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The Tasmanian Qualifications Authority (TQA), established by legislation in November 2003, began operations on 1 January 2004. Its work covered three sectors: senior secondary education, vocational education and training (VET) and higher education. Its key functions included: provide advice to the Minister on matters relating to qualifications; accredit all relevant courses for senior secondary education, VET, and higher education and establish and convey the relationship between these qualifications; recognise and register VET and non-university higher education organisations engaged in the delivery of qualifications; provide quality assurance to maintain the rigorous standards of the qualifications it issues; collect, record, store and distribute data on achievement in senior secondary, VET and higher education; liaise with and provide system level data to State and Commonwealth authorities as required and in accordance with the Australian Quality Training Framework(AQTF) requirements and national protocols for higher education.

The annual reports cover the operations, noting highlights and some anticipated future developments, consistent with the strategic directions of the Authority.

Edited excerpts from the annual reports. Show less

This project was the result of a desire to know the extent to which training delivery of one and the same qualification by different training organisations meets client needs and expectations in a consistent manner. For the purposes of this project, ‘clients’ incorporate both employers and apprentices. The purpose of this project was twofold: firstly, to test whether the selected process/methodology would work and whether it could produce meaningful information to answer the question of meeting client needs and doing so in a consistent manner; and secondly, to determine whether client needs and expectations were met and whether they were met in a consistent manner. This project was a pilot and focused on those who had completed an apprenticeship in Commercial Cookery in 2007 and 2006, as well as a number of their employers. It consisted of two surveys: one for graduate apprentices and one for a number of their employers. Overall, the findings of the graduate survey were positive, with good satisfaction rates and high rates of successful work outcomes in terms of gaining employment. For most respondents (85% of responses), the majority of the training took place on-the-job. About three quarters of respondents agreed that the off-the-job training provided additional knowledge and skills to what was learned on-the-job. A significant issue that was discussed with employers was whether the knowledge and skills of those who have completed a Commercial Cookery apprenticeship met industry expectations. Views were mixed and a number of employers commented that the completion of the certificate was only the beginning and that more experience in the kitchen was needed before graduates could progress to more senior positions in the kitchen. Employer views were mixed about the relevance of the content of the course and about the consistency of outcomes between different registered training organisations (RTOs). Show less