Fraudulent and Improper Qualifications In Childcare

When you're looking for a new Educator to join the team, you want someone who is knowledgeable, may have had some experience and is qualified. However, at times you may be suspicious due to the qualification the Educator has received yet the knowledge that they share or the answers to questions just don't match up.

So what do you do?

First of all, you need to determine if the qualification is fraudulent, it has been improperly awarded or it is a cancelled qualification.

Fraudulent Documentation

Qualifications that are altered, falsely created, or when details are changed are fraudulent. The qualification may be completely false or certain details may have been changed, such as the name, date or title.

To determine if the qualification is fraudulent you can look for the following:

• personal information is inconsistent
• laminate, stamps, signatures and/or holograms are not professional
• spelling and/or grammar is poor
• the text is out of alignment
• the font is inconsistent
• poor spacing or crowding of words
• the document is not professionally guillotined or appears hand cut
• watermarks or security threads are visible in a photocopy or scanned version of the document (these should only be visible on original documents and are best viewed through transmitted light – i.e., light shining from behind through the paper)
• background printing is not continuous.

Improperly awarded qualifications

If qualification documentation is genuine, but you have concerns about whether the person completed sufficient training, the person may hold an improperly awarded qualification. While these individuals bear the qualification documents, they may not have the skills and knowledge you would expect from a qualified educator.

In these instances, you should report your concerns to the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA). ASQA takes complaints seriously and values feedback from the sector to inform its regulatory operations.

Cancelled qualifications

In some instances, ASQA decides it is necessary to cancel qualifications that have been improperly awarded by a particular registered training organisation. If a qualification has been cancelled by ASQA, a person must not claim to hold the qualification. You may report a person claiming to hold a cancelled qualification to ASQA.

*In Victoria and Western Australia, there are also state-specific training regulators – the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority and Training Accreditation Council Western Australia.

If you find that an Educator that you are interviewing has fraudulent documentation you need to let them know that you suspect that their qualification is fake. You should also let them know of the repercussions that will entail if they continue trying to get a job with their fake qualifications.

You should also take photocopies of the all the documentation and contact your Regulatory Authority to let them know of your suspicions.

For those Educators that you suspect that has had an improperly awarded qualification, please understand that it is not their fault. The RTO, that may have issued the qualification did not train their Educators to the qualification standards as necessary. If you like the Educator, I would suggest you can offer then a traineeship if possible, or offer them suggestions to help them with their gain a proper qualification.

Reference:
ACECQA, What to do if you have concerns about a person’s qualification