This article was originally written in 2020. Another article with more recent information was published in 2024. The title of this more recent article is:
Introduction to nominal hours
Nominal hours are used for two different purposes:
- Nominal hours are used for reporting purposes
- Nominal hours are used for funding purposes.
Nominal hours are about money, not time
Nominal hours are used by State and Territory Governments to determine the amount of money paid to an RTO when they deliver government subsidised training. Each unit of competency is assigned ‘nominal hours’, and a dollar amount per hour is allocated for each qualification that the government is willing to subsidise.
The following formula is used to calculate the amount of money to be paid to an RTO for delivering government-subsidised training.
Nominal hours x Dollar amount per hour = Dollars paid to an RTO
Each State and Territory Government determines their own subsidy rate. Therefore, the subsidy rate for a particular qualification can vary in different jurisdictions. And a qualification may be subsidised by one State Government, but not by another.
Nationally agreed nominal hours
Victoria was the first State or Territory Government that implemented market-based pricing for government-subsidised training. It publishes nominal hours in Victorian Purchasing Guides.
In recent years, nationally agreed nominal hours have been established for RTOs when reporting ‘nominal hours’ in their AVETMISS submissions. [4]
Nominal hours and contact hours differ
Nominal hours are about money, not time because they are used to calculate how much money and RTO gets paid for delivering government-subsidised training.
Nominal hours have very little to do with the contact hours (the time allocated for contact between a learner and their trainer). Contact hours are determined by an RTO and they are usually less than the nominal hours, and can be substantially less.
This article was originally written in 2020. Another article with more recent information and examples was published in 2024. The title of this more recent article is: What are nominal hours?
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Thank you for this very informative article. Do you know what the rules are around Minimum & Maximum Payable Hours? For instance, the Victorian Purchasing Guide for CUA Creative Arts and Culture Training Package states that the Min/Max Payable Hours for Cert IV Photography and Digital Imaging is 931/980. Does that mean the RTO must deliver the course over a minimum of 931 and a maximum of 980 nominal hours? I have understood “nominal” hours to mean “scheduled” and therefore “payable” hours. The volume of learning for a Cert IV is 600 – 2400 hours. Does this mean that nominal hours can be anything within this range, or should an RTO deliver the course within the Min/Max hours stipulated by Skills First?
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In Victoria, the ‘nominal hours’ in the Victorina Purchasing Guide refer to what the state government will pay an approved provider. The range of minimum and maximum hours occurs due to different number of nominal hours for different units that can be electives. The government decided to put a cap on what it would be willing to pay an RTO and that is the maximum. The nominal hours are calculated by adding the allocated hours for each unit that will make up the qualification to be delivered. I hope this helps in understanding it a bit more.
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ASQA says that nominal hours are the number of hours that a student will be supervised, guided and assessed by a trainer, either in person or online. How is that “about money not time”?
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ASQA may say that nominal hours are the number of hours that a student will be supervised, guided and assessed by a trainer but often there is a discrepancy between ‘actual hours of supervision, guidance and assessment’ and ‘nominal hours’. I regularly speak with students who experience very little ‘supervised or guided hours’.
Nominal hours are used for reporting purposes and determining payment for the delivery of government-subsidised training. I have worked for RTOs that fabricate hours on their Training and Assessment Strategy so that on paper ‘nominal hours’ and ‘volume of learning’ requirements are met.
Thank you for asking the question. I hope I have answered it.
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Thanks Alan – that was a very quick reply! I thought RTOs had to follow ASQA guidance or they wouldn’t be registered (or something? Sorry, I don’t know how it works really!) So does that mean that those RTOs are in breach of their operating guidelines / relevant QA framework? Or is it acceptable within the rules somehow?
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It is highly likely that ASQA is ignorant about, or ignore, what really happens in RTOs. There are many rule-breakers, and there are many cases of poor quality training. I suppose the questions you raise would be best answered by ASQA.
And we seem to continue moving towards ‘self-regulated RTOs’ rather than ‘externally audited RTOs’. This means RTOs can continue to get away with being non-compliant in regards to the Standards for RTOs.
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Thanks again Alan. That’s really interesting, and a bit worrying!
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Thank you for asking. I agree with you, that it is a bit worrying. As a final note, I believe that VET has suffers from weak regulators, and weak government leadership, for more than a decade. We have had regulations but there hasn’t been an appetite for enforcement. Many people say we need to give the regulators more powers or change the regulations to make them better. But I don’t think these things will make improves to the quality of training or outcomes. ASQA seems to want to be an educator rather than a regulator. ASQA seems to be a spectator rather than an active player.
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Hi Alan,
Getting back to one of the observations you made. Why do you think it is that some RTO’s insist that their TAE40122 students use nominal hours rather than a more realistic number of training hours for some of the assessments such as developing a learning plan as a precursor to session plans and presentations. I am mentoring a student who tells me that he is supposed to allocate 40 nominal hours over 4 days of training for BSBCMM211. Realistically if that was real life as opposed to a training exercise the students ( and for that matter the trainer also) would be being set up to fail.
Regards
David Caldwell
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