Trainer and Assessor Competencies — Practice Guide¶
ASQA Practice Guide · Quality Area 3 — VET Workforce · Standards 3.2, 3.3 · 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
Trainer and Assessor Competencies
(Standards 3.2, 3.3)
Ver 1.0
S
Published 17 June 2025
Outcome Standards for NVR Registered Training Organisations
Quality Area 3 – VET Workforce
What are the key concepts?
The following key concepts are covered in this practice guide:
Standard 3.2 Standard 3.3
• The Credential Policy • Industry competencies
• Working under direction • Industry currency
• Professional development • Employing experts
How can you achieve the Standards 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 3.2: Training and assessment is delivered to VET students by credentialled people with
current skills and knowledge in training and assessment.
Performance indicators Example activities and considerations for
compliance
An NVR registered training organisation • You can demonstrate how your systems ensure
demonstrates: that all persons involved in training and
a. training and assessment is only delivered by assessment always meet the requirements of
persons who hold the appropriate credentials the Credential Policy.
for the delivery of training and assessment as • You can demonstrate your mechanisms for
specified in the Credential Policy; ensuring people do not perform training and
b. where the Credential Policy permits a person assessment tasks beyond the scope of their
to deliver any training or assessment under credentials.
direction – the organisation has systems in • You can demonstrate how you authenticate the
place that ensure the person does not make relevant credentials held by your trainers and
assessment judgements and is delivering assessors.
quality training and assessment; and
• Where a person is working under direction,
c. how it ensures all trainers and assessors you can demonstrate:
undertake continuing professional
o that the supervision and guidance
development to maintain current skills and
arrangements are reflective of the skills and
knowledge in training and assessment,
knowledge of the person
o how you assure the quality of their practice
including skills and knowledge relating to o how you ensure the person is not making
engaging and supporting VET students. assessment judgements
o how you ensure that their supervisor has
sufficient support to perform the
supervisory role and is appropriately skilled
and qualified.
• You can demonstrate how staff involved in
training and assessment maintain up-to-date
trainer and assessor skills, for example by:
o participating in internal or external courses,
workshops, industry seminars, and
conferences
o demonstrating recent completion of a
higher-level qualification in training and
assessment practice
o undertaking activities that allow them to
maintain their understanding of current
industry practice
o accessing relevant publications related to
VET and competency-based training and
assessment
o participating in learning networks
o taking part in validation or moderation
activities
o shadowing or working closely with other
trainers and assessors under a mentoring
arrangement.
Known risks to quality outcomes
• Not having a system in place to authenticate
the training and assessment credentials held by
your trainers and assessors.
• Not regularly reviewing the skills and
knowledge of the persons working under
direction to determine if their level of
supervisory arrangements and guidance
require adjustment.
• Not systematically reviewing the quality of work
produced by those persons working under
direction.
• Not ensuring that supervisors have adequate
skills, experience and qualifications to provide
appropriate support and supervision to those
working under direction.
• Only providing trainers and assessors with
access to professional development on an ad-
hoc basis with no consideration as to whether
the professional development is the most
suitable to understanding current and emerging
training practices.
Standard 3.3: Training and assessment is delivered by persons with current industry skills and
knowledge relevant to the training product.
Performance indicators Example activities and considerations for
compliance
An NVR registered training organisation • You can demonstrate the systems you use to
demonstrates: assess the appropriateness, relevance and
currency of each trainer and assessor’s
industry competencies, skills and knowledge.
a. all persons delivering training or assessment • You can demonstrate how you authenticate that
for, or on behalf of the organisation: all your trainers and assessors (including
i. have industry competencies, skills and industry experts and those engaged by your
knowledge that are relevant to, and at third parties) have industry competencies,
least to the level of, the training product skills and knowledge that are relevant to, and at
being delivered or assessed by the least to the level of, the training product they
person; and are delivering and assessing.
ii. maintain an understanding of current • You can demonstrate that all trainers and
industry practices relevant to the training assessors, and those working under direction,
and assessment being delivered by the are maintaining an understanding of current
person; industry practices, for example by:
b. where it engages experts for the purposes o volunteering or working part-time in the
for the purposes of delivering training, it does industry area
so: o undertaking accredited training, or higher-
i. by reference to the requirements of the level qualifications, relevant to the industry
training product or the specific VET student area
cohort; and o belonging to industry associations
ii. in response to a specific need for the o engaging with industry (for example,
expert to be engaged; through discussions with employers or
c. it has a system for ensuring: attending industry networking events)
i. experts have industry competencies, skills, o subscribing to industry journals and
knowledge and specialised industry or newsletters
subject matter expertise that is directly o staying informed about changes to
relevant to the training product they are technology
delivering; o keeping up to date with changes to
ii. experts are only authorised to work under industry-specific legislation and licencing
the direction of a person with the requirements.
appropriate credentials to provide direction
• You can show how your industry engagement
on the delivery of training and assessment,
practices are used to determine the currency of
as specified in the Credential Policy;
trainer and assessor industry competencies
iii. where the expert is involved in assessment and whether there are any gaps to be
judgement – they conduct the assessment addressed.
alongside the trainer or assessor; and
• Where an industry expert is engaged to support
iv. the training or assessment the expert is trainers and assessors, you can demonstrate:
involved in delivering is subject to oversight o that experts work under the direction of a
by the organisation. qualified person and work alongside a
qualified assessor where they are
supporting in making the assessment
judgement
o how experts are utilised to enhance the
real-world application of training and
assessment
o that your oversight of the expert ensures
the quality of training and assessment.
Known risks to quality outcomes
• Not having mechanisms in place for
maintaining regular and meaningful industry
engagement that confirms current industry
relevance of trainer and assessor
competencies, skills and knowledge.
• Failing to ensure that each person delivering
training and assessment has the relevant
industry competencies, skills and knowledge,
aligned to all the unit of competency
requirements that they deliver and assess
(where the specific units of competency
delivered are not held).
• Allowing training and assessment to be
conducted by trainers and assessors that do
not maintain an understanding of current
industry practices.
• Not continuing to regularly review the trainers’
and assessors’ industry competencies and
currency after the completion of the onboarding
process.
• Failing to assess industry experts’
competencies, skills and knowledge to
determine relevancy and suitability.
• Not ensuring an industry expert is working
under the direction of, and assessing alongside,
a qualified trainer and assessor.
• Failing to document where industry experts
have assisted in the assessment judgement
process.
Self-assurance questions
1 How do you verify that each person delivering training and assessment for your RTO is
appropriately credentialled?
2 How do you ensure that you are engaging with industry regularly to assure yourself that trainers
and assessors have current industry skills?
3 How do you know that your system for monitoring those working under direction is effective?
4 How do you monitor and regularly review the performance of trainers and assessors to identify
opportunities for professional development?
5 How do you identify the types of industry competencies, skills and knowledge relevant to each
training product on your scope of registration?
6 How do you identify and address gaps in your trainers and assessors’ industry competencies,
skills and knowledge?
7 How do you ensure your use of industry experts adds value to training and assessment
outcomes?
Source: ASQA Practice Guide — Trainer and Assessor Competencies. 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.