- a new training organisation seeking registration for the first time and provide the registering body with evidence showing that it will be operating in more than one jurisdiction within six months.”
State and Territory Registering Bodies are responsible for determining if a training provider meets the nationally agreed eligibility criteria to transfer to NARA.
The Victorian government's application form for assessment of eligibility can be downloaded from http://www.vrqa.vic.gov.au/vet/narareg.htm
The South Australian government’s transfer form is available for downloading at: http://www.training.sa.gov.au/FormsandTemplates/VocationalEducationandTraining/tabid/112/Default.aspx
NOTE: you will need to scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the link for Form RTO10.
The Queensland government’s transfer form is at: http://www.trainandemploy.qld.gov.au/resources/training-organisations/doc/request-transfer-registration.doc
The Western Australian government’s transfer form is at: http://www.tac.wa.gov.au/ToolBox_ApplicationForms.html
For existing RTO's the ACT government form is available at http://www.det.act.gov.au/__data/assets/word_doc/0017/30833/ACT_ARC_ApplicationTransferNARA.doc
For new RTO's the ACT application form is available at http://www.det.act.gov.au/vhe/accreditation_and_registration/registration_of_VET_providers
No form is required for Tasmanian RTOs. For approval of eligibility from the Tasmanian Qualifications Authority to transfer registration to TVET Australia (NARA), RTOs should contact Phil Geeves at the office of the TQA on 03 6233 6354 or phil.geeves@tqa.tas.gov.au.
As a national regulator, NARA provides RTOs with services relating to compliance with the AQTF 2007 Essential Standards for Registration. [see link below]
AQTF 2007 Essential Standards for Registration [194kb]
And, where applicable, The Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act 2000.
Eligibility for NARA Services [329kb]
Print this page | last updated: 23 Feb 2010 12:58pm