Professional development

Federal Government appoints Saxon Rice to the role of National VET Regulator

Freya Lucas

Dec 04, 2020

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The Australian Government has announced the appointment of Ms Saxon Rice to the role of the National Vocational Education and Training (VET) Regulator.

Ms Rice will serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), starting from 1 January 2021, for a five-year term.

ASQA has an important responsibility in the context of early childhood education and care (ECEC) as the body which protects and enhances the quality of training in Australia.

“In her role as Chief Commissioner of ASQA since December 2019, Ms Rice has been focused on the implementation of internal reforms, making significant progress to improve engagement with training providers to help improve the quality of VET,” Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, Michaelia Cash said.

Ms Cash congratulated Ms Rice on her appointment, praising her for the work she has done thus far to ensure that ASQA provided responsive and balanced support to training providers throughout the COVID-19.

“I’m confident ASQA is well-placed to continue implementing the Government’s priorities which will ensure there is fair, transparent and effective regulation of the VET sector,” she added.

The Rapid Review of ASQA’s Regulatory Practices and Processes recommended internal structural changes to ASQA to support implementation of reform to ASQA’s regulatory approach and modernise its governance arrangements. The governance changes to ASQA create the single statutory office of the National VET Regulator and abolish all previous commissioner roles.

Dr Irene Ioannakis’ appointment as Deputy Chief Commissioner of ASQA will cease on 31 December 2020. Assistant Minister for Vocational Education, Training and Apprenticeships, Steve Irons MP, said Dr Ioannakis has made a positive contribution to ASQA since joining the agency in 2017, supporting Government priorities for regulation of the VET sector.

“I thank her for her service, which has included addressing the challenges of COVID-19, and more recently, in the reform process of ASQA,” he added.

Further information about the appointment may be found here.

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