The Department has published the 2015 VET Funding Contract and a refreshed version of the 2014-
16 VET Funding Contract in the Documents section of SVTS (along with their non-Victorian based equivalents). These contract types are effective from 1 January 2015. As these contract types share the vast majority of content, this fact sheet simply refers to ‘the Contract’. A few minor differences between contract types are noted.
The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of the new and notable features of the Contracts.
For providers with a 2014-16 VET Funding Contract, this fact sheet must be read in conjunction with
Contract Notification 2014-20, which formally varies that contract to effect these changes.
Providers that hold a single year 2014 VET Funding Contract or an Agreement from 2013, 2012 or 2011 should refer to CN 2014-21, which will be published shortly, for relevant variations to those contracts.
Refreshed versions of these contract types have not been issued.
The three key Guidelines documents supporting the Contracts have also been published on SVTS. They replace the previous versions in their entirety:
•
2015 Guidelines about Determining Student Eligibility and Supporting Evidence;
•
2015 Guidelines about Fees; and
•
2015 Guidelines about Apprenticeship/Traineeship Training Delivery.
Course subsidies for 2015 have been confirmed and have been published on the ‘2015 Funded Courses
Report’ in the Documents section of SVTS. These course subsidies will apply from 1 January 2015 for both new commencements in 2015 and students continuing into 2015 from previous years.
RTOs are reminded that it is an existing contractual requirement to ensure that each individual is aware that they are enrolling under the Victorian Training Guarantee and that their enrolment may impact their access to further government subsidised training.
Enhancing individuals’ ability to make informed training decisions is a continuing focus for the
Government. As such, RTOs are now required to provide students with more detailed information in the
Statement of Fees, prior to enrolment.
The Statement of Fees must now include an approximate value of the funding provided by government towards the course in which the individual is considering enrolment.

The new definition of ‘Statement of Fees’ also refers to information provision requirements in the national standards for RTOs, a new version of which will come into effect in 2015. The Department will provide separate advice to RTOs on implementing the new Statement of Fees requirements once the new
Standards are published by the Commonwealth Government.
RTOs are reminded that when a course becomes superseded, regulations require transition of students to current qualifications as soon as practicable. Over the last six months, the Department has determined that a number of providers are continuing both to train and commence students in courses that have been superseded for a significant period.
As activity undertaken in current qualifications best responds to industry needs and provides students with industry relevant qualifications, the Department is making the following changes:
•
From 1 January 2015, the Department will not subsidise training for students commencing a qualification that has been superseded by more than 12 months; and
•
From 1 July 2015, the Department will not subsidise training for continuing students in qualifications that have been superseded more than 12 months ago or deleted more than 24 months ago.
These changes are reflected in the Contract and the Funded Courses Report for 2015.
It is the Department’s ongoing expectation that providers deliver high quality training and assessment that is suitable and appropriate for each individual student. This has previously been set out in the Statement of Expectations and in reference to Pre-Training Review. To encourage providers to continue to focus on the meeting the needs of individuals, the Department has highlighted suitable and appropriate in the
Contract and provided the following definitions:
Suitable means the training and assessment meets the individual’s need, links to likely job and/or participation outcomes and minimises duplication of the individual’s existing competencies.
Appropriate means the training and assessment is delivered to regulatory and industry standards, uses delivery modes and durations optimised for the individual’s needs and includes reasonable support to facilitate the individual’s participation and attainment.
From 2015, all Foundation Skills Approved Providers are required to collect and report data on pre- and post-assessment testing of students. Providers are required to report to the Department the outcomes from these assessments translated into the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF) levels (or an appropriate alternative determined by the Department). This must occur for each student enrolled in
Foundation Skills courses in Domain A or Domain B, in a form and at time to be set by the Department.
This change will operationalise objectives of the National Foundations Skills Strategy and assessment requirements of the Foundation Skills Training Package. The data collection will allow the development

of benchmarks in measuring student gain against the ACSF. The Department will shortly provide information about form, timing and guidance for providers in transitioning existing practices to be consistent with this requirement
To support the government’s continued focus on RTOs providing training that leads to real jobs, RTOs must now collect data on the employment status of each Eligible Individual that completes or withdraws from training. Further information on this requirement will be published in the next short period.
The Department is aware of the increasing use of ‘labour hire’ arrangements as a means of RTOs’ resourcing their operations, including trainers and assessors, administration and marketing functions. In some instances, RTOs have confused subcontracting with labour hire.
Unlike a subcontracting arrangement, where individual staff report to the third party, under a labour hire arrangement individual staff report directly to the RTO. This means RTOs should have greater oversight of the induction and actions of labour hire staff.
To ensure RTOs are cognisant of their responsibility for these staffing arrangements, the Contract requires RTOs to have the principal line of management for trainers and assessors who have been sourced through labour hire and similar arrangements. Where this cannot be evidenced, the arrangement will be considered to be subcontracting and the RTO must seek the Department’s approval in the usual manner.
For training commencements from 1 January 2015, RTOs must seek the Department’s approval for subcontracting some or all services that pertain to the Pre-Training Review. The Department will provide separate, more detailed advice on this process shortly.
Providers must now also seek approval to subcontract training and assessment to an RTO that holds a non-Victorian based VET Funding Contract.
To support the Department’s ongoing focus on RTOs’ maintaining strong and appropriate oversight of their subcontracting arrangements, the Department may direct the RTO to cease, or otherwise vary the scope of, a subcontracting arrangement.
Providers are already prohibited from engaging, employing, contracting or otherwise dealing with certain individuals (known as ‘Relevant Persons’) that have had a contract terminated, or had registration suspended, cancelled or restricted in the three years prior to 1 January 2014.
This clause has been amended to include events that occur more recently such that providers cannot deal with a Relevant Person to whom one of the above events occurred since 1 January 2011 up to the

present. This amendment does not apply to Relevant Persons who are engaged by the RTO prior to 1
January 2015.
The Guidelines about Fees and the Guidelines about Determining Eligibility and Supporting Evidence have been updated to support electronic verification and capture of evidence relating to eligibility and concession entitlement.
The Department has also made provision for RTOs to electronically verify key identity documents such as passports, licences and Medicare cards. Under the new provisions, RTOs may sight eligibility documentation in person, sight certified photocopies, or use a third party verification service that provides the RTO with an equivalent level of assurance.
The Contract now contains a generic power to require RTOs to participate in an approval process to add or retain qualifications on their Funded Scope or to deliver to certain types of Eligible Individuals.
Although none are currently planned, this amendment would accommodate any future Approved Provider processes. The Department may add or remove a provider from an Approved Provider list. References to the 2014 process for becoming a Foundation Skills Approved Provider have been removed from the 2015
Contract, as this will take place through the usual annual entry to market process.
From 3 November 2014 the Workers in Transition Program will change, and eligible retrenched workers will be referred to RTOs with a ‘Training Referral Letter’, rather than a ‘Workers in Transition Program
Letter’. The new letter provides the same opportunity to its recipient—namely, an exemption from the
VTG upskilling criterion.
If providing an exemption from the VTG upskilling criterion, RTOs must still retain a copy of the retrenched employee’s separation certificate and either the Workers in Transition Program Letter (up to and including 2 November 2015) or the Training Referral Letter, and be reported to the Department through the eligibility exemption indicator field on SVTS.
If you have a question regarding your VET Funding Contract please submit it to the Department using the
Enquiry function of SVTS under the appropriate category.

Statement of Fees
*clauses link to new versions of the documents referenced
Expanded definition of Statement of Fees to mean a detailed quote for each Eligible Individual which sets out the information required in the
SNR and includes the approximate value of the contribution from government towards the course.
Terms & Conditions
Definitions
Guidelines about
Fees
Contract Term
Relevant Person provision
Compliance with
Training Products
Termination
The Term will be considered to have expired when there has been no training activity data reported a period of 12 months from 15 January
2017 or as otherwise agreed. This change does not reduce the Term or change the fact that the Contract continues until all students have completed or withdrawn .
Terms & Conditions
Clause 2.1
RTOs must not engage, employ, contract or otherwise deal with certain individuals (known as ‘Relevant Persons’) that have had a contract terminated, or had registration suspended, cancelled or restricted since 1
January 2011 up to the present. This requirement does not apply to
Relevant Persons engaged prior to 1 January 2015.
Terms & Conditions
Clause 3.3(e)
More explicit requirement to deliver training with regard to course/qualification descriptions, pathways information, entry requirements and outcomes.
Terms & Conditions
Clause 3.1(d)(ii)
Approved Provider
Process
Subcontracting
Labour hire arrangements
Generic power to require RTOs to participate in an approval process to add or retain qualification on their Funded Scope in order to accommodate any future Approved Provider processes.
Explicit reference made to Foundation Skills and RPL Approved Provider
Lists. Department has power to add or remove an RTO from an
Approved Provider List at any time.
Must seek approval to subcontract conduct of a Pre-Training Review
Must seek approval to subcontract to RTO that holds a non-Victorian based VET Funding Contract.
Department may direct the RTO to cease, or otherwise vary the scope of, an arrangement to subcontract some or all of the Training Services.
RTOs must have the principle line of management for trainers and assessors who have been sourced through labour hire and similar arrangements. Where this cannot be evidenced, the arrangement will be considered to be subcontracting and the RTO must seek the
Department’s approval in the usual manner.
Terms & Conditions
Clauses 4.3, 4.4, 4.5
Terms & Conditions
Clauses 5.2(b), 5.9 and 5.10
Terms & Conditions
Clause 5.4
Forecast training delivery
Only fund current training
Only fund correctly reported training including ’90 day rule’
On request, RTOs must provide the Department with projected enrolment numbers for any period.
The Department is only obliged to pay the Funds to the RTO where the students are commencing or continuing in current qualifications (as described in the Contract).
The Department is only obliged to pay the Funds to the RTO in respect of a training and activity that has been correctly reported and, for a unit of competency/module, where the RTO has created a claim within 90 days of the Enrolment Activity Start Date
Terms & Conditions
Clauses 6.2 and 6.3
Terms & Conditions
Clauses 7.2(b)
(iii, iv, v,)
Terms & Conditions
Clauses 7.2(b)
(vi, vii)
Amending records RTOs must not make or amend Records such that they are compliant with the requirements of the VET Funding Contract but are not accurate.
Terms & Conditions
Clause 9.1(h)
Extension of right to terminate on basis of Funds claimed (not just Funds paid) where RTO fails to provide some or all of the Training Services or if they are not provided to a standard satisfactory to the Department
Terms & Conditions
Clauses 17.3