The Codes of Practice and Ethics of the Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET) were launched today in Melbourne.

Assistant Minister for Education and Training, Senator Simon Birmingham, has today launched the codes of practice and ethics, an industry-led response to tackling rogue providers and lifting standards in the vocational education and training (VET) sector.

“The ACPET Code of Ethics for Members and the Code of Practice for the Engagement of Education Agents/Brokers demonstrate that governments and the sector are on similar pages when it comes to guaranteeing educational quality,” Senator Birmingham said.

“I welcome ACPET’s proactive initiatives to boost confidence in the VET sector and I believe these Codes can play an important role in protecting the sector’s integrity.

“This is a valuable contribution to the work being undertaken to eliminate the questionable behaviour of some brokers and registered training organisations.

“These ACPET Codes complement our Government's VET FEE-HELP (VFH) reform measures announced yesterday, especially those relating to the integrity of marketing practices of VET providers and of the education agents/brokers they use.

“We are strongly committed to ensuring that students can be confident in having a real choice about what they study and are able to select the provider that best suits their individual needs.

“Our Government has already taken action to introduce tough new standards for registered training providers (RTOs), and has provided $68 million over four years to bolster the capacity of the Australian Quality Skills Authority (ASQA) to enforce these strong standards, which will now be boosted by an additional $18.2 million in VFH compliance activities.

“We have also established a national complaints hotline, a joint initiative with the states and territories, to provide a single point to make it easier for complaints to be heard and actioned. The National Training Complaints Hotline is accessible on 13 38 73 (Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm nationally) or via email at skilling@education.gov.au.

“Both the Codes and our VFH reforms emphasise the importance of accurate information provision by providers and agents relating to enrolment, study and VFH.

“We will continue to take decisive action to stamp out any abuse of the system, including those who try to make a quick buck at the expense of the tax payer through the VFH scheme.”