The short version. The Standards for RTOs 2015 were repealed on 1 July 2025. Under the instrument that replaced them, the one-year limit applies to enrolling new students in a superseded product. Finishing the students already enrolled has no time limit — the instrument asks only that it happen “in a timely manner”.
What the old rule said
Clause 1.26(a) of the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015gave providers twelve months from the date a replacement product was published to do two things: stop enrolling into the old product, and get everyone already in it either finished or transferred. One number, both obligations. That is the twelve months everybody remembers, and it was correct — until it was repealed.
What the current rule says
The instrument in force is the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Compliance Standards for NVR Registered Training Organisations) Instrument 2025(F2025L00355). Section 14(1)(a) splits the old single obligation into two, and gives a number to only one of them.
Who it applies to. The name of the instrument says it: these are the compliance standards for NVR registered training organisations — the providers regulated by ASQA, which is most of the sector. Providers registered only in Victoria (VRQA) or only in Western Australia (TAC) sit under their own regulator's arrangements, and this instrument is not automatically theirs. If you are not sure which applies to you, your registration certificate names your regulator.
| What you want to do | How long you have | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|
| Enrol someone new in the superseded product | One year from the date the replacement went on the National Register | s 14(1)(a)(i) |
| Finish the students already enrolled | No number. “In a timely manner” | s 14(1)(a)(ii) |
The two provisions, quoted in full:
“no individuals are enrolled in the superseded training product from the period commencing one year from the date the replacement training product was included on the National Register”
F2025L00355, s 14(1)(a)(i)
“all VET students enrolled in the superseded training product have completed the training product and been issued the relevant AQF certification documentation or have been transferred into the replacement training product in a timely manner”
F2025L00355, s 14(1)(a)(ii)
And the Explanatory Statement that accompanies the instrument says what changed, in one sentence:
“The requirements to transition existing students within 12 months has been removed.”
Explanatory Statement, F2025L00355
The misreading to avoid
Read on its own, s 14(1)(a)(i) can look like it says nobody may be enrolled in the superseded product after one year — which would mean everyone has to be out by then. That reading is wrong, and it is the expensive kind of wrong: it would tell a provider it is non-compliant when it is not.
It contradicts the very next subparagraph, which contemplates students still enrolled and being taught out. And the Explanatory Statement resolves it directly:
“The current time limit of one year for enrolling new studentsin a superseded training product has been retained in subparagraph 14(1)(a)(i).”
Explanatory Statement, F2025L00355
The year is about the intake, not about the students already in the room.
Why the old rule is still everywhere
Because it was right for ten years, and because the guidance that explained it is still online. A search for the transition period today returns pages that describe clause 1.26 as current, including material published by the regulator about the 2015 Standards. None of that is dishonest — it is simply guidance about an instrument that has since been repealed, and repeals do not reach back and edit the internet.
The practical consequence is worth stating plainly: if your transition policy says “twelve months”, it is describing a rule that no longer exists. It may still be a perfectly good internal policy — twelve months is a defensible reading of “timely” — but it is a decision you are making, not a requirement you are meeting.
What this changes in practice
- The enrolment cut-off is a hard date, and it is per product and per provider.It runs from the day the replacement was added to the National Register, which is published. It is not the day the old product was marked superseded, and it is not the day you found out.
- The teach-out has no clock, which is not the same as having forever.“Timely” is undefined in the instrument, so it is a judgement — yours, and your regulator's. A student sitting in a superseded product three years on is a question you should expect to be asked at renewal.
- The two halves can pull in opposite directions. A product can be closed to new enrolments while you still have people finishing in it. That is normal under the current rule, and it was not possible under the old one.
How to check your own dates
Every date in this article comes from the public register, which means you can verify all of it yourself. The date a replacement was added to the National Register is published on training.gov.au for every product, and so is the supersession record that connects the two.
Our free scope check reads that for your own RTO: which of your products are superseded, what replaced each one, whether the register flags the replacement equivalent, and where each chain ends. No account, and nothing about you is kept beyond the code you typed.
Which of your products are past the enrolment cut-off?
The free check reads your live scope from the register: what is superseded, what replaced it, and when the replacement was published.
Check my scopeSources
- National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Compliance Standards for NVR Registered Training Organisations) Instrument 2025 — F2025L00355, s 14(1)(a). In force from 1 July 2025.
- Explanatory Statement to F2025L00355 — the two sentences quoted above.
- training.gov.au — the National Register, where every supersession and its date is published.
Verified on 11 August 2026 against F2025L00355 on legislation.gov.au: s 14(1)(a)(i) and s 14(1)(a)(ii) quoted in full above, and both sentences from the Explanatory Statement read from the official text. This is what the instrument says — whether any particular enrolment meets it is a judgement for you and your regulator, and this page does not make it. We read the register and the legislation; we do not assess compliance.
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