When Should You Get a Course Accredited with ASQA?
Have you wondered if you could get your non-accredited course accredited in Australia, to be able to issue qualifications with the nationally recognised logo?
Every successful training business eventually hears the same question. A prospective student emails, loves the look of your course, asks about dates and price — and then adds five words that change everything: “Is the course nationally accredited?”
For some providers, the honest answer is “no, and it doesn’t matter.” For others, that one question is quietly costing them a third of their enquiries. Knowing which camp you are in is what course accreditation is really about.
What a nationally accredited course actually is
Accreditation is formal recognition by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) that a course is nationally recognised training. Accredited courses are assessed against the Standards for VET Accredited Courses 2021, given a national course code, and published on training.gov.au — the same national register that lists training package qualifications.
Importantly, you do not have to be an RTO to own an accredited course. An individual, a company, an industry association or an existing RTO can all apply as a course owner. However, important to note that you cannot deliver the course until it is within the scope of a registered training organisation. — more on that below.
The three tests every accredited course must pass
Before you jumping in and downloading the application document, your course needs to clear three hurdles:
1. A genuine employment or community outcome. ASQA wants to see that graduates go somewhere — into a job, a role, a licence, a volunteer capacity, or on to further study. “Interesting” is not a training outcome.
2. No duplication of existing national qualifications. If a training package qualification, skill set or unit already covers the outcome in whole or substantial part, your course will not be accredited. The system does not need two versions of the same thing. However, don’t be deterred if there are existing national units that you want to include in your course, then that’s different. For example, if you wanted to get a course in CPR accredited it will be knocked back but if you want to include the CPR unit in a course that also built other skills, not covered by existing units, you could be on a winner.
3. Demonstrated industry support. Stakeholder support and consultation is a must. Your course wont pass the first stage if you are unable to prove industry support from employers, peak bodies, associations and practitioners on the record saying this course is needed and that they would back it. The second stage you will need to demonstrate that industry have been consulted and they support the course design and unit inclusions. If you are not willing to get industry consultation on your course, it wont get accredited.
Meet all three and you are a good candidate for an accredited course. You course does not have to be running as a non-accredited course before applying for accreditation.
When accreditation is worth it
When should someone consider applying for course accreditation?
• Prospective students of your non-accredited course keep asking whether the course is accredited — and not enrolling when they find out it’s not.
• Employers, insurers or licensing bodies in your industry want evidence of accreditation.
• Accreditation would open access to government funding, student loans or international student pathways.
• You already run a successful non-accredited course with real demand — the strongest possible evidence base.
That last point matters more than people realise. An accredited course can be brand new, designed to fill a gap nobody has filled yet. But the smoothest applications are usually built on a course you are already running successfully, because you can prove demand with enrolment data instead of arguing for it in theory.
A 70% lift is not a rounding error
This is where the numbers get interesting. RTO Consulting has worked with clients whose non-accredited courses were already profitable and well regarded — and who were still losing prospective students to the accreditation question. After accreditation, some of those providers have seen enrolments increase by around 70%. Same trainers, same expertise, same industry. Different answer to that one question, is the course nationally recognised?
Real courses, real industries
Accreditation is not reserved for trades and traditional VET. Courses RTO Consulting has helped clients accredit include Pilates and Yoga instruction, Wedding Planning and Events Planning, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Digital Learning Development, a range of programs across the therapy and wellbeing space and short courses specialising in First Aid and WHS.
The common thread is not the subject matter. It is that each course had an industry behind it, a clear outcome at the end of it, and nothing equivalent already sitting on the national register.
Short course, skill set or full qualification?
Accredited courses come in more than one size:
• Short courses or single units — targeted skills, typically leading to a statement of attainment.
• Full qualifications — aligned to a qualification level of the Australian Qualifications Framework, such as a Certificate I or Advance Diploma.
Where existing national units of competency fit your outcome, use them. Blending established units with new, purpose-built ones is required for application success.
The honest part: time and money
Course accreditation is neither cheap nor quick. Realistically, expect around 12 months from start to an accreditation decision, — industry consultation, course design, documentation, application fees and responses to the regulator’s questions along the way.
Accreditation is granted for five years, the course owner must apply for re-accredited at least 6 months before expire to ensure the course stays on the national register. So the question is not only “can we get this accredited?” The other question is, “Will we get enough students to reaccredit in another 5 years time?”
Do not confuse accreditation with content development
This trips up a lot of first-timers. Getting a course accredited means getting the course approved — its structure, units, outcomes, assessment requirements and national course document. It does not mean you have a course ready to teach.
Learning materials, assessment tools, trainer guides and delivery resources are built afterwards, mapped to the approved course. Budget for that as a separate stage, because that is exactly what it is.
And then: who delivers it?
An accredited course can only be delivered by a registered training organisation. If you are not an RTO, you have three realistic options: enter a third-party arrangement with an existing RTO to deliver on your behalf, or set up or buy an RTO of your own.
Each path carries different cost, control and compliance implications — and it is worth deciding which one you are aiming at before you apply, not after the accreditation letter arrives.
Where to start
Read ASQA’s course accreditation guidance at asqa.gov.au/for-providers/course-accreditation, then be honest with yourself about the four tests. If your course has a real outcome, an industry behind it, no national equivalent and will students or employers pay for it, you probably have something worth accrediting.
Thinking you might get a course accredited, complete the RTO Consulting Accredited Course readiness check.
RTO Consulting has guided individuals, companies and RTOs through course accreditation across a wide range of industries — from wellbeing and events through to emerging technology. If you would like to talk through whether your course is a candidate, and what the pathway would realistically look like, we would be glad to have that conversation.