Principal purpose requirement


What you need to know

We cannot approve an application for registration as a training organisation, or renew a registration, unless the applicant's legal entity has the 'principal purpose' of providing education and training.

We assess your organisation's 'principal purpose' as part of the application process. This happens for both new registrations and registration renewals.

We charge a fee for this assessment. We may waive the fee if an organisation either:

  • demonstrates that it is automatically exempt from the principal purpose requirement
  • declares that it does not meet the principal purpose requirement and provides an application for Ministerial Exemption.

We charge only a portion of fee upfront ($1584). However, we may issue an additional invoice once the principal purpose assessment is complete, if the assessement costis more than $1584.

To  view the current fee, see:

Automatic exemption

Under the Education and Training Reform Amendment (Skills) Act 2010, some organisations are automatically exempted from the principal purpose requirement, including:

  • universities, TAFE institutes or adult education institutions
  • registered schools
  • bodies in receipt of ACFE funding
  • public sector bodies or Commonwealth or state departments or authorities.

Applying for Ministerial exemption

If your organisation is not automatically exempt from the principal purpose requirement, and does not have the principal purpose of providing education and training, you can apply to the VRQA's Chief Executive Officer (Director) for a Ministerial exemption.

Exemptions are considered if an RTO is:

  • a community based organisation
  • provides education and training on a not-for-profit basis
  • provides education and training only to their staff members or staff members of a related entity.

To apply for an exemption, send us a completed application form:

We have prepared a guide to help with your application:

Send your application to:

Chief Executive Officer (Director)
Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority
GPO Box 2317
MELBOURNE VIC 3001