You can be asked by the regulatory body to demonstrate how you identify legislation change, what you did to demonstrate compliance and how the information related to legislation and regulatory changes and their impact on the training organisation was communicated to the RTO stakeholders so that everyone stays up-to-date within your training organisation.
SRTOs 2015 state the following:
Clause 8.5
The RTO complies with Commonwealth, state and territory legislation and regulatory requirements relevant to its operations.
Clause 8.6
The RTO ensures its staff and clients are informed of any changes to legislative and regulatory requirements that affect the services delivered.
This is when maintaining a compliance and regulatory register to record a legislation change is made comes in handy. This can be done by checking the relevant laws or standards on a regular basis and updating your register within a specific period of receiving written notification of any changes. You may also wish to review any newly introduced legislation and include this in your register as well if applicable.
A compliance and regulatory register is an internal record
A compliance and regulatory register is an internal record that records the relevant legislation, standards, codes and guidelines you comply with. It’s important to know what new legislation there is and make sure your business is compliant with it. For example, if there is a change in tax law or a new regulation comes into force that affects how businesses operate then these changes should be recorded in your register so that they can be included in your risk assessments.
When a change occurs it should be noted on this document so that any future changes can also be documented here too. This helps to ensure that all changes are recorded together which makes them easier to find when they’re needed later on down the line rather than having multiple documents scattered around with no clear indication as to what has changed since last time someone looked at them (or worse still – forgetting about them altogether!).
The register must be up to date and easily accessible
The register must be up to date and easily accessible by your employees and contractors.
Make sure the register is kept in a safe place so that it cannot be damaged or destroyed. This can include keeping it in an office or filing cabinet or using a software system for access control. A number of training organisations have this register saved on their intranet services.
You should also make sure that all staff have access to the register at all times, as well as contractors who work on your behalf.
Include all relevant and current information
As a training business, you need to include all relevant and current information in your compliance and regulatory register.
Your register must contain:
Legislation that affects your business (It is a good practice to have a legislation register that includes all training products and individual units of competency you have on your RTO’s scope and how your organisation stays on top of all compliance requirements and updates); and
Regulations relating to the legislation
When you make a change to a law or standard, you need to make the change according to the time-frame mentioned in your RTO’s policies and procedures.
If you are unsure of how to keep a compliance and regulatory register, you can seek help from a professional organisation that specialises in this area. They will be able to advise you on the best way to keep track of changes in legislation and ensure that your business remains compliant.