Following a review, a range of improvements to the testing framework are to be rolled out over two stages starting 1 July this year to provide a new training option for licensed venue staff including hotels, clubs and restaurants.
Some of the key improvements are:
- In Stage 1, online training only to be provided to selected providers who must be registered with the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA)
- Quality benchmarking to be overseen by the Office of Liquor, Gaming & Racing (OLGR)
- At least 50 per cent of all questions must be written, not multiple choice.
- Stage 2 will see a standard assessment tool to ensure uniformity.
Grant said online testing is essential to providing licensed venues with improved access to quality RSA training, especially in parts of regional NSW where classroom training may not be practical due to distance.
"No matter if you're in Broken Hill or Balmain, understanding how to responsibly serve alcohol is a crucial part of working in a licensed venue," Grant said.
"Online training provides greater access to RSA training, however quality needs to be assured and that's what the government has set out to do with these changes."
From 1 July 2015, TAFE NSW and approved industry associations (or a provider they nominate) will be able to provide online RSA training under the improved framework with strict quality assurances.
Following this a new and enhanced online RSA training course will be developed throughout 2015-16 and provided to other approved training providers to begin using.
A trial of online RSA training was suspended in February 2014 after concerns about training standards, leaving limited training options available.
The staged reintroduction of online RSA training will help meet industry demands for trained staff while ensuring improvements can be closely monitored and fine-tuned if required before online training is offered more broadly.
RSA online course improvements
Stage one improvements:
- Locked-down course materials to ensure students complete all training across four separate modules (Introduction to RSA, RSA legislation, Impact of alcohol, RSA strategies).
- Trainers required to mark final RSA assessments and provide feedback to students (i.e. automated processes cannot be used).
- More comprehensive written answers to questions. At least 50 per cent of assessments must be free text questions (i.e. not multiple choice).
- Training providers must satisfy the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) that they have appropriate measures in place to verify the identity of students, assess the competency of students, and minimise potential for fraudulent activity.
- Training cannot be conducted unless a training provider is registered with the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA).
- Training providers can only offer online training during hours when trainers are available to immediately assist students.
- Compliance monitoring by OLGR. This may also include an audit of each training provider's online system before training is made publicly available, and a requirement for regular reports from training providers to allow for quality benchmarking.
Stage two improvements:
- A new and enhanced online RSA training course will be developed.
- This will allow a standard assessment tool to be introduced to help training providers ensure uniform quality assessments of students.