(ACPET) Australian Council for Private Education and Training

ACPET’s quality members: ACPET’s 1,100 members comprise institutions which offer a diverse range of vocational education, higher education, English language, foundation studies and primary/secondary school.

Members range from large publicly listed companies to sole operators specialising in niche markets.

Our focus on high standards means only quality independent training organisations are admitted as members. These members must adhere to the ACPET Code of Ethics and are encouraged and rewarded for regularly participating in professional development activities.

A vital part of the community: Private tertiary education providers in Australia contribute $5.8 billion per year to the national economy. They employ almost 100,000 (equivalent full-time) people and provide training for more than 1.4 million (equivalent full-time) students. ACPET and its members work closely with industry to ensure relevant education and training with good employment outcomes.

ACPET members are socially inclusive as demonstrated in the ACPET Statement on Social Inclusion and Diversity and ACPET - Delivering on access and equity across Australia. ACPET’s National Natural Disaster Scholarship Scheme offers scholarships to people affected by bushfires, floods and cyclones throughout Australia.

Higher education: There are about 140 providers of independent higher education in Australia and the majority of these are ACPET members. The ACPET benchmarking service for higher education providers assists members to evaluate and improve their performance and learn from other providers. The ACPET journal for higher education is helping to lift the level of academic scholarship in the sector. Approximately 10% of tertiary qualifications in Australia are awarded by private institutions.

Vocational education and training: About 800 of ACPET’s members deliver nationally accredited vocational education and training (VET) courses. Some state governments are changing the way they fund vocational education and training to give the choice of provider – private or public – to the student. Since these reforms were introduced in Victoria, private providers have more than doubled their enrolments and the number of hours of training delivered. ACPET continues to advocate for similar reforms which improve access to government funding
for independent education providers across Australia.

International education: Is Australia’s largest services export industry and the third largest export industry overall. In 2011, more than 250,000 international students from 190 countries were enrolled at independent tertiary institutions in Australia. By the end of 2011, 130,000 of those had successfully graduated. Approximately 90% of independent providers with international students are ACPET members. ACPET’s regular survey, the i-Graduate International Student Barometer, provides a very positive picture of the ACPET international student experience.