Sector guide · OH&S consultancy & training
Recurring revenue versus project work
This is the difference between a business that attracts competing offers and one that sells on a thin multiple. Retained safety advisory.
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Recurring revenue versus project work
This is the difference between a business that attracts competing offers and one that sells on a thin multiple. Retained safety advisory arrangements, scheduled refresher training cycles, ongoing system maintenance and audit support are recurring and they transfer. One off consultancy projects and ad hoc course delivery do not.
If any part of your work can be converted to a retained or scheduled basis before you go to market, that is the highest return preparation available in this sector. A buyer values a contracted monthly advisory fee at several times what they will pay for the same revenue delivered as unpredictable project work.
What ASQA must be told about a change of ownership, and when
| Trigger | What must happen, and by when |
|---|---|
| Prospective change to the ownership of the organisation | Notify the National VET Regulator as soon as practicable before the change takes effect, under section 16(3)(a) of the Compliance Standards Instrument 2025 |
| Change of a governing person that can be determined in advance | Notify as soon as practicable before the change takes effect, under section 16(3)(b)(ii) |
| Change of a governing person that cannot be determined until it takes effect | Notify within 10 business days of the change taking effect, under section 16(3)(b)(i) |
| An event that would significantly affect the organisation’s ability to comply with its obligations | Notify within 10 business days after the event occurs, under sections 16(1) and 16(2) |
| 15 per cent or more of the shareholding of the company changes | Notification to ASQA is required. A Fit and Proper Person Declaration is required for all governing persons, including anyone who owns 15 per cent or more of the organisation |
| 50 per cent or more change to company shareholding | Treated as a significant change. ASQA applies more scrutiny and requires a Financial Viability Risk Assessment Tool |
| 50 per cent or more of shareholdings changed over a rolling 12 month period, including through a parent or ultimate owner | The Self-Assessment Tool for Change of Ownership must be completed and submitted. Staged sell-downs and earn-outs aggregate into this test |
| CRICOS registered providers | Notification before the change takes effect |
| How notification is given | A Notification of material change or event form in asqanet, selecting the ownership change or legal entity change category, in writing or electronically |
| After ASQA is notified | The RTO must provide any further information relating to the notice as soon as practicable, if requested by the regulator |
| For 12 months after the change | ASQA applies increased scrutiny and may conduct a compliance audit |
| If notification is not given, or is given late | Notification is a condition of registration under section 25 of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011, so a failure is a breach of a registration condition and engages ASQA’s administrative sanction powers under Part 2 Division 3. ASQA states that delayed notification may result in regulatory action, and that proportionate regulatory action will be taken where non-compliance is found during a compliance audit |
Section references are to the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Compliance Standards for NVR Registered Training Organisations and Fit and Proper Person Requirements) Instrument 2025, register ID F2025L00355, registered 14 March 2025 and in force from 1 July 2025. The regulatory action wording comes from ASQA’s Statement of Regulatory Expectations, Version 1.0 dated 6 May 2026, and from ASQA’s change of ownership fact sheet. Change of ownership obligations of this kind have applied to changes recorded in ASIC records on or after 31 October 2019. Current as at August 2026.
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