Sunrise Institute of Australia Pty Ltd and Australian Skills Quality Authority

This matter concerned an application by Sunrise Institute of Australia Pty Ltd (Sunrise) to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, seeking review of decisions made by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA). ASQA had decided to cancel Sunrise's registration as a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (Cth) (NVR Act) and to refuse Sunrise's application for registration on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS) under the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (Cth) (ESOS Act).

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Sunrise had failed to comply with a direction by the Tribunal and whether Sunrise's substantive application for review had no reasonable prospect of success, which would warrant dismissal. The Tribunal was required to consider the history of Sunrise's registration and its compliance with regulatory standards.

The Tribunal noted that Sunrise's initial application for RTO registration in October 2015 was refused due to critical non-compliance with the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015. However, following an internal review and the provision of further information, Sunrise was granted RTO registration in August 2016, albeit limited to one course and requiring rectification of identified non-compliant matters within 20 days. A second course was approved in April 2017, with Sunrise described as "generally compliant" at that time. A subsequent application for CRICOS registration in March 2017 led to an audit in October 2017, which revealed non-compliance in several areas, including enrolment, support and progression, training and assessment, and regulatory compliance. Despite opportunities to provide further information, an updated audit report in December 2017 confirmed ongoing non-compliance. Consequently, in May 2018, ASQA decided to cancel Sunrise's RTO registration and refuse its CRICOS registration application. The Tribunal ultimately refused ASQA's application for dismissal of Sunrise's substantive application.