🎙 In this episode of the RTO Superhero Podcast, Angela Connell-Richards and co-host Lauren Hollows tackle a confronting reality in Australia’s VET sector—how arbitrary funding decisions are crippling high-performing private RTOs.

Despite delivering 80% of Australia’s training, private RTOs receive just 30% of government funding. Even worse? RTOs with exceptional outcomes are being denied funding simply because their success happened in the “wrong” state.

🚨 What’s happening behind the scenes:

• 📉 Outstanding RTOs excluded from funding programs due to postcode politics
• 📊 “Mom and pop” RTOs pushed out by skyrocketing compliance costs
• 📈 One RTO slashed unit completion times from 400 to 84 days—just by using their own data better

Angela and Lauren unpack how this imbalance is reshaping Australia’s training landscape—and why it’s time to stop pitting TAFE vs. private RTOs and start building collaborative solutions.

✅ What you’ll learn in this episode:

• The real cost of underfunding private RTOs—and who’s paying for it
• Why compliance pressure is forcing quality providers out of the sector
• How data-driven management can dramatically improve performance
• What it will take to create a sustainable, student-focused training system

🎧 Tune in to hear what’s really happening—and how you can help fix it.

✍️ Support the cause: change.org/save_private_rtos

Send us a text

Join host Angela Connell-Richards as she opens each episode with a burst of insight and inspiration. Discover why compliance is your launchpad to success, not a limitation.

Connect with fellow RTO professionals in our free Facebook groups: the RTO Community and RTO Job Board. Visit rtosuperhero.au/groups to join today.

Ready to elevate your RTO? Join our Superhero Membership community and gain access to expert resources, training, and personalised support to help you thrive.

Wrap up with gratitude and guidance. Subscribe, leave a review, and join our community as we continue supporting your compliance journey in vocational education.

Support the show

Thank you for tuning in to the RTO Superhero Podcast!

We’re excited to have you join us as we focus on the Revised Standards for RTOs in 2025. Together, we’ll explore key changes, compliance strategies, and actionable insights to help your RTO thrive under the new standards.

Stay connected with the RTO Community:

• RTO Job Board Facebook
• RTO Job Board LinkedIn
• RTO Community Facebook

📌 Don’t forget to:
✔ Subscribe to the RTO Superhero Podcast so you never miss an episode!
✔ Share this episode with your RTO network—compliance is a team effort!

🎙 Listen now and get ahead of the compliance changes before it’s too late!

📢 Want even more compliance insights? Subscribe to our EduStream YouTube Channel for our FAQ series on the New Standards for RTOs 2025! 🎥

🔗 Subscribe now: EduStream by Vivacity Coaching

✉️ Email us at hello@vivacity.com.au
📞 Call us on 1300 729 455
🖥️ Visit us at vivacity.com.au

🎙 In this episode of the RTO Superhero Podcast, Angela Connell-Richards, with Lauren Hollows, dives into one of the biggest funding battles in Australia’s VET sector—the growing inequality between TAFE NSW and private RTOs.

Private RTOs are under increasing pressure as TAFE NSW now receives 80% of all Smart and Skilled funding—despite data showing private providers deliver better outcomes at lower costs.

🚨 Here’s what’s at stake:

• 📊 Private RTOs boast higher completion rates (54%) vs. TAFE’s 43%
• 💰 For every $1 spent on a private RTO, $3.34 is spent on TAFE
• ✅ Student and employer satisfaction consistently favours private providers

Angela explores the real impact of this funding imbalance, from regional RTO closures to TAFE’s capacity crisis—outdated facilities, digital access issues, and staff shortages.

She also uncovers the hidden flaw in “fee-free” training: ❗️low student commitment and poor completion rates, leading to wasted resources and skills shortages.

✅ What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why the “dodgy RTO” myth doesn’t hold up to the data
• How current funding decisions risk collapsing the support ecosystem for quality training
• The unintended consequences of centralising training delivery
• What we must do now to protect student choice, innovation, and training diversity in Australia

🎧 Tune in to join the fight for fair, equitable funding—and learn how you can take action.

✍️ Sign the petition: change.org/save_private_rtos

Send us a text

Join host Angela Connell-Richards as she opens each episode with a burst of insight and inspiration. Discover why compliance is your launchpad to success, not a limitation.

Connect with fellow RTO professionals in our free Facebook groups: the RTO Community and RTO Job Board. Visit rtosuperhero.au/groups to join today.

Wrap up with gratitude and guidance. Subscribe, leave a review, and join our community as we continue supporting your compliance journey in vocational education.

Support the show

Thank you for tuning in to the RTO Superhero Podcast!

We’re excited to have you join us as we focus on the Revised Standards for RTOs in 2025. Together, we’ll explore key changes, compliance strategies, and actionable insights to help your RTO thrive under the new standards.

Stay connected with the RTO Community:

• RTO Job Board Facebook
• RTO Job Board LinkedIn
• RTO Community Facebook

📌 Don’t forget to:
✔ Subscribe to the RTO Superhero Podcast so you never miss an episode!
✔ Share this episode with your RTO network—compliance is a team effort!

🎙 Listen now and get ahead of the compliance changes before it’s too late!

📢 Want even more compliance insights? Subscribe to our EduStream YouTube Channel for our FAQ series on the New Standards for RTOs 2025! 🎥

🔗 Subscribe now: EduStream by Vivacity Coaching

✉️ Email us at hello@vivacity.com.au
📞 Call us on 1300 729 455
🖥️ Visit us at vivacity.com.au

In this practical episode, Angela Connell-Richards helps you decode the updated credential requirements for trainers and assessors under the new 2025 Standards. If you’re unsure whether your team meets current expectations—or how to evidence it—this episode is your step-by-step guide.

Key points discussed:
✅ What the Credential Policy now requires (and what’s changed)
✅ How to audit and map your trainers' qualifications and experience
✅ Documentation strategies to satisfy ASQA in an audit
✅ Common credential compliance gaps to avoid

Angela walks you through the credential tracking process so you can protect your RTO from costly non-compliances.

Listen now and download Angela’s free Trainer Credential Mapping Template at Vivacity to streamline compliance across your VET workforce.

Send us a text

Join host Angela Connell-Richards as she opens each episode with a burst of insight and inspiration. Discover why compliance is your launchpad to success, not a limitation.

Wrap up with gratitude and guidance. Subscribe, leave a review, and join our community as we continue supporting your compliance journey in vocational education.

Support the show

Thank you for tuning in to the RTO Superhero Podcast!

We’re excited to have you join us as we focus on the Revised Standards for RTOs in 2025. Together, we’ll explore key changes, compliance strategies, and actionable insights to help your RTO thrive under the new standards.

Stay connected with the RTO Community:

• RTO Job Board Facebook
• RTO Job Board LinkedIn
• RTO Community Facebook

📌 Don’t forget to:
✔ Subscribe to the RTO Superhero Podcast so you never miss an episode!
✔ Share this episode with your RTO network—compliance is a team effort!

🎙 Listen now and get ahead of the compliance changes before it’s too late!

📢 Want even more compliance insights? Subscribe to our EduStream YouTube Channel for our FAQ series on the New Standards for RTOs 2025! 🎥

🔗 Subscribe now: EduStream by Vivacity Coaching

✉️ Email us at hello@vivacity.com.au
📞 Call us on 1300 729 455
🖥️ Visit us at vivacity.com.au

VET Talks: Future-Proof Your RTO - Embracing the 2025 Standards with Confidence

In this insightful episode of VETtalks, join Scott Rogers (CEO of eSkilled) and Angela Connell (CEO of Vivacity RTO Consulting) for a focused Q&A on navigating the upcoming 2025 Standards for RTOs.

With major reforms now on the horizon, this episode dives into why it’s critical to start preparing now—not later. You’ll hear expert insights into the compliance risks of delay, the key operational and strategic adjustments required, and how to begin aligning your RTO with the new regulatory framework.

Angela also shares behind-the-scenes lessons from Vivacity’s current work updating policies and procedures, including real-world challenges, common pitfalls, and practical opportunities for improvement.

Whether you're overseeing compliance, managing daily operations, or leading long-term strategy, this discussion will equip you with the clarity and confidence to future-proof your RTO for 2025 and beyond.

✅ Don’t miss this essential episode—your roadmap to readiness starts here.

Send us a text

Join host Angela Connell-Richards as she opens each episode with a burst of insight and inspiration. Discover why compliance is your launchpad to success, not a limitation.

Connect with fellow RTO professionals in our free Facebook groups: the RTO Community and RTO Job Board. Visit rtosuperhero.au/groups to join today.

Ready to elevate your RTO? Join our Superhero Membership community and gain access to expert resources, training, and personalised support to help you thrive.

Discover ComplyHub—Vivacity’s AI-powered compliance management system. Designed to streamline operations and give you peace of mind. Book your demo today.

Wrap up with gratitude and guidance. Subscribe, leave a review, and join our community as we continue supporting your compliance journey in vocational education.

Support the show

Thank you for tuning in to the RTO Superhero Podcast!

We’re excited to have you join us as we focus on the Revised Standards for RTOs in 2025. Together, we’ll explore key changes, compliance strategies, and actionable insights to help your RTO thrive under the new standards.

Stay connected with the RTO Community:

• RTO Job Board Facebook
• RTO Job Board LinkedIn
• RTO Community Facebook

📌 Don’t forget to:
✔ Subscribe to the RTO Superhero Podcast so you never miss an episode!
✔ Share this episode with your RTO network—compliance is a team effort!

🎙 Listen now and get ahead of the compliance changes before it’s too late!

📢 Want even more compliance insights? Subscribe to our EduStream YouTube Channel for our FAQ series on the New Standards for RTOs 2025! 🎥

🔗 Subscribe now: EduStream by Vivacity Coaching

✉️ Email us at hello@vivacity.com.au
📞 Call us on 1300 729 455
🖥️ Visit us at vivacity.com.au

In this episode of the RTO Superhero Podcast, Angela Connell-Richards and co-host Maciek Fibrich unpack one of the most misunderstood aspects of the 2025 Standards for RTOs—Standard 2.2, with a laser focus on assessing Language, Literacy, Numeracy and Digital (LLND) skills prior to enrolment.

There’s been growing confusion in the VET sector:
🌀 Do RTOs need to buy expensive LLN and digital skills tools?
🌀 Does every course require digital assessments?
🌀 What’s the difference between a review and a formal assessment?

Angela and Maciek cut through the noise with practical insights, examples, and real-world discussion. They compare two very different units—HLTAID011 (Provide First Aid) and BSBINS501 (Implement Information and Knowledge Management Systems)—to explore how LLND requirements change based on the training product and delivery mode.

✅ What you'll learn:

• How to interpret Standard 2.2 and align it with your enrolment process
• When digital literacy must be assessed—and when it’s not necessary
• Why First Aid is not the same as a Diploma unit (and how ASQA will likely treat them differently)
• How to tailor your LLND review to the training product, learner cohort, and delivery mode
• What your RTO must document to stay compliant
• Whether ChatGPT can help (spoiler: yes—but only if you know how to guide it!)

🎁 Bonus: Download your free LLND Suitability Planning Checklist from the show no

Send us a text

Join host Angela Connell-Richards as she opens each episode with a burst of insight and inspiration. Discover why compliance is your launchpad to success, not a limitation.

Connect with fellow RTO professionals in our free Facebook groups: the RTO Community and RTO Job Board. Visit rtosuperhero.au/groups to join today.

Ready to elevate your RTO? Join our Superhero Membership community and gain access to expert resources, training, and personalised support to help you thrive.

Wrap up with gratitude and guidance. Subscribe, leave a review, and join our community as we continue supporting your compliance journey in vocational education.

Support the show

Thank you for tuning in to the RTO Superhero Podcast!

We’re excited to have you join us as we focus on the Revised Standards for RTOs in 2025. Together, we’ll explore key changes, compliance strategies, and actionable insights to help your RTO thrive under the new standards.

Stay connected with the RTO Community:

• RTO Job Board Facebook
• RTO Job Board LinkedIn
• RTO Community Facebook

📌 Don’t forget to:
✔ Subscribe to the RTO Superhero Podcast so you never miss an episode!
✔ Share this episode with your RTO network—compliance is a team effort!

🎙 Listen now and get ahead of the compliance changes before it’s too late!

📢 Want even more compliance insights? Subscribe to our EduStream YouTube Channel for our FAQ series on the New Standards for RTOs 2025! 🎥

🔗 Subscribe now: EduStream by Vivacity Coaching

✉️ Email us at hello@vivacity.com.au
📞 Call us on 1300 729 455
🖥️ Visit us at vivacity.com.au

In this urgent episode of the RTO Superhero Podcast, Angela Connell-Richards takes you inside a growing crisis in Australia’s vocational education sector. Private RTOs—who deliver over 70% of the nation’s training—are being hit with devastating funding cuts, unfunded compliance reforms, and a wave of closures that threaten access, jobs, and student outcomes.

Angela shares real frontline stories, the latest NCVER data, and what government isn’t telling you about the Fee-Free TAFE agenda. She also unveils her Open Letter to the Prime Minister and Ministers, backed by hundreds of RTO professionals calling for fair, performance-based funding and immediate action.

✅ Why private RTOs are closing their doors in record numbers
✅ The true cost of excluding independent providers from policy reform
✅ How you can join the campaign to #SavePrivateRTOs
✅ Behind-the-scenes of the 2025 Standards overhaul—and what it means for your RTO
✅ What we’re demanding from government—and how you can help us get heard

🎯 This episode isn’t just a conversation—it’s a call to action.

📢 Read and share the open letter: www.vivacity.com.au/open-letter
🖊️ Sign the petition: change.org/save_private_rtos

Send us a text

Join host Angela Connell-Richards as she opens each episode with a burst of insight and inspiration. Discover why compliance is your launchpad to success, not a limitation.

Connect with fellow RTO professionals in our free Facebook groups: the RTO Community and RTO Job Board. Visit rtosuperhero.au/groups to join today.

Wrap up with gratitude and guidance. Subscribe, leave a review, and join our community as we continue supporting your compliance journey in vocational education.

Support the show

Thank you for tuning in to the RTO Superhero Podcast!

We’re excited to have you join us as we focus on the Revised Standards for RTOs in 2025. Together, we’ll explore key changes, compliance strategies, and actionable insights to help your RTO thrive under the new standards.

Stay connected with the RTO Community:

• RTO Job Board Facebook
• RTO Job Board LinkedIn
• RTO Community Facebook

📌 Don’t forget to:
✔ Subscribe to the RTO Superhero Podcast so you never miss an episode!
✔ Share this episode with your RTO network—compliance is a team effort!

🎙 Listen now and get ahead of the compliance changes before it’s too late!

📢 Want even more compliance insights? Subscribe to our EduStream YouTube Channel for our FAQ series on the New Standards for RTOs 2025! 🎥

🔗 Subscribe now: EduStream by Vivacity Coaching

✉️ Email us at hello@vivacity.com.au
📞 Call us on 1300 729 455
🖥️ Visit us at vivacity.com.au

In this thought-provoking episode, Angela Connell-Richards challenges the common assumption that simply updating your policies and procedures means your RTO is compliant. She explores the deeper truth behind the new Standards: implementation, understanding, and continuous review are what really matter now.

Key points discussed:
✅ Why policy updates alone won’t satisfy ASQA
✅ How to identify gaps between policy and practice
✅ The 4-question self-audit method to review your documentation
✅ How to embed policies into your team culture and systems

Angela shares actionable strategies and a real client case study that reveal how to shift from paper-based compliance to genuine self-assurance.

Listen now and download Angela’s free Policy Audit Checklist at Vivacity to make sure your documentation isn’t just updated—it’s effective.

Send us a text

Join host Angela Connell-Richards as she opens each episode with a burst of insight and inspiration. Discover why compliance is your launchpad to success, not a limitation.

Wrap up with gratitude and guidance. Subscribe, leave a review, and join our community as we continue supporting your compliance journey in vocational education.

Support the show

Thank you for tuning in to the RTO Superhero Podcast!

We’re excited to have you join us as we focus on the Revised Standards for RTOs in 2025. Together, we’ll explore key changes, compliance strategies, and actionable insights to help your RTO thrive under the new standards.

Stay connected with the RTO Community:

• RTO Job Board Facebook
• RTO Job Board LinkedIn
• RTO Community Facebook

📌 Don’t forget to:
✔ Subscribe to the RTO Superhero Podcast so you never miss an episode!
✔ Share this episode with your RTO network—compliance is a team effort!

🎙 Listen now and get ahead of the compliance changes before it’s too late!

📢 Want even more compliance insights? Subscribe to our EduStream YouTube Channel for our FAQ series on the New Standards for RTOs 2025! 🎥

🔗 Subscribe now: EduStream by Vivacity Coaching

✉️ Email us at hello@vivacity.com.au
📞 Call us on 1300 729 455
🖥️ Visit us at vivacity.com.au