Early childhood education and care
Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:21): (977) My question today is to the Minister for Skills and TAFE. Last year there were students studying a certificate III or diploma of early childhood education and care at the Australian Education and Career College, who had their qualifications cancelled after the college was deregistered following allegations that they were issuing fake diplomas. Can you assure the house that there are no early childhood educators working in centres in Victoria who have received fake qualifications – for example, those received from Luvium or other dodgy and deregistered providers?
Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Water) (12:21): I thank the member for his question. He is quite correct that this did happen in relation to a private provider. The normal course of action in these situations is for the department to provide a helpline so that there can be direct contact with the students and to ascertain exactly what their personal experience has been and what they need to do. We also then provide places at TAFE for the continuation of the student being able to qualify. That is the normal process. In terms of the actual specifics that you are asking, that is very detailed information and very operational, and I would need to seek further advice from the department in regard to that.
Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:22): Thank you, Minister, for that response. Staying on the topic of assurances in these matters, the community needs to know that our early childhood educators are properly trained and that they are properly qualified. I think we all know, every single one of us in this house, that the vast, vast majority are. They are incredibly hardworking people who take their training seriously, and they are highly skilled educators and people doing really important work in our community. However, in light of the recent allegations, the potential for people to buy a diploma without studying is very worrying. Minister, can you update us on what steps you have taken to ensure that there are no registered training organisations offering fake early childhood education diplomas in Victoria currently?
Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Water) (12:23): There are a couple of things that I can say. Firstly, ASQA is very active and proactive, and I thank them for their efforts in terms of ensuring that we have got the right people delivering the right courses at the right level of quality right across Australia. ASQA is providing updates to the state skills ministers council on a regular basis, which I am very appreciative of. We also of course have our own VRQA, which is active in this space. We have known for some time that there have been operators that have not been doing the right thing generally and that has been the case, but in a reduced way, because we have had much more compliance and regulation in respect to this. It absolutely was out of control when those opposite were last in government – we know that for a fact, and the data and the evidence points to that – and that is why we set up the blitz in terms of making sure that this does not happen.