Hundreds of students set to lose qualifications as Melbourne training college registration canceled

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Australia’s vocational training regulator has cancelled the registration of a Melbourne-based college and moved to strip thousands of qualifications issued to students after finding serious breaches in assessment and training standards.

The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) has revoked the registration of Melbourne Training Centre, trading as Studywise College (RTO 45579), effective from 23 July 2025, following findings that the provider failed to meet mandatory conditions for delivering nationally recognised training.

ASQA said in a statement on its website that it found the organisation had issued qualifications and statements of attainment without ensuring students had completed proper assessment or met competency requirements. The regulator also identified failures in training delivery, assessment systems, staffing qualifications, and oversight of third-party arrangements.

The affected qualifications include key community services and care-related courses such as the Certificate III in Individual Support, the Certificate IV in Disability Support, and the Diploma of Community Services—qualifications widely used for work in the aged care, disability support, and community services sectors.

Given the scale of non-compliance, ASQA has now begun issuing notices of intent to cancel qualifications and statements of attainment issued between 1 May 2023 and 23 July 2025.

The notices require affected students to respond by providing evidence that they completed the required training and assessment. If no satisfactory evidence is provided, ASQA may proceed to cancel qualifications, which would effectively render them invalid.

Students who received notices have been given until 7 May 2026 to respond.

ASQA said its investigation found the provider did not ensure sufficient training hours were delivered, lacked properly qualified trainers and assessors, used inadequate assessment tools, and failed to maintain control over third parties involved in training and assessment processes. It also found deficiencies in recognition of prior learning assessments and compliance with national standards.

The regulator said in a statement that these failings meant there were reasonable grounds to conclude some qualifications may have been issued without students actually meeting competency requirements.

The cancellation has serious implications for impacted students, including those who have already entered the workforce in care-related roles. ASQA has warned that potentially invalid qualifications could affect employment, licensing, and workplace safety standards.

The regulator has directed affected individuals to submit evidence through its online portal, and warned that failure to respond could result in automatic cancellation of qualifications.

The case is part of ASQA’s broader enforcement action targeting non-compliant training providers in Australia’s vocational education sector, particularly those delivering high-demand care qualifications.

ASQA said it will assess each response before making final decisions on whether qualifications will be formally cancelled.

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