Our policies

 

Continuous Improvement and Quality Assurance Policy
Purpose

This policy ensures that RTO Advice Group:

1. Provides quality services across all areas of the business.

 2. Gathers feedback from its clients and stakeholders and collects, analyses and acts upon the feedback collected to bring about improvements.

 3. Has a systematic approach to the management of operations.

Policy

1. Quality assurance

1.1 RTO Advice Group has a systematic approach to assuring quality in all aspects of the services it provides – in audit services, consulting and recruitment services; and training and assessment resource development.
1.2 The following mechanisms are in place to ensure quality within RTO Advice Group:

– A quality management system including documented policies, procedures, systems and plans on which all staff are trained.

– An online management system that ensures projects, tasks, documents and other records can be managed systematically and records can be accessed as required.

– Processes to ensure feedback is collected from a wide range of stakeholders on a regular basis. Feedback is collated and analysed to measure performance and identify areas for improvement.

– Quality review processes that occur systematically upon the completion of a service, project or specific task to ensure the quality standards of the service have been met.

2. Feedback and continuous improvement

2.1 RTO Advice Group strives for excellence and considers continuous improvement processes integral to its ongoing success. The organisation considers all business outcomes and processes to be an opportunity to learn, reflect and improve.

2.2 Self-reflection and evaluation play a key role in the organisation’s quality assurance system and all staff and contractors are encouraged to regularly reflect, evaluate performance and make recommendations for improvement.

2.3 Clients and stakeholders are invited to provide their feedback on any aspect of the organisation’s products and/or services at any time. Feedback can be provided in person, over the phone or in writing.

2.4 RTO Advice Group collects formal and informal feedback in the following ways and uses findings to gauge performance and identify opportunities for improvement.

– Evaluation surveys about a client’s experience with the
services provided by RTO Advice Group during or upon completion of a project or engagement

– Feedback provided informally through written or verbal correspondence

– Evaluation surveys completed at the end of an audit

– RTO comments provided in response to an audit report

– Evaluation surveys completed in relation to our training and assessment products and resources.

2.5 RTO Advice Group’s management team will consider all feedback and recommendations for improvement made by any stakeholder. Recommendations, or an alternative strategy for improving the business area, will be implemented if the improvement is considered viable and where the recommendation is considered to be an improvement to current practices or outcomes.

2.6 A detailed register of the organisation’s suggestions, plans and achievements in relation to continuous improvement is maintained in M-files.

3. Staff participation

3.1 Feedback provided by staff plays an integral role in organisational self-assessment and performance evaluation.

3.2 Staff and contractors are expected to provide their own feedback to the organisation on a regular basis so that their experiences can provide input to the outcomes and performance of RTO Advice Group.

3.3 Staff are able to pass on their feedback through RTO KnowHow, or in writing to administration or management team.

Audit Client Service Charter
Purpose

This Customer Service Charter outlines our commitment to our stakeholders, demonstrating RTO Advice Group’s approach to conducting sound, ethical and quality audit services.

Our services include:

  • Audit services – external and internal for Registration authorities and RTO clients
  • Quality Management systems for RTO’s
  • RTO Recruitment
  • Assessment Development
  • Assessment Validation
  • Support with RTO Governance

 

Statement

 

Our commitment

RTO Advice Group is focused on meeting the needs of each person and business with which we are involved. We promise to:

a) Develop an understanding of the specific needs of each client – the RTOs we work with.

b) Maintain a strong connection to the VET Industry to ensure we remain up to date.

c) Be flexible in our approach to dealing with RTOs.

d) Always conduct audits in a sound, ethical and fair manner.

e) Employ auditors who are appropriately qualified and experienced for their role and who are objective and act with integrity.

f) Protect RTOs’ rights to privacy and protect the information provided to us.

g) Ensure the accuracy and integrity of the information we keep about RTOs we have audited.

h) Treat all people we come into contact with as part of our audit work courteously, respectfully and fairly.

2. Management principles

2.1 RTO Advice Group’s aims to be the best it can be. To enable this, we:

a) Have a systematic and planned approach to the management of our business.

b) Are committed to total quality management and continuous improvement in all aspects of the business.

c) Provide the opportunity for our stakeholders to provide feedback on any aspect of our performance at any time.

d) Review any feedback or comments made by our stakeholders about all aspects of the business.

e) Use the feedback collected and measures of business performance to identify opportunities for improvement.

f) Market and advertise our services with honesty, accuracy and integrity, avoiding vague and ambiguous statements.

g) Foster an environment free from discrimination and harassment.

h) Apply access and equity principles through all of our systems to promote full and equal participation of all people.

i) Conduct an environmentally sound business and reduce our carbon footprint.

Conflict of interest policy
Purpose

This policy ensures that RTO Advice Group

1. has a clear and well understood policy and process for handling conflict of interest that may occur in the conduct of our audit and business activities whether they be real or perceived

2. All team members working within the group must have read and understood the policy. They must have a clear understanding regarding how the policy impacts on how we manage our business activities.

Definition

Conflict of Interest means circumstances in which a third-party observer may reasonably perceive that a member of our team has personal or private interests that conflict with, or may conflict with, the fair and impartial conduct of our work.

A perceived conflict of interest may exist whether or not any actual conflict of interest exists. Perceived conflicts of interest are assessed by reference to how the relevant circumstances may be objectively perceived in the broader community.

Conflict of Interest including perceived may arise with our Audit work if any of the following occurs

If we, including and of our officers, employees, contractors or agents

  • have a pecuniary interest in a Registered Training Organisation – this includes holding shares in a Registered Training Organisation.
  • holds a role related to the governance/management of a Registered Training Organisation (including membership on a Board of Directors of a Registered Training Organisation
  • have an immediate family member or partner with a pecuniary interest or role related to the governance/management of a Registered Training Organisation
  • as a teacher/trainer delivering training that is directly related to compliance with the RTO Standards, including training in how to gain registration as a Registered Training Organisation
Policy

RTO Advice Group will act ethically and openly in managing it conflicts of interest.

It does this by:

1. Declaring its conflicts of interest on its Conflicts of Interest Register

2. Discussing any perceived conflicts of interest with all clients at our first meeting. This includes Advising RTO and clients of the following

a) That we will not conduct audits for any clients we have worked with or assisted in any way with the operations of their RTO business in the previous 12 months. This includes audits conducted for a regulator or for clients who want independent audit of their RTO operations.

b) Likewise where we have conducted an Audit for a regulator in the last 12 months we will not offer or provide services, sales or advice to that client.

Environmental Policy

RTO Advice Group PTY LTD provides a range of services related to the management and operation of RTO delivering qualifications and courses to the Vocational Education Training sector in Australia.

This includes

  • Audit services that are provided to the VRQA as an external independent audit of RTO’s compliance with the AQTF Essential Conditions and Standards for initial and continuing registration and VRQA Guidelines for VET providers.
  • Independent audits and review services for RTO Clients
  • Assessment review and writing
  • Design of LLN tools
  • RTO Recruitment

It’s office is in Doncaster East, in Melbourne Victoria. Its audit staff may also work for home or in its client’s workplaces while project staff work in the main office at least one day form home.

This environmental management system applies to all operations and services provided by RTO Advice Group

Staff working in client workplaces or from home are requested to work to reflect the spirit of this policy in the context their workspace and practice.

We aim at achieving continual environmental improvement through implementing a management system with objectives and targets to minimise our environmental footprint by working with staff and other stakeholders through pollution prevention practices in compliance with legal and other requirements & be a role model for others to follow.

Privacy and personal information policy


Purpose


This policy ensures that RTO Advice Services meets its legal and ethical requirements in regard to the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information it holds in regard to its current, potential and previous clients, staff, and interactions with external organisations.


Policy


1. Principles

1.1 In collecting personal information RTO Advice Services will comply with the requirements set out in the Privacy Act 1988 and the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2001.

1.2 RTO Advice Services is committed to ensuring the confidentiality, integrity and security of all information.

2. Collection of information

2.1 In the course of its business, RTO Advice Services will collect information from students, potential students, and other clients either electronically or in hard copy format; including information that personally identifies individual people.

2.2 RTO Advice Services will record various communications between the organisation and individuals, clients and associated organisations.

2.3 RTO Advice Services will only collect personal information by fair and lawful means that is necessary for the functions of RTO Advice Services.

3. Use of information

3.1 The information supplied by individuals will only be used to provide information about study opportunities, to enable efficient administration, and to maintain proper client records. If an individual chooses not to provide certain information then we may be unable to provide some services or provide appropriate information.

4. Disclosure of personal information

4.1 RTO Advice Services will not disclose an individual’s personal information to another person or organisation unless:

a) the individual concerned is reasonably likely to have been aware, or made aware, that information of that kind is usually passed to that person or organisation

b) the individual concerned has given written consent

c) RTO Advice Services believes on reasonable grounds that the disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the life or health of the individual concerned or of another person

d) the disclosure is required or authorised by or under law

e) the disclosure is reasonably necessary for the enforcement of the criminal law or of a law imposing a pecuniary penalty, or for the protection of the public revenue.

4.2 Any person or organisation to whom personal information is disclosed as described in this policy is not permitted to use or disclose the information for a purpose other than the purpose for which the information was supplied to them.

4.3 Where personal information is disclosed for the purposes of enforcement of the criminal law or of a law imposing a pecuniary penalty, or for the purpose of the protection of the public revenue, RTO Advice Services shall include in the record containing that information, a note of the disclosure.

5. Security of personal information

5.1 RTO Advice Services will take all reasonable steps to ensure that any personal information collected is:

a) relevant to the purpose for which it was collected

b) up to date

c) complete

d) accurately recorded.

5.2 RTO Advice Services will store securely all records containing personal information and take all reasonable security measures to protect personal information collected from unauthorised access, misuse or disclosure.

6. Right to access records

6.1 Individuals have the right to access or obtain a copy of the personal information that RTO Advice Services holds about them. Requests to access or obtain a copy of personal information must be made in writing and sent to our head office address at Level 1, 281 Lower Heidelberg Road, Ivanhoe East, 3079 or by email to info@rtoadvice.com.au

6.2 There is no charge for an individual to access personal information that RTO Advice Services holds about them; however there may be a charge of 20 cents per page for every page that it copies. Individuals will be advised of how they may access or obtain a copy of their personal information and the applicable fees within ten (10) days of receiving their written request.

7. Amendment to records

7.1 If an individual considers the personal information that RTO Advice Services holds about them to be incorrect, incomplete, out of date or misleading, they can request that the information be amended by contacting us.

7.2 Where a record is found to be inaccurate, a correction will be made. Where an individual requests that a record be amended because it is inaccurate but the record is found to be accurate, the details of the request for amendment will be noted on the record.

8. Publication

8.1 This Privacy and Personal Information Policy is available on our website in order to ensure that all individuals have given their informed consent for the collection and storage of personal information.

If you have any questions regarding the above policies and procedures please contact us