Staff are required to hold both educational and first aid qualifications. When recruiting, it's important to check that applicants hold valid qualifications.
When staff provide their qualifications, how closely do you look at them to see if they appear legitimate?
Paying close attention to the details on each qualification might give you clues that they aren't legitimate.
The Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (Regulatory Authority) has seen copies of qualifications from approved providers that appear to be fake because words were spelt incorrectly, there were formatting inconsistencies, the issuer was not a registered training organisation (RTO), the QR code gives a different person's details, and variations in the 'look' of certificates issued by the same RTO.
While these are likely red flags to make you suspect that the qualification is fake, you need to take steps to ensure that all qualifications are valid, irrespective of how it first looks.
To check that qualifications are valid:
- ask the person to provide a copy of both the award and the transcript, not just the award, and check for consistency
- ask the person to
log into the student portal using their Unique Student Identifier (USI) to access a copy of their transcript and award. They can also choose to add you as their employer so you can view this information yourself
- check the
National Training Register for details about the RTO including whether they were operating (i.e. registered) on the date that the qualification was issued
- check that
Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) has not taken regulatory action against the RTO, including cancelling their qualification because it was issued between specific dates
- ask the person to give their permission for the RTO to disclosure information directly to you about their qualification
- if included, scan the QR code to check that the student name matches the name on the certificate.
Remember that your process should also include checking the qualification is an
approved qualification listed on the ACECQA website. The Regulatory Authority is aware that there is an overseas diploma qualification that takes a couple of weeks to complete; a check of ACECQA's website would confirm that this diploma is not an approved qualification.
Examples of fraudulent qualifications
The following are examples of qualifications provided to the Regulatory Authority that appear to be fake:
-
Diploma certificate—issued by ACECQA, which is not an RTO
-
Certificate III—issued in 2022, yet the RTO had their registration cancelled in 2017
-
First aid certificate—has a renewal date of 3 years and 3 months, not the usual 3 years for first aid qualifications and the QR code doesn't work.
More information
Keep abreast of ASQA's regulatory actions by regularly checking the
ASQA website as well as reading our
regulatory bulletins.
If you have concerns about an RTO, or the qualifications of an educator, contact ASQA on 1300 701 801 or
submit a report online.
Find out more about our
staffing regulatory priority so that you have robust screening processes in place to ensure all staff are appropriately qualified because they hold valid educational and first aid qualifications which are on the
ACECQA's approved list.