Changes to RTO Claims and Payments Process for 2023 - FAQs

Unless the course fee is specified by the Department, the RTO will need to charge a minimum Participant Course Fee of $0.50 per payment hour as per the Subsidy Calculator.

It is recommended that RTO use the online Subsidy Calculator tool, to understand the indicative amount payable to the RTO by the Department for a subsidised course. The RTO may then use this against their full fee (fee for service) to determine an appropriate subsidised fee.

According to section 11 of the Training Fee Framework (applicable to Training Accounts created on or after 1 January 2023), $1.35 per hour is the maximum concession reimbursement payable from SA Government to contracted RTOs.

RTOs are obligated to pass on SA Government concession reimbursements to a participant. Your RTO may choose to provide a higher concession to students than the concession reimbursement paid by SA Government, but this would effectively be a discount provided by your RTO.

There are no concessions available specifically for Indigenous students. A student may attract a concession if they hold a current Commonwealth Government concession card (Health Care Card; Pensioner Concession card; or Veteran Affairs Card) or are a prisoner in a South Australian correctional institution.

Thank you for your feedback - the Training Fee Framework will continue to be reviewed to assist in understanding. For assistance in understanding the Training Fee Framework or participant course fees more broadly, please contact the Department.

Training Accounts created during December 2022 will attract payments as per the Training Fee Framework version 1.5 (effective from 9 September 2022).

Foundation Skills (FSK) courses are 'fee-free' according to the Subsidised Training List. This means that RTOs should not charge a Participant Course Fee if the participant is undertaking a Foundation Skills (FSK) course.

The specified course fee list for short courses (previously listed in Attachment 3 - Prescribed Student Fees of the Training Fee Framework version 1.5) has been removed from the new Training Fee Framework effective 1 January 2023.

Under the new Training Fee Framework, the RTO can set the participant course fee whilst maintaining the minimum of $0.50 per hour (Section 9) and any eligible concessions (Section 11).

The "Percentage Adj" column of the Course Adjustment (Attachment 2) is an adjustment factor that enables variations to be made to the value of the subsidy applicable to a particular course.

This is separate from the minimum Participant Course Fee that is to be charged by the RTO. The Participant Course Fee calculation is a commercial decision made by the RTO, noting that the Training Fee Framework requires this fee to be a minimum of $0.50 per hour (Section 9).

There is no maximum course fee that is to be charged, but RTOs should be aware that there are commercial laws in place that may apply where a business is charging excessive prices within a market.

If an RTO is unable to create a Training Account until after 1 January 2023 due to exceptional circumstances outside of the RTO's control, the RTO may submit an 'Application for Funded Training Exception - Special Circumstances' for consideration by the Department. This application form is available on the Training Provider Centre 'Toolkit' (under 'Subsidy Payments')

In the case of school student enrolments specifically, please be aware that school students were not eligible to access concessions introduced during the JobTrainer initiative.

The Standard Entitlement Criteria rules do not apply for any Training Accounts created from October 2020 until further notice. This means that an individual's prior qualifications or training history will not impact on their ability to access subsidised training.

Please be aware, though, that school-enrolled students may only attract funding for up to one Certificate II and up to one Certificate III course. This is explained in the VET for School Students Guidelines.

Yes, until further notice a participant may enrol for a subsidised training place in more than one course at a time, noting that a participant can have only two active Training Accounts concurrently.

An exception to this is that school-enrolled students and students undertaking Foundation Skills courses may only be enrolled in one course at a time (as per the Funded Activities Agreement).

Further information about Fee Free Vocational Education - including a list of available courses and details of the process to apply for fee free places - is available at Fee Free TAFE and Vocational Education Training.

Yes, Government RTOs may access subsidised training in South Australia if they hold a Funded Activities Agreement.

A full fee and a subsidised fee are required to be reported in the My Skills reporting template. Where an RTO does not yet have a full fee due to not ordinarily offering the course on a fee for service basis, the RTO should consider and develop a nominal full fee price that is reflective of the course cost to deliver (without any subsidies). The full fee amount should exceed the fee payable for subsidised training.

All documents published on the Training Provider Centre website have been recently checked for currency. If you would like to query a specific document, please contact SkillsContracts@sa.gov.au.

The Subsidy Calculator is expected to be updated to reflect the total hours and subsidy payable under the new Training Fee Framework by the end of the first week of January 2023.

Please note that the fee payable by the participant may be calculated, as a minimum, using the number of hours paid per course multiplied by the minimum of $0.50 per hours course fee as per Section 9 of the new Training Fee Framework.

This list of questions and answers has been circulated to all RTO staff who registered for the Webinar, and all RTO contract representatives. A list of Frequently Asked Questions will be added to the Providers website in due course.

As per Item 7 of the Training Fee Framework, it is expected that the attainment of any qualification funded by the Government will comprise substantial skill and knowledge development and not consist of large amounts of RPL activity. Where most of the qualification is likely to be achieved through RPL, it is expected that the RTO will assess and support the student to enrol in a higher‐level qualification to ensure skill levels are increased.

Local Skill Sets will continue to be available for subsidised training delivery in South Australia from January 2023. Refer to the current Subsidised Training List for details of the specific Local Skill Sets that are funded at any given time.

Training Accounts are only required for participants who undertake subsidised training. Training Accounts are not required for fee for service students.

No. Concession eligibility and payment amounts are 'locked' as per the Training Fee Framework that was in effect at the date of Training Account creation. For Training Accounts created in December 2022, for instance, concession reimbursements will be paid as per the Training Fee Framework version 1.5 (rather than the Training Fee Framework version 1.6 that will be effective for Training Accounts created on or after 1 January 2023).

Correct. The Completion Payment amounts are 'locked' as per the Training Fee Framework that was in effect at the date of Training Account creation. For Training Accounts created in December 2022, for instance, completion payments will be made as per the Training Fee Framework version 1.5 (rather than the Training Fee Framework version 1.6 that will be effective for Training Accounts created on or after 1 January 2023).

If the Training Account of a concession-eligible student (created prior to 31 December 2022) is closed, and then another RTO creates a Training Account for the same student in 2023, the concession eligibility criteria will be calculated based on the new Training Fee Framework version 1.6 (applicable to Training Accounts created from 1 January 2023).

Reactivation of Training Accounts will be considered on a case by case basis. Please send a request in writing to SkillsContracts@sa.gov.au for consideration.

This will be considered on a case by case basis and the Department may contact you requesting further advice or evidence. If the Training Account has been created and the student decides to defer the course, please update the Training Account with a 'Leave from Enrolment' status to reflect the deferral.

It is recommended that RTOs regularly monitor their Training Accounts and close them where students no longer continue. Please ensure that payments for completed units are resolved prior to closing.

Where there is a delay in obtaining Training Contract numbers, RTOs can still use 'TBA' when creating the Training Account and commence delivery of subsidised training at their discretion. Please ensure the Training Contract numbers are updated as soon as applicable.

Existing Training Accounts that attract concession will retain their concession status when the Training Account is transitioned from a superseded qualification and into a replacement qualification.

The amount entered on the Training Account 'Course fee (before any concessions') field in the Skills and Employment Portal should reflect the subsidised amount charged by an RTO for the relevant subsidised participant - i.e. the actual co-contribution fee. This amount should not exceed (and often be the same as) the amount recorded on the My Skills reporting template, noting that course fees may vary depending on units selected and delivery location.