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Standard 1.2 requires:

Engagement with industry, employer and community representatives effectively informs the industry relevance of training offered by the NVR registered training organisation

What is industry engagement?

  • Industry engagement refers to the strategic and ongoing collaboration between a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) and relevant industry stakeholders. The collaboration is a process by which the RTO actively involves industry, employers, and community representatives in shaping and validating the training and assessment they deliver.

  • Industry engagement ensures that what’s being taught and assessed reflects real, current workplace practices and regulatory requirements, and is aligned with industry needs, expectations, and workforce demands.


Industry engagement may include:

  • Advisory groups or consultative committees
  • Interviews or surveys with employers
  • Partnerships for work placements
  • Employer feedback after student completions
  • Co-development or review of training and assessment tools
  • Including industry reps in validation of assessment - note though that it is unrealistic to expect industry representatives to understand the nuances of VET compliance. Their input to the validation process will likely be more about how well the course aligns to industry practices


It should:

  • Be documented
  • Be purposeful (not just for show)
  • Lead to action (updates, improvements, or confirmation of best practice)


What's the purpose of industry engagement?

Industry engagement is to ensure training and assessment is genuinely aligned with current industry needs and practice.

It’s about ensuring:

  • Students are job-ready when they complete their training
  • Training reflects real-world tasks, conditions, and technologies
  • Assessment tools and methods are credible, valid, and workplace-relevant


Without industry engagement, RTOs run the risk of delivering training that might be:

  • Outdated
  • Misaligned with current job roles
  • Less effective at helping learners transition into employment




What kind of advice can industry offer RTOs?


Industry can share advice on:

  • Current workplace practices

    • This might include information on what tools, equipment, and software are currently used, whether manual or automated systems are dominant, and how tasks are actually performed in the field

    • This is helpful as it will assist in ensuring learning resources and simulated environments to match what students will face on the job

  • Role expectations and skill requirements

    • Employers are in a position to advise which soft skills (e.g. teamwork, communication) are most critical, what competency “looks like” for entry-level roles, and the types of duties new employees are expected to perform independently

    • This is helpful for setting realistic assessment tasks and training benchmarks

  • Whether the assessment tasks attached to your program are realistic or not

  • Whether contextualisation of training products is required - and how to do it to match workplace expectations. This allows training to be meaningful and tailored

    • This is important especially when specific job roles or sector responsibilities will influence how a unit of competency is contextualised for the cohort

    • Workplaces can also offer input into which elective units may be most relevant to current industry needs

    • Industry can also offer advice on how to modify delivery for high-risk or high-skill areas

  • Any emerging trends or regulatory shifts

    • Industry can advise on:

      • Changed or expected changes to industry compliance rules and/or licensing requirements

      • New technologies or processes being introduced

      • Skills shortages and areas of increased demand

    • Advice in this area is helpful to avoid outdated or non-compliant training 

Standard 1.1 Overview

(The audio is AI generated. It has been reviewed by a human)

Standard 1.2 specifically addresses the critical importance of engagement with industry, employer, and community representatives to ensure the industry relevance of training offered by Registered Training Organisations (RTOs).

The fundamental intent of Standard 1.2 is rooted in the purpose of VET: to skill individuals for industry and the workplace, ensuring that upon completion, students are competent and ready for employment. 

This means that the training and assessment provided by an RTO must reflect current workplace requirements and meet industry expectations. 

While training packages and accredited courses are informed by industry representatives who help define necessary skills and knowledge, RTOs have the flexibility to design training and assessment around their specific student cohorts and local industry needs. This flexibility also enables RTOs to adapt to emerging evidence and technologies.

Therefore, ongoing industry engagement is critical for RTOs to ensure training remains relevant, fit-for-purpose, and reflective of current industry practices. 

This engagement helps to:

  • Ensure training aligns with current industry needs, practices, and expectations

  • Enable graduates to be "job ready" with the required skills and knowledge to succeed in the workplace

  • Maximise students' opportunities for employment, advancement, or further education

  • Instill confidence from employers, industry, and students in the integrity, currency, and value of qualifications issued by RTOs


Importantly, industry engagement is not just consultation or RTOs going to workplaces for the purpose of getting feedback.

It may also include activities such as:

  • Workplace visits or observations

  • Work-integrated learning which gives opportunities for work placements, internships, and apprenticeships to allow students to gain practical experience in real-world settings, further bridging the gap between training and the workplace

  • Guest speaker collaboration; having industry professionals involved in delivering training, providing guest lectures, or participating in assessment processes

  • Industry-led training where training programs are designed and delivered in partnership with specific industries to address their unique skill needs

  • Participation in industry PD events

  • Joint validation sessions with employers


For providers, compliance with Standard 1.2 means demonstrating how they meet the following performance indicators:

1.1.2a How it [the RTO] identifies relevant industry, employer and community representatives and seeks meaningful advice and feedback from those representatives


  • This is about demonstrating how the RTO not only identifies the industry, employer, and/or community representatives to engage with regarding its services, but also fostering a relationship for ongoing, dynamic engagement to ensure the representatives remain relevant and their feedback remains current

  • The primary purpose of this identification is to generate meaningful advice and feedback. This feedback should cover critical aspects such as:

    • The type and complexity of training the RTO delivers

    • Industry-specific licensing, accreditation, and legislative requirements

    • The structure and size of the industry itself


Ongoing and informed engagement is vital because it informs and continuously improves an RTO's approach to various aspects of training delivery, including:


  • Offering courses that genuinely meet the needs of industry, employers, and the community

  • Structuring the most relevant electives within training product packaging rules

  • Verifying foundational skill and training product entry requirements

  • Verifying the necessary skills and knowledge required for trainers and assessors to stay “industry current”

  • Determining the appropriate mode of delivery, training techniques, and activities to ensure realistic training for workplace requirements 

  • Establishing the amount of training necessary for students to sufficiently develop skills to an industry standard

  • Designing assessment strategies and practices that align with industry standards


For self-assurance, RTOs should continuously reflect on 1.2.2a. They should also consider how they collect the feedback and use it to inform improvements to training design and delivery.



Suggested tools to support operations

  • Industry stakeholder identification policy / procedure

  • Feedback records for industry engagement inputs

  • Industry engagement schedule 

  • Consultation templates (interviews or questionnaires)

  • Placement supervisor feedback forms

  • Meeting minutes with action outcomes

  • Assessment and training plan review checklists (with industry sign-off)

  • Continuous improvement register

  • Training and Assessment Strategy (TAS)

  • Contact register


Suggestions to demonstrate compliance with requirements

Remembering under self-assurance, RTOs can determine how they will meet requirements suited to their own context of operations, different RTOs may provide various forms of evidence. 

Relevant industry stakeholders may include employers, peak bodies, professional associations, unions, and community representatives linked to training products on the RTO’s scope of registration.

The RTO must demonstrate how it decides who to approach for feedback, and then, how meaningful feedback is sought from those industry representatives.

Some ideas for this include:

  • Formalised engagement plans

    • Develop and document strategies for engaging with industry, outlining how communication, collaboration, and feedback mechanisms will be established and maintained

  • Clear policies and procedures that guide industry engagement activities and define roles and responsibilities for undertaking the activities (married with the next point)

  • Detailed records of all industry engagement activities, including meetings, interviews, and surveys

  • Minutes from meetings with industry reference groups or advisory panels

  • Documented systematic processes for collecting feedback from industry stakeholders on training and assessment materials, delivery methods, and the overall effectiveness of the training program

  • Evidence of how stakeholder feedback has been analysed and used to inform improvements to training and assessment practices, resources, and delivery methods. For example, entries in continuous improvement register; meeting notes where feedback was discussed etc

  • Reflection forms for RTO staff to document details of feedback received outside of structured, formal interviews or sessions

1.1.2b The modes of delivery enable VET students to attain skills and knowledge consistent with the training product

  • RTOs must select delivery modes that are engaging and appropriate for the specific skills and knowledge being delivered. An example of a delivery mode is:

    • Face-to-face

    • Online

    • Workplace

    • Blended 

  • See more about delivery modes in the Education Matters module: Delivery Modes (and Models) 


  • This choice must consider:

    • The training product's requirements

    • Availability of required resources

    • Industry support

    • Characteristics and preferences of the student cohort

    • Specific student needs (including those with disabilities)

    • The RTO's capability

    • Capacity for management of issues like authenticity or plagiarism

  • The delivery mode for a particular course must facilitate the development of students' skills and knowledge, especially to allow for hands-on practice for practical skills acquisition


Suggestions to demonstrate compliance with requirements

  • Documented rationale for design choices, such as chosen modes of delivery and any unit clustering

  • E.g. Rationale statement – mode of delivery: “ Why this mode of delivery is suitable for the course and cohort”

  • Quality assurance processes to ensure compliance for online training, especially for practical skills or high-risk units, and to prevent academic misconduct

1.1.2c Training is structured and paced to support VET students to progress, providing sufficient time for instruction, practice, feedback and assessment

  • The structure and pacing of training should be designed with the following in mind:

    • Student cohort

    • Complexity of skills and knowledge - both those required to access and participate in the learning, and those to be acquired through the course

    • Available resources

    • Industry expectations 

  • Instructional design models can serve as useful frameworks for those developing the course content, and trainers delivering the content as they can help guide how the training is structured and delivered so that the most effective learning experience is available for students

  • Training must support students' progression, whilst providing sufficient time for instruction, practice, feedback, and assessment. Students must be afforded the opportunity to reflect, absorb knowledge, apply feedback, and practice their skills in various contexts before final assessment. This means providers must avoid accelerated or shortened training that might compromise skill development

  • Following from the above points, training duration must meet AQF volume of learning requirements, ensuring ample time for skill development and knowledge acquisition, and maintaining the integrity of qualification outcomes


Suggested tools to support operations 

  • Training and Assessment Strategy (TAS)

  • Feedback tools and mechanisms

    • Survey instruments

    • Learner self-reflection sheets

    • Learner analytics 

  • Continuous improvement register

  • Student data including things such as:

    • Typical profile (template)

    • Demographics

    • Feedback

    • Complaints

    • Progression statistics (including completion and drop out rates)

    • Course sections where multiple attempts were needed etc


Suggestions to demonstrate compliance with requirements

  • Evidence of structured pacing through detailed timetables or schedules that justify time allocation for instruction, practice, feedback, and assessment

  • Evidence of engaging techniques, such as a high-level overview of collaborative teaching techniques in strategy documents, detailed session plans, photos or video clips of student participation (with consent), and documented use of reflective questions for continuous improvement

  • Documented calculations for the amount of time allocated for training and learning activities

1.1.2d Training techniques, activities and resources engage VET students and support their understanding

  • This indicator focuses on ensuring training is 'engaging'. What makes something ‘engaging’ will differ from person to person, but in general it will mean the interest and participation of the learner is piqued and maintained

  • To do this involves considering the diverse needs and preferences of students and using a range of training approaches to support learning

  • Relevant and appropriate techniques, activities, and resources can be used by providers to engage students and support their understanding of the course content

  • Trainers can use a range of collaborative teaching techniques that encourage student involvement. Professional development must be undertaken to know:

    • What range of strategies and techniques is available

    • How to successfully facilitate these 

    • When to use them

    • The levels of safety and accountability for students

    • Expected outcomes

  • Examples include various ice-breaker activities, co-constructed learning environments, and peer teaching/tutoring


Suggested tools to support operations 

  • Educator reflections

  • Learning analytics

  • Feedback collection instruments

    • Pulse surveys

    • Input forms

    • Feedback forms 

    • Session feedback sheets

  • Policy and procedure on application of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles

  • Training delivery policies

  • Formative assessments and learning activities for each module/unit/cluster

  • Supplementary learning resources

    • Links, papers, video clips, further reading lists, learning communities etc

  • Suite of learning tools and activities to support each particular lesson


Suggestions to demonstrate compliance with requirements

  • Evidence of systematic continuous improvement processes, including reviews of training design and delivery after cohorts, collection and analysis of feedback, and implementation of lessons learned

1.1.2e Where the training product requires work placements or other community-based learning, necessary skills and knowledge are able to be attained in that environment

  • This means that the RTO must undertake high levels of preparation and planning to manage risks such as insufficient student supervision, student isolation, outdated equipment, or mismatched expectations between the student and the workplace

  • The work placement environment must allow students to safely gain skills and experience in realistic, real-world settings, enabling them to develop and test their competencies to reflect contemporary, industry-appropriate practices

  • RTOs should ensure work-integrated learning is incorporated at appropriate times to develop students' skills and knowledge and demonstrate how appropriately supervised environments for work placements are selected


Suggested tools to support operations 


Suggestions to demonstrate compliance with requirements

  • Comprehensive work placement management documentation, outlining preparation, planning, risk mitigation, and monitoring to ensure students gain necessary skills 

Known Quality Risks and Ideas for Mitigation

A number of known risks to quality outcomes against Outcome Standard 1.1 have been identified. 

Here are some ideas for how to mitigate those risks.


Risk: Assuming each student has the same skills, experience, and learning preferences

Mitigation ideas: 

Implement robust pre-training assessments to thoroughly identify individual student capabilities, existing skills, and prior experiences. 

Develop and document differentiated learning pathways and support strategies tailored to address the unique needs of diverse student cohorts.


Risk: Applying an approach that does not take a holistic view of the student cohort, learning environment, and training product requirements

Mitigation ideas: 

Adopt a comprehensive and integrated training design approach that systematically considers all elements: 

  • Student characteristics

  • The specific learning environment

  • The entire breadth of training product requirements. 

Use structured instructional design models to ensure a consistent approach across all aspects of training.


Risk: Failing to consider Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) requirements regarding volume of learning

Mitigation ideas: 

Explicitly document how the RTO ensures training duration meets AQF volume of learning requirements for each qualification. 

This includes allocating sufficient time for students to develop required skills and knowledge, considering individual learning needs, and maintaining the integrity of qualification outcomes.

Ensure training pacing provides ample time for skill development, knowledge application, practice, and consolidation, considering individual student learning speeds to avoid compromising training quality. 

Also consider the students who have existing skills and knowledge and may therefore need less time to fully complete the course requirements.

If clustering has been applied, clearly document why the decision was made to deliver similar or complementary units at the same time.

Most RTOs will be familiar with this process as part of preparing their Training and Assessment Strategy (TAS) documents.


Risk: Failing to have sufficient regard to industry regulator licensing requirements in designing training

Mitigation ideas: 

Establish a systematic process to identify all relevant industry licensing requirements for each training product and regular reviews are implemented to ensure any required updates are applied to training materials to reflect any changes in licensing criteria.


Risk: Potential risks to positive student experiences in work placements, such as lack of student supervision, feelings of isolation, out-of-date equipment, mismatched expectations, or work that isn't sufficiently diverse to meet competency requirements

Mitigation ideas: 

High levels of preparation and planning are needed to secure an appropriate work placement where the student's experience is positive and learning outcomes can be achieved. 

Constant engagement with the workplace host is required to maintain open lines of communication and to ensure all established expectations are being met. This includes trainer visits where appropriate and allowable.

It's vital to ensure students have access to the time, direction and guidance, resources, facilities, and relevant experiences to safely learn and practice all requirements.

Regularly evaluate whether work placements provide sufficient opportunity for students to gain industry-relevant skills and knowledge.


Risk: Insufficient assurance that online training or assessment will deliver quality outcomes

Mitigation ideas: 

Develop and enforce clear quality controls for online delivery to prevent condensed or diluted training engagement. 

Implement processes to assess the appropriateness of online delivery for practical skill development, particularly in high-risk industries.

Ensure adequate personalised support and guidance is provided in online learning environments to maintain depth and quality of learning.

Have processes to verify student identity and prevent academic misconduct in online assessments.


Risk: Failing to review design and delivery after cohorts have completed, missing continuous improvement opportunities

Mitigation ideas: 

Implement systematic review processes for training design and delivery after each cohort's completion. 

This includes collecting and analysing feedback from completed cohorts and documenting how lessons learned are implemented to continuously improve training materials and methods.


Risk: Accelerating or shortening training without allowing students sufficient time for skill development and knowledge application

Mitigation ideas: 

Ensure training pacing provides ample time for skill development, knowledge application, practice, and consolidation. 

Training scheduling should consider individual student learning speeds to avoid compromising training quality, even when offering flexible or accelerated pathways.


Risk: Not undertaking a review of purchased resources or failing to contextualise them

Mitigation ideas: 

Establish a thorough review process for all purchased training resources prior to implementation, verifying they provide full coverage of training product requirements. 

Ensure these resources are systematically contextualised to align with the RTO's specific delivery practices and student cohorts. 

Regularly review and update training resources for currency and effectiveness.

Other Templates and Tools to Help


Available to purchase

Template: Continuous Improvement Register

Guide: Data Sources for RTOs

Guide: Getting Useful Data - Creating surveys that work

Other Materials and Resource Links


ASQA's Practice Guide that covers Standard 1.1. This offers suggestions but does not impose legal or compliance obligations: 1 Quality Area 1 Practice Guide - Training.pdf

1.1.2a

What is Backward Design? From ‘Understanding by Design’ by Wiggins and McTighe: What is Backward Design.pdf

Learner-centered design

Related Education Matters Modules


Your membership includes access to the following related modules in the Learning and Resources Hub:

Related Skills Education Professional Development


Following are some of the Skills Education professional development options that support requirements from Outcome Standard 1.1.

Depending on your membership level, you may already have access. 

When you click on the items, it will either take you straight to the PD (meaning your membership has access included) or a payment page (meaning this item isn't part of your membership level). 

Select from the PD Library category:

Digital Delivery / Teaching Online

Instructional Design

Learning Principles & Theory

Training Delivery & Facilitation Skills