Checking educator qualifications

March | 2020

Educators who are applying for a job should provide their original qualification certificates. Photocopies may not be reliable to support an application.

Checking qualifications

Certification documentation refers to official documents that confirm a qualification has been completed and awarded. The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Qualifications Issuance Policy defines this.

The policy includes information about documents that organisations authorised to issue AQF qualifications—in Australia or offshore—should provide.

Checking if a training organisation is authorised to provide a course

Here is what you need to do:

  1. Visit training.gov.au to check if a registered training organisation (RTO) is authorised to provide training and assessment for a particular course.
  2. Enter the name or code of the RTO. (This will bring up a screen with the RTO’s registration details.)
  3. Check ‘Scope’ to see if the RTO is currently approved or suspended from providing early childhood training courses. (These courses are listed under the ‘Qualifications’ table).

Screening educator applications

Even if an RTO has authority to administer a course, as an approved provider you still need to carefully check an applicant’s certificate or parchment. This is to ensure it is not invalid or fraudulent.

This may include checking the:

  • identity of the graduate (sufficient information must be provided to verify the graduate)
  • issuing organisation’s logo, seal and registration number
  • date of issue and signature
  • accredited title of the qualification (e.g. capitalisation of the first letter of each word and the use of Roman numerals where required, e.g. Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care).  
  • the AQF logo or the statement, ‘The qualification is recognised within the Australian Qualifications Framework’
  • fraud protection (including document numbers and embossed polymer paper, incorporating security features such as embedded micro-printing and watermarks).

If you suspect a qualification is invalid or fraudulent

You, the approved provider, should report your suspicions about the RTO to the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA). ASQA is the regulatory authority that investigates formal complaints and allegations against RTOs.

You can access more information about complaints on the ASQA website. Or you can call the ASQA information line on 1300 701 801.

In addition to notifying ASQA, you should also notify the Education Standards Board.

Further information

Further information about approved qualifications can be found on the ACECQA website under ‘Qualifications’.

Contact details

Education Standards Board
Phone: (08) 8226 0077 or 1800 882 413
Website: www.esb.sa.gov.au
Email: educationstandardsboard [at] sa.gov.au

This fact sheet provides guidance for approved providers of education and care services to help them operate in line with the National Quality Framework. We also recommend referring directly to the legislation:

 
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