New rules mean immediate fines will be handed to Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) who breach national standards.

Assistant Minister for Education and Training Senator Simon Birmingham has unveiled the new infringement scheme as part of efforts to stop the extreme dodginess of many providers.

Recent reports have detailed the intense sales tactics and near-meaningless courses some rogue providers coerce people in to.

It leaves students with big debts and in many cases, useless qualifications for everything from trade skills to natural health and child care.

“The new scheme will come in to effect... along with tough new standards and new laws to crack down on dodgy marketing practices by RTOs and third parties/brokers, will give ASQA [Australian Skills Quality Authority] a full suite of powers to act on rogue operators,” Senator Birmingham said.

“Penalties for the fines range from a couple of thousand dollars to ten thousand for a single breach, and for multiple breaches there is the potential for the ultimate fine to be hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“The infringement notice scheme... allows ASQA to take action against an RTO, where they, or their marketing agent, fail to provide clear information to a prospective student about the qualification they are signing up for, where the training will be undertaken, how long the course will take, what support services are available and the costs associated with them.

“This includes any debt that may be incurred, when repayment is required and under what conditions.

“Further penalties in relation to breaches of VET FEE-HELP guidelines are also being developed and will be in place by next year,” Senator Birmingham said.