“You haven’t seen the last of this, no doubt about it.
“Online, on the job, it doesn’t matter, when you don’t have to turn up to a classroom and go through the learning properly, it’s risky.”
Older Persons Advocacy Network chief executive officer Craig Gear said the revelation was “very serious and worrying”.
“Aged care workers support some of the most vulnerable people in the community, and it is imperative that they are properly qualified and trained,” he said.
“Fraud is absolutely unacceptable and undermines the integrity of the aged care sector. It must be stamped out.”
The Australian Skills Quality Authority cancelled the registration of Sydney-based Kingsway on July 9 after the regulator found the college did not meet the registration conditions and that it had issued statements of attainment or qualifications without adequate assessments.
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The director of Kingsway Vocational Training Ltd has been contacted for comment.
The authority also found the registered training organisation did not ensure that former students affected by the decision had completed the proper requirements before being granted their certificate.
The qualifications the authority intends to cancel were obtained between January 27, 2023, and July 9, 2025, and also include certificates in building and construction, carpentry, business management, communications, bricklaying and block making and IT.
A letter sent by the authority to a former Kingsway student seen by The Age says the regulator found the training provider “to be critically non-compliant with its registration obligations”.
Since November 2024, more than 29,000 qualifications and statements of attainment awarded to more than 26,000 people have been cancelled under a crackdown on bad-faith registered training organisations.
A number of the qualifications were in industries that post a risk to public health and safety or to the most vulnerable members of the community, including early childhood education and care.
A number of the qualifications were in industries that post a significant risk to public health, such as early childhood education and care.Credit: Peter Braig
An authority spokesperson said it was “paramount” there be confidence in the integrity of the vocational education sector and qualifications issued by training providers.
The authority warned students to be wary of marketing from training organisations, brokers and agents that included phrases like “no classes to attend”, “no study or exams required”, or “fast-tracked pathway to skilled migration”.
Other red flags included promises that no time off work would be needed to achieve qualifications or that they could be achieved within seven days, the authority said.
“Australian Skills Quality Authority has produced guidance for students on unethical and misleading practices of non-genuine providers, brokers and agents attempting to lure them into enrolling through the promise of fast-tracked qualifications, often purporting to use a model of recognition of prior learning without the need for any training or assessment,” the spokesperson said.
The authority said it had cancelled or refused to renew 138 registrations between 2024 and 2025 and that it had received 1500 tip-offs about the training sector since June 30.
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