​​​Changes to training package products (qualifications and/or units of competency) are defined as either 'equivalent' or 'not equivalent' by the relevant Industry Skills Service Organisations (SSOs).

Equivalent training products

When a new or revised training package is released, TAC identifies all qualifications and units of competency that have been determined by the relevant SSO as being ‘equivalent’ to the superseded product. Equivalent products will be automatically added to your scope of registration without requiring an application or a fee.

TAC will work as quickly as possible to ensure the new products are placed on your scope when a revised training package is released on the National Register (www.training.gov.au). You will be advised by email once your scope has been updated.

You are required to review the training package changes that have occurred and make the required resource adjustments. You should continue to deliver the superseded product until you are ready to deliver the new equivalent product within the 12 month transition period.

If you do not wish to have the new, equivalent product on scope you can choose to opt-out through a simple application process. There is no fee for this.

If you have removed the new equivalent product from your scope of registration, but want to add it again within 12 months of the new product being published on the national register, you can apply to TAC to add this product without being charged a fee. If you apply to add the new equivalent product more than 12 months after its publication, this is counted as an application to add a new item to scope and the relevant fee will apply. 

Please note this policy does not apply to accredited courses.  Until notified otherwise, you must continue to apply to TAC to add any accredited courses to your scope. Relevant fees apply.

Not-equivalent training products

When an SSO deems a new training product to be 'not-equivalent' to the superseded product TAC considers this adding a new item to scope.

The new training producat can be added to your scope by applying to TAC throught the  RTO Portal.   

A risk assessment will determine whether an audit is necessary.

The standard fees apply when applying to add the new item to scope.  Refer to the TAC fees and charges schedule for details.

Transition Arrangements

Learner transition and teach-out

When a training product is superseded all learners training and assessment should be completed or the learners should be transferred into its replacement within 12 months from the date the replacement product is released on the national register.

If a qualification is no longer current and has not been superseded all learners training and assessment must be completed within 2 years from the date the qualification was removed or deleted from the national register.

Please refer to TAC's Fact Sheet on Transition and Teach Out. 

The following transition arrangements have been endorsed by TAC:

• Where a  learner was enrolled on or after 6 April 2015, an RTO registered by TAC must apply Clause 1.26 of the Standards for RTOs 2015 for transition of that learner, except where a longer transition period is approved by TAC​
  
• Where a learner was enrolled before 6 April 2015, an RTO registered by TAC must apply the following guideline: 
  

​​‐ Existing students are able to complete the course or qualification in which they enrolled, in line with the arrangements for teach out that were current at the time of enrolment. This may mean that, in some cases, students who have elected to continue in the qualification they commenced will continue beyond the 12-month transition period.

​​‐ As a guide, students who have completed 50% or less of their qualification should be encouraged to transfer to the new qualification.

​​‐ No transfer to a new qualification should disadvantage students. Students should not be required to undertake additional units of competency as a result of the transition from an old to a new or revised qualification. Wherever possible, existing students should be given the opportunity to transfer to the new qualifications and/or units of competency.​

Requests for longer transition periods:

• Will only be accepted from RTOs or industry groups (not learners);
• Must be for a specific training product or products, for a specific cohort of learners (e.g. plumbing apprentices currently enrolled in a specific qualification that has been superseded);
• Must demonstrate that the cohort of learners would be genuinely disadvantaged if the application were not approved; and

• Must be accompanied by evidence of support from the Skills Service Organisation of the training product and where applicable, support from the State Training Authority (eg., where trainees/apprentices are affected) and the Department of Education (where school students are affected).

If a request for a longer transition period is approved, the approval will be published on the TAC website. The arrangement will apply to all RTOs delivering that training product to that learner cohort, regardless of who made the request.

Requests should be sent to the Director, Training Regulation - TAC (via tac@dtwd.wa.gov.au).

Approved extended transition periods

​The following qualifications/units of competency have been approved for an extended transition period:

The following qualifications were approved for an extended transition period:

CISC September 2015 to March 2016 Extension

COAG Industry and Skills Council (CISC) members agreed to temporarily relax the current 'teach out' period for vocational education and training qualifications to assist RTOs transition students into the new replacement qualifications.

The new 'teach out' period was extended from 12 to 18 months for training products endorsed from September 2015 to March 2016.