At least 30,000 graduates lose qualifications in Australia’s vocational education crackdown

Question

Many students in Australia have had their vocational educational qualifications revoked after the Australian Skills Quality Authority canceled the registrations of 11 training providers. This affected people with credentials such as diplomas and certificates in many different fields. There are many more providers under investigation regarding this issue due to wider regulatory reform. They have now set a standard of stricter credentials for trainers/assessors and higher compliance requirements.

Students are being warned to be more aware of training offers that seem off or too good to be true. The graduates that have been affected by this crackdown are able to seek redress or refunds and may also qualify for review/merits processes. The government is working to improve the quality of the vocational education and training sector to avoid running into such a large problem again.

Answer 1

The claim of this article lies within the title: “At least 30,000 graduates lose qualifications in Australia’s vocational education crackdown”. The author, Caitlin Cassidy, who is described as an Education reporter and has her email linked at the article’s end, explains that as of 2024, at least 30,000 people’s qualifications have been invalidated, across 11 different training organizations. This directly threatens those whose livelihoods depend on a certain diploma, and feel that they have been scammed by VET provider’s exploitation. Others are warned of suspicious language, but the affected individuals have yet to receive proper compensation. 

Primary sources - 

https://www.asqa.gov.au/news-events/media-releases/second-tribunal-decision-affirms-asqas-cancellation-qualification

This credible, government-produced source confirms the overall narrative described in the article, but the statistic differ. 

https://www.asqa.gov.au/news-events/media-releases/art-decision-affirms-asqas-qualification-cancellation

This source, also from ASQA, confirms my statement above. The article states “at least 30,000” people have been affected, but sources only confirm 29,000 qualification cancellations. 

Secondary source - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCtNOninwik

The only secondary source I cold find to confirm this claim was this YouTube video. I apologize if this comes across as an assumption, but this video seems to be solely sources by The Guardian’s article; a reiteration, of sorts. 

Therefore, I asses this article to be mostly true, but with exaggerated data points. The discrepancy is also so small, it may not even be of relevance, but this just seems suspicious.