Partnering with a registered training organisation (RTO) can help both organisations effectively deliver training that suits their clients' needs.

An RTO might look to partner with another RTO in order to outsource activities it cannot perform as profitably, competently or conveniently as its partner.

A non-registered organisation, such as a business or school, might partner with an RTO in order to avoid the conditions of registration and compliance whilst at the same time delivering the accredited course requirements to their employees or students. For example, a business might arrange to deliver all the on-the-job training whilst the RTO is responsible for the off-the-job training, certification, quality assurance and issuing the qualifications.

Establishing a partnership arrangement provides an opportunity to:

• share expertise, competencies and best practice
• reduce costs, by achieving economies of scale while using the distinctive capacities of each partner
• innovate, by bringing together different technologies and approaches to form new goods and services
• deliver training at a time and place best suited to the client
• develop holistic assessment solutions
• promote and improve communication between diverse groups.

Issuing qualifications

The RTO issuing the qualification and/or statement of attainment is the ‘lead RTO’. The other organisation (RTO, enterprise or school) is the ‘partner organisation’.

Agreements

A good formal agreement will clearly establish the basic rules under which a partnership arrangement will operate. The type of agreement chosen will be influenced by:

• the policies and procedures on partnership arrangements set by an organisation and those in the organisation(s) with whom there is a proposed collaboration
• how much an organisation is required to put into the partnership in terms of money, time and effort
• the degree of risk that may be entailed in the partnership.

A memorandum of uderstanding (MOU) is not legally enforceable, it is best used in partnership arrangements which entail a low level of risk for the lead RTO and the partner organisations, or where the partners are not separate legal entities. As the potential risk increases it is wise to ensure that the contracts between partners are enforceable in a court of law.

Making a partnership work

There are risks for each partner when entering into a training partnership. Building a partnership requires an investment of valuable time and resources.

Identifying and allowing for possible risks in the planning stage is the most effective way to minimise their impact.

To succeed, each partner needs to plan their own involvement in relation to a shared vision and agreed roles and responsibilities. Trust and ongoing communication are cited by many partnerships as the most important elements for success.