ABC 7.30 5 September 2012
POW WOW TRAINING ADVERTISEMENT (male voiceover):
“Pow Wow power. Fast track your career. A nationally recognised qualification for $49. Take advantage of the Victorian and Commonwealth funding.”
Susan Carty has been training students in aged care for almost two decades. She’s currently working for a reputable community college in suburban Victoria.
In 2010 Carty was employed by Pow Wow as a curriculum writer. When she started she says she noticed that Pow Wow was signing off and qualifying students in aged care without any practical placements or training. She asked the company why.
SUSAN CARTY, FORMER POW WOW TRAINER: He said, “Oh, we don’t do placements,” and I said to him, “Well you realise they’re not gonna get a job if they don’t get placement.” And he said, “Yes. I don’t – you know, but that doesn’t really matter,” sort of thing.
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Well what did matter?
SUSAN CARTY: Well, it was just to get them through and pass them and, you know, get ‘em signed off on the books, I s’pose.
Meanwhile, over at the national regulator ASQA…..
MICHAEL LAVARCH, ASQA RISK AND INVESTIGATIONS COMMISSIONER: What I can say is that we have received complaints. There is action in terms of investigation of that matte; it’s on foot and it is quite advanced.
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: 7.30 has discovered that ASQA has only six investigators for more than 4,000 private training organisations. Is that enough, six? Six people?
MICHAEL LAVARCH : Well in the last federal budget – the short answer is no, that’s not enough. We don’t yet have the resource to be able to sort of snap our fingers and overnight tackle each and every one of those problems. But we are working our way through it. You know, I wish it was faster. I wish just instantly it was able to be tackled in one hit, but, you know, we have to operate in the reality which we’re given.
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: While the regulator moves slowly, Pow Wow continues to operate. 7.30 recently found the company spruiking its cut price qualifications on group buying websites.
