Diversity and Inclusion — Practice Guide¶
ASQA Practice Guide · Quality Area 2 — VET Student Support · Standards 2.5 · Published 17 June 2025 · Version 1.0
Verbatim reproduction of the ASQA Practice Guide, extracted from the source PDF with layout preservation (via
pdftotext -layout). The body below preserves the original two-column table structure — performance indicators on the left, example activities and known risks on the right.Source: https://www.asqa.gov.au/for-providers/standards-for-RTOs/practice-guides
Companion docs: -
standards-outcome.md/standards-compliance.md— the underlying legislative text -standards-explanatory.md— the Explanatory Statement commentary -compliance-reference.md— RTOpacks module × standard mapping
Practice Guide
Diversity and inclusion
(Standard 2.5)
Ver 1.0
S
Published 17 June 2025
Outcome Standards for Registered Training Organisations
Quality Area 2 – VET Student Support
What are the key concepts?
The following key concepts are covered in this practice guide:
Standard 2.5
• Inclusive marketing and enrolment
• Fostering an inclusive learning environment
• Cultural safety
Achieving this Standard in practice
The following table lists examples of activities that may demonstrate compliance with the Standards, as
well as risks to mitigate or control. These examples are not a complete list of every activity or risk, nor do
all the activities listed need to be completed to achieve compliance. Rather, they are a guide and should
be considered within the context, size, scale and student cohorts of your RTO’s operations.
Standard 2.5: The learning environment promotes and supports the diversity of VET students.
Performance indicators Example activities and other considerations
An NVR registered training organisation • Your organisation invests in creating a learning
demonstrates: environment that is safe, accessible and
a. it fosters a safe and inclusive learning welcoming of all students and is free from
environment for VET students; and racism, discrimination or any other form of
harassment.
b. it fosters a culturally safe learning
environment for First Nations people. • You can demonstrate how students are offered
reasonable flexibility to allow them to meet their
cultural obligations.
• You can demonstrate that your enrolment
policies and practices, training environment,
activities and materials, assessment processes,
and wellbeing support services are culturally
appropriate and inclusive.
• You can show how your organisation designs
its marketing, branding and communication
strategies to be inclusive and supportive of your
various student cohorts. This may include
specific strategies to attract under-represented
groups to participate in your VET courses – for
example, women in traditional trades.
• You invest in your staff’s understanding of
socially inclusive training practices and working
with diverse cohorts – for example by:
• developing trainers’ ability to adapt their
delivery methods to suit the characteristics
of students from various backgrounds
• raising your staff’s awareness of
unconscious bias, racism and
discrimination
• engaging staff in cultural awareness
training.
• You can show how your organisation actively
fosters cultural safety for First Nations people.
Some ways in which you might do this include:
• speaking with respect about First Nations
culture, knowledge, systems and people
• recognising that First Nations people do not
always have the same level of access to
VET as non-Indigenous Australians, nor the
same positive experience
• respectfully engaging with your local First
Nations community to learn more about
their history and culture
• making First Nations voices part of decision
making in your organisation, including
through engaging staff and industry experts
from First Nations communities to deliver or
review your training and assessment
practices
• championing cultural awareness amongst
students and staff.
• You can show what actions you take to
increase participation in VET from under-
represented groups such as people with
disability and First Nations people.
Known risks to quality outcomes
• Lack of understanding of the diversity across
your student cohorts.
• A generic approach or belief that all cultures
require the same learning environment and/or
support.
• Not engaging with a diverse range of cultures to
assist with the development of operational
policies, procedures and systems.
• Limited opportunities for staff to develop
cultural awareness, or to learn strategies for
managing unconscious bias and discrimination.
Self-assurance questions
How do you support and encourage participation by a diverse range of students, including those
1
from under-represented groups?
2 How is your organisation perceived by the local First Nations community? Have you tested this?
How do you ensure your systems, policies, procedures and practices are inclusive and culturally
3
safe?
What strategies do you have in place to prevent discrimination in your RTO and identify and
4
respond to instances of discrimination where these occur?
What strategies do you have in place for preventing abuse, harassment or violence, and for
5
dealing with such issues should they arise amongst your student cohort?
6 How do you support and build the cultural competence of your staff?
How do you monitor the learning environment to ensure it is inclusive, culturally safe and
7
welcoming of students and staff?
Source: ASQA Practice Guide — Diversity and Inclusion. Published 17 June 2025, Version 1.0. Authority: Australian Skills Quality Authority. These guides interpret the Standards for RTOs 2025 into practical compliance guidance. The PDF was extracted with pdftotext -layout to preserve the two-column table structure of the original document.