AIWCW GUIDELINES FOR PROVISIONAL APPROVAL OF CAMPUSES

This information is provided to clarify the specifics of Provisional Approval of Courses and Campuses with the Australian Institute of Welfare and Community Workers (AIWCW).

The Provisional Approval process allows a detailed and discretionary monitoring of campuses, especially for new welfare courses at private colleges. Full AIWCW Approval for Campuses and Courses is valid for a three year period. Apart from annual listings of teaching staff, and the requirement to report to AIWCW any significant changes, once full Approval has been granted there is no regular monitoring by AIWCW.

Provisional Approval with AIWCW may be granted under several different conditions:

1. New courses and RTOs

For campuses that have not previously offered a welfare related course, and especially for private Registered Training Organisations newly offering such a course to international students, only Provisional Approval is offered for the first six months of operation following an application to AIWCW. Full Approval is usually subject to a confirmatory Campus Visit towards the end of that six month period.

In order to gain Provisional Approval, all the necessary documents must have been previously supplied, and a preliminary Campus Visit will usually have been conducted, in order to inspect the facilities and resources already in place. Such a visit will usually be undertaken prior to commencement of classes and so interviews with students and all staff may not be possible, but the Course Leader and Campus Manager or CEO should be involved in this early visit. In such circumstances, however, there may be some details still to be finalised and the Campus Visitor or Campus Assessor may recommend Provisional Approval be granted without all the requirements being met, if (s)he is convinced that a significant proportion of them will be met in the near future. A brief follow up inspection may be arranged to confirm this, if necessary.

For such new courses, a Provisional Approval is issued with the general assumption that full AIWCW Approval will be granted at the end of the 6 month period, and that AIWCW will work with the college to help to resolve any difficulties that arise during this period, or which are found to exist at the time of the final Campus Visit. In many cases up to the present, no such problems have been evident, and full Approval has been granted with few or no questions or delays.

It is not anticipated that any such difficulties will affect the recognition of the Campus by AIWCW for the purposes of the General Skilled Migration program. If such difficulties cannot be easily resolved, or if significant changes are due or have affected the campus since the initial granting of Provisional Approval, then an extension of the Provisional status may result, but this will not normally affect recognition for migration purposes. Only if difficulties continue for an extended period (usually in the order of a year or more) would there be reason to decline to grant Full Approval, and even then it would be most unusual for a Campus to then have the application rejected. Every effort would be made to work with the college to ensure that recognition was eventually forthcoming.

So far, any major concerns by AIWCW regarding a new course have resulted in delays in initially granting Provisional Approval, or in the rejection of the application at the outset. Rejection of an application has occasionally occurred, due to gross deficiencies being assessed, and in such circumstances, AIWCW has usually suggested that a new application be made.

What all this means is that once AIWCW Provisional Approval has been granted it can generally be assumed that any students newly enrolled in the appropriate course will be recognised by AIWCW for membership eligibility, and hence for recognition as a welfare worker for the purposes of migration.

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Only in unusual circumstances would there be any exception to this assumption; such as if the college refused to cooperate with efforts by AIWCW to ensure the proper conduct of the course, according to the guidelines and decisions of the AIWCW National Executive; or if complaints resulted in a Review by AIWCW (see 3. below).

2. Courses already operating before application to AIWCW

2 (a) Brief prior operation

Provisional Approval may also be granted to a campus where the course has already commenced operation. This situation is not ideal from the AIWCW point of view, and our guidelines suggest that a six month lead time is preferable, with the actual application being submitted several months in advance of the commencement of the course. If the application is received within a few months of the commencement of teaching, then there is likely to be little change to the procedure and outcomes outlined above; the main difference being that students may also be interviewed at the initial Preliminary Campus Visit. Generally, six months must still elapse after that visit, before full Campus Approval is granted.

2 (b) Longer prior operation

If an application is made after the course has been operating for much longer – up to a year or so, for example – there is no guarantee that the conduct of the course before the application is received will receive AIWCW Approval. For example, the teaching staff may have been under qualified or otherwise unsuitable, or there may have been few if any library books easily available for borrowing by students. In such circumstances, any Provisional Approval might only apply to students commencing the course close to when such Approval is granted. If there is evidence that the early months (or years) of the course were not conducted according to AIWCW guidelines, then special arrangements might be required to ensure that students affected by such deficiencies receive an adequate professional education, and this might include replication and integrated revision of some aspects of the syllabus, and the extension of the course for such students. New AIWCW regulations in 2007 ensure that students enrolled in non-Approved courses cannot gain AIWCW recognition by merely transferring to courses which already have AIWCW Approval.

It is therefore normally essential that students who will seek recognition as welfare workers under the General Skilled Migration program ensure that the courses they are enrolled in have at least Provisional Approval with AIWCW.

(Note however that for some individuals with recent relevant professional experience, eligibility for membership (and migration recognition) may be established through an individual application for membership via Pathway B.)

If a college has applied for AIWCW Campus Approval, but no decision has yet been made by AIWCW, then students cannot assume that AIWCW will grant Approval and so ensure membership eligibility, and recognition for migration purposes. Where delays have been experienced following the initial application, in most cases this is due to queries by AIWCW regarding the required documentation.

3. Formal AIWCW Review following formal complaints

If formal complaints regarding a course and campus lead to a formal Review by AIWCW, then this may result in AIWCW withdrawing full Approval, and providing only Provisional Approval pending the correction of assessed deficiencies. As outlined above, every effort will then be made to work with the college to correct any difficulties, but depending upon the seriousness of the complaints and the findings of the Review, there cannot be a guarantee that Provisional Approval will revert to full Approval in these circumstances.

Enquiries

Current and prospective students, and staff and administrators of relevant courses can establish the status of AIWCW Approval by consulting the AIWCW Website: www.aiwcw.org.au . Further enquiries can be addressed to the Membership Coordinator, Mr. Deane Welsh, at the AIWCW National Office:

Tel. 03 9654 8287, or email info@aiwcw.org.au

CRSE.07 Ver Apr08