About the Australian Qualifications Framework

What is the Australian Qualifications Framework?

The Australian Qualifications Framework (commonly known as the AQF) is a unified system of national qualifications in schools, vocational education and training (TAFEs and private providers) and the higher education sector (mainly universities).

Guidelines for each qualification are provided in the AQF Implementation Handbook (2007).

The Framework links together all these qualifications and is a highly visible, quality-assured national system of educational recognition which promotes lifelong learning and a seamless and diverse education and training system.

When was the AQF established?

The AQF was introduced Australia-wide on 1 January 1995 and was phased in over five years, with full implementation by the year 2000.

The AQF was developed under instruction from State, Territory and Commonwealth Education and Training Ministers meeting as the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA). MCEETYA has established an AQF Advisory Board to protect the AQF qualifications guidelines and to promote and monitor national implementation of the AQF.

The AQF Council

In May 2008, MCEETYA replaced AQFAB with the AQF Council to provide Education and Training Ministers with strategic and authoritative advice on the AQF to ensure it is nationally and internationally robust and supports flexible cross-sectoral linkages and pathways.

The AQF Council is led by an independent Chair and Council members represent the three education sectors, governments and industry. AQF Council members are.

The AQF Council is supported by a Secretariat staffed with an Executive Director, Principal Policy Officer and Executive Assistant.

Why is the AQF important?

Qualifications certify the knowledge and skills a person has achieved through study, training, work and life experience. They are a measure of our 'intellectual capital' and increasingly important in a society where unskilled jobs have disappeared and continuous upskilling is required in all forms of work and in day-to-day life.

The AQF helps all learners, employers and education and training providers to participate and navigate the qualifications system. Under the AQF, you can start at the level that suits you and then build up as your needs and interests develop and change over time. The Framework assists learners to plan their career progression at whatever stage they are within their lives and when they are moving interstate and overseas.

In this way, the AQF supports national standards in education and training and encourages lifelong learning.

What are the key objectives of the AQF?

The AQF should:

• provide nationally consistent recognition of outcomes achieved in post-compulsory education;
• help with developing flexible pathways which assist people to move more easily between education and training sectors and between those sectors and the labour market by providing the basis for recognition of prior learning, including credit transfer and work and life experience;
• integrate and streamline the requirements of participating providers, employers and employees, individuals and interested organisations;
• offer flexibility to suit the diversity of purposes of education and training;
• encourage individuals to progress through the levels of education and training by improving access to qualifications, clearly defining avenues for achievement, and generally contributing to lifelong learning;
• encourage the provision of more and higher quality vocational education and training through qualifications that normally meet workplace requirements and vocational needs, thus contributing to national economic performance; and
• promote national and international recognition of qualifications offered in Australia.

Changes in the AQF

Work-based qualifications and academic qualifications are now part of a single system, allowing maximum flexibility in career planning and continuous learning (remember, you are likely to make at least five major career and lifestyle changes in your lifetime).

The following changes in vocational education and training have most affected the system of qualifications:

• Vocational qualifications are now industry-based, with specified combinations of units of competency required by each industry for each qualification;

• These qualifications are designed in a sequence, allowing you to move steadily from one qualification to the next. Sometimes you will want to mix and match units of competency : whatever you chose, the units will accumulate on your record of achievement and help towards retaining your job, promotion, a change of career or further learning;

• To be assessed as competent for one of the vocational qualifications, you have to show you can use your skills and knowledge under workplace conditions, so a lot of your training will be in the workplace. Also, you can be assessed for the skills and knowledge you may already have gained informally in previous work. This assessment process is known as recognition of prior learning (RPL);

• Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) are accredited to provide training and issue qualifications according to the requirements of the AQF.

AQF Newsletters

Link to newsletter Volume 1, Issue 2 November 2008

Link to newsletter Volume 1, Issue 1 September 2008

Contacting the AQF Council

Australian Qualifications Framework Council Secretariat
Level 4
11 Waymouth Street
Adelaide SA 5001

GPO Box 320
Adelaide SA 5001
Australia

Tel: 08 8226 2775
Fax: 08 8226 3071
Email: aqfc@saugov.sa.gov.au

Our most frequently asked questions can be found by clicking the FAQ link below. Direct links regarding coming to Australia as an international student or migrant, the AQTF and registration of education and training providers can be found as follows:

• if your enquiry is about skills assessment/qualifications recognition for immigration purposes, please refer to: http://aei.dest.gov.au/AEI/QualificationsRecognition/default.htm;
• if your enquiry is about studying in Australia, please refer to: http://www.studyinaustralia.gov.au/Sia/Splash.aspx;
• if your enquiry is about registration as an RTO, please refer to the AQFC contact details for the government registration authority in your State or Territory at http://www.aqf.edu.au/register.htm;
• if your enquiry is about the status and/or content of specified VET qualifications/units of competency, please refer to: http://www.ntis.gov.au;
• if your enquiry is about the AQTF, please refer to http://www.training.com.au/aqtf2007.

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