The new online resource Working with Diversity will help you meet your AQTF requirements. It’s a great tool for assessing what you’re already doing and deciding on improvements. Designed for just-in-time use, information is written in plain English and set up to be accessed quickly and easily.

Whether you’re an RTO employee or an AQTF auditor you already know how important it is to comply with the AQTF requirements – the nationally agreed quality framework for the Australian VET system. Not only does AQTF compliance ensure that all of your students receive the best possible learner-centred training, therefore making your RTO more competitive by attracting a broad cross-section of clients, but it is also essential in order to retain RTO status.

It’s been found that RTOs don’t share an understanding of what equity and access actually entails. Even AQTF auditors have different views! Working with Diversity hopes to promote a shared understanding of what the AQTF really means.

All RTOs are different and will meet the requirements in the most appropriate way for their staff, students and circumstances. Working with Diversity helps you by providing case studies so that you can compare your RTO with what others are doing and possibly pick up some ideas. It offers links to other helpful sites and resources as well as checklists and questions to help you review what you are currently doing.

The resource has three sections on:

• general equity and AQTF issues
• people with a disability
• Indigenous Australians

It will help you:

• provide information to clients
• help clients enrol
• provide training delivery
• undertake fair assessments
• assist learners gain employment or study further
• improve decision making

It will be useful to:

• anyone working in an RTO
• organisations wanting RTO status
• AQTF auditors
• people working with RTOs and AQTF auditors
• interested community and industry groups and employers.

The guide does not list the requirements of the AQTF standards - check out the guidelines themselves and the AQTF Evidence Guide for Registered Training Organisations and Auditors for this. The aim of Working with Diversity is to help you comply with the standards.

This is a handy address to have saved in your favourites for when you need information about equity, complying with AQTF standards and meeting the needs of your learners.

The West Australian Department of Education and Training (DET) produced the Working with Diversity resources for ANTA.