Harris Styles

Moving from Analysis to Action.
Perth & regional WA RTOs: To support your trainers and assessors build capacity and currency, I am currently delivering on-site, face-to-face, practical and tailored PD that is mapped to the Standards for RTOs 2025 and fits your delivery context and team.
Sessions include:
• Navigating the new Standards for RTOs 2025 with confidence
• Validation that elevates your assessment practice
• Reasonable adjustment vs lowering the bar
• Industry engagement & contextualising learning and assessment

Interested in dates and the content? Please message me and I’ll call at a time that suits you.

Practical staff RTO Staff PD sessions (Perth/WA)
To support your trainers and assessors’ capacity and currency, I am running various face-to face workshops to provide practical and relevant support for your team. These PD sessions that are aligned to the Standards for RTOs 2025 and delivered at your premises across Perth and regional WA.
Popular topics include:
• Navigating the new Standards for RTOs 2025 with confidence
• Culturally safe practice for multicultural learners
• Enhance your student engagement
• Designing simulated assessment

Interested in a course outline? Please message me with a convenient time to call.

From Policy to Practice:
Advancing First Nations Peoples in Vocational Education and Training.
For further suggestions on supporting First Nations VET students, please visit https://www.harrisstyles.com.au/category/supporting-first-nations-vocational-learners-series/ or PM me.

Agile leadership is a powerful approach to supporting the transition to the Standards for RTOs 2025. This article includes some pragmatic solutions.

Agile Leadership and the Standards for RTOs 2025 Agile leadership refers to a leadership style that is flexible, adaptive, collaborative, and responsive to change, and is now widely applied in the business sector to help navigate change and uncertainty. For RTOs, this means being able to shift quickly in response to regulatory changes.

Supporting First Nations Vocational Learners
Continuing with our series of articles on supporting First Nations vocational learners, this article explores two successful engagement strategies: enhancing the cultural competence of RTO staff and increasing the employment of First Nations trainers and support staff. Reflecting on my enriched experiences as a non-Indigenous trainer with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander VET students, and collaborating with First Nations trainers, I sincerely hope to offer valuable suggestions.
The LinkedIn article is found: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cultural-competence-rto-staff-margaret-styles-zzlkc/?trackingId=GsQN5lZwSC2TL0S1joNvgw%3D%3D

Continuing with our series of articles on supporting First Nations vocational learners, this second article aims to provide practical strategies for supporting an inclusive and culturally secure environment for First Nations learners, trainers, and support staff.

Drawing from my memorable experiences as a non-Indigenous trainer working alongside First Nations trainers and firsthand training experience with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners, I sincerely hope to provide meaningful and constructive suggestions. Noting, these examples are not exhaustive and should be tailored to the unique needs of each learner group, as First Nations cultures and students are diverse and require a locally contextualised approach.

Supporting First Nations Vocational Learners - Culturally Safe Learning Environment The new Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2025 have introduced the requirement that the RTO learning environment fosters a culturally safe learning environment for First Nations people, as this is essential for the success and well-being of First Nations vocational education lea

Supporting First Nations Vocational Learners - Engagement with Community

The new Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2025 have introduced the requirement that the RTO learning environment fosters a culturally safe learning environment for First Nations people. To promote a culturally responsive learning environment for First Nations vocational learners, we will review various strategies and the value of engagement and partnership with local community.

These suggestions originate from my enriched experiences as a non-Indigenous trainer with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from many nations, working alongside First Nations trainers. These suggestions are also not an exhaustive list of possibilities to explore with your team and will vary from learner cohort to learner cohort, as First Nations cultures and students are not a homogenous group, and success strategies must be locally contextualised.

Engagement with Community
One of the key strategies for supporting First Nations vocational learners is through engagement and partnership with local communities. When communities, trainers, and learners work together, it creates a harmonious environment conductive to effective learning that is beneficial to both the learners and their communities. This collaboration is particularly important when the training content is connected to local knowledge, experiences and cultures.

Training on Country
First Nations learners have the right to remain on Country for their vocational education. In many communities, success in learning is as much a collective outcome as an individualistic one, as learners work collaboratively, share information, and value kinship. Good practice in vocational education and training focuses on meeting the needs of the learners, with this approach learners maintain community connections while studying, leading to increased retention and completion.

Community-Based Learning Opportunities
Engagement with First Nations communities and organisations can lead to community-based learning opportunities. These training programs should incorporate local projects that address community needs that are identified by the community, integrate local cultural practices, and contribute to community development. The learning process may also incorporate community-based knowledge, and opportunities for families and communities to be involved in the learning journey.

Community-Based Learning may include mentoring between Elders and learners, opportunities for Elders to share knowledge and wisdom, and to provide direction on cultural protocols, and ways of knowing. This reinforces a culturally safe learning environment and an opportunity for involving First Nations role models and mentors to provide guidance, education, and inspiration for the learners.

Partnerships with First Nations Communities and Organisations
Developing formal partnerships with local First Nations communities and organisations offers the opportunity for regular consultation with community leaders regarding educational needs and priorities. This collaborative decision-making process ensures that the training programs are meaningful, strengthens a culturally responsive learning environment, and contribute towards course progression. These joint initiatives benefit both the learners and their communities.

Skills for Local Jobs
Aligning vocational programs with opportunities within the local labour markets of First Nations communities can improve completion rates due to the employment opportunities and pathways. Work placements with First Nations businesses can help vocational learners secure employment and contribute positively to the value of vocational education in the community.

The success of First Nations learners is not only about individual achievement but also about strengthening relationships with and serving the community. RTOs need to commit to working alongside communities to provide quality vocational education on Country. This collaborative approach will create the teamwork, trust, and respect needed for successful program outcomes.

In this series, we will continue to explore supporting culturally responsive learning environments, shaping organisational culture, staff cultural competence and the need to increase employment of First Nations trainers and support staff in RTOs. For more articles on supporting First Nations vocational learners, please visit https://www.harrisstyles.com.au/news-advice/.

Get Ready for the new Standards for RTOs 2025 – Take a Fresh Approach
The new Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2025 have been approved and aim to streamline compliance, enhance training quality, and improve student outcomes. These revised Standards represent a fresh approach and an opportunity to review best-practice in your RTO business model.

So, what is different:
✅ Shift in focus – A shift from compliance processes to a more flexible, outcomes-focused approach.
✅ Student support – A stronger emphasis on identifying and supporting student wellbeing, creating culturally safe environments for First Nations people and promoting inclusion.
✅ Industry engagement – RTOs are expected to have ongoing industry engagement and actively incorporate industry insights into training and assessment.
✅ Governance and leadership – More explicit requirements regarding leadership and accountability, risk management, and a stronger emphasis on continuous improvement.
✅ Trainer and assessor requirements – Detailing the requirements of industry experts working under direction.
✅ Third Party arrangements - Clearer specifications about third party obligations and requirements for managing third party arrangements.

💡 What does this mean for your RTO?
This is a positive shift as these changes will modernise the operations of your RTO. It’s about putting the focus back where it belongs: on delivering great training and assessment that prepares students for real jobs.

📢 The new Standards for RTOs 2025 will come into full regulatory effect on 1July 25, so now is the time to start preparing! What can we do now?
➡️ Start reviewing your training and assessment practices — do they genuinely reflect current industry needs?
➡️ Consider how you identify and support students - are you meeting individual student needs?
➡️ Review your professional development processes — how do you ensure trainers stay current?
➡️ Engage with industry — stay current with what employers and community require.
➡️ Embrace continuous improvement — don’t just wait for audits.
➡️ Discuss as a team — how do we demonstrate quality outcomes for students and employers, not just compliance?

Let’s work together to make sure we’re ready for these changes, not just to stay compliant, but to truly enhance what we do for our students and industry partners. Harris Styles provides staff professional development on Preparing for the revised Standards for RTOs 2025, which can be tailored to be specifically relevant for your RTO. For more information on our PD workshops or preparing your RTO for the revised Standards for RTOs 2025, please PM me and visit our website www.harrisstyles.com.au.

Risk Management: A Key Focus for RTOs
In the ever-evolving landscape of the VET sector, the new Standards for RTOs 2025 have introduced a crucial Focus Area: Risk Management, stipulating that risk related to VET students, staff, and the RTO must be identified and managed effectively.
This risk management system also extends to managing:
✅conflicts of interest
✅ensuring the safety and wellbeing of VET students under 18 are aligned with the child-safe principles
✅ensure the ongoing suitability and safety of facilities, resources, and equipment provided by the RTO and third parties
✅risks associated with work-integrated learning, work placements, or other community-based learning.

💡 What does this mean for RTOs?
The benefits of a detailed risk management process are numerous:
➡️Early identification of potential issues
➡️Proactive measures to address potential threats
➡️Minimisation of financial losses
➡️Safer work environment
➡️Protection of reputation and prevention of reputational damage
➡️Increased confidence and resilience within the organisation
➡️Improved employee engagement and staff retention
➡️More strategic planning and informed decision-making
➡️Enhanced communication

📢 The forecasted date of the release of the revised Standards for RTOs is mid-2025, but now is the time to start preparing.

As the new Standards for RTOs 2025 emphasise a whole-of-organisation approach to risk management, Harris Styles provides staff professional development on risk management specifically relevant for your RTO. For more information on our PD workshops, please PM me and visit our website www.harrisstyles.com.au.

The North Wind and the Sun
Many are familiar with Aesop’s fable of The North Wind and the Sun, the two forces arguing about who was the stronger and then set the challenge of who can strip a passing traveller of his cloak. As the traveller passes through, the north wind starts to howl, causing the traveller to tightly wrap his cloak, and holding it tighter as the wind blew harder until the wind admits defeat. The sun then begins to shine, with a welcomed and enjoyable warmth, and eventually the traveller removes his cloak.
Reflecting on this analogy of the force of the wind and the glow of the sun, an additional resemblance frequently occurs in the workplace. When new strategies are imposed, it can be similar to the blustery wind, with resistance and confrontation that intensifies as the enforcement to change is increased. While the less disruptive warmth of the sun with smoother, smaller, slower incremental changes, corresponds to continuous improvement that can occur comfortably over time.
As many of us return to work and eagerly approach the new year, this fable prompts a review and evaluation of current approaches to introducing new strategies. This reflection appears to have less to do with methodology, techniques, and processes, and more to do with a focus on an agile mindset and continuous improvement to maintain balance and harmony throughout the year.