A training company run by the Queensland premier received government funding for more training hours than it delivered, documents show.

An education business run by Queensland Premier David Crisafulli received government funding for more teaching hours than it actually provided, an audit has found.

The company, operating as SET Solutions, claimed 40 hours of training even though a training course only lasted one day, according to a review by the Victorian government’s education department.

“The Department paid for training delivered in significantly less time than planned,” review authors EY wrote.

The review was obtained exclusively by the ABC under Freedom of Information laws.

This marks the latest question about problems at SET Solutions, whose company name was Southern Edge Training when Mr Crisafulli ran the organization during a break from politics.

He had taught courses ranging from hotel management to forklift operation and received government funding.

Melbourne-based SET Solutions had long struggled with compliance and financial difficulties before Mr Crisafulli took over as sole director and chief executive on December 1, 2015.

He resigned four months later on 1 April 2016 and the company was liquidated on 30 June 2016.

According to the report, requested hours exceeded available hours by 19 times

He did not answer some questions about the company, including why he settled subsequent liquidation claims, instead repeatedly saying he was fulfilling his “obligations” as a director.

The Victorian Department of Education and Training brought in EY for a review, which released the findings in August 2016.

EY highlighted a number of issues, including 19 occasions where “the hours claimed exceeded the hours available between the start and end date of the recording activity”.

Many incidents were recorded in the months before Mr. Crisafulli took over as CEO.

Yet the review, which was there on six occasions in January and February 2016, noted that paid contact hours were longer than the actual course duration for students.

The courses were cargo handling and health management training.

The review stated: “There were cases where 40 hours were requested for a module whose duration was reported as one day.”

It was also noted that 80 hours of wages were paid for a three-day course.

Under contract rules, education providers were required to submit data to the government on a monthly basis.

Report shows ‘a pattern of problems’

Claire Field, an industry consultant working in VET audit, told the ABC that “unfortunately there have been some cases during this period of Victorian government-funded providers over-claiming the number of hours of training provided”.

“The EY report shows a number of problems with other aspects of SET Solutions’ record keeping (in addition to them claiming more training hours than they delivered) and these errors should have been identified through robust internal quality controls and external benchmarking.”

The agreement required a registered educational institution to pay the ministry for any violations.

The Victorian government was unable to answer questions, saying it could not provide additional information at this time. In the EY review, it was stated that the company ceased its operations on the date the report was delivered.

The ABC sent Mr Crisafulli’s office a copy of the EY review, but his office refused to answer questions about the findings.

While in opposition in 2018, Mr Crisafulli told parliament that he did not leave the company or run away during his time there.

He told Parliament he worked to bring in new revenue, new ownership and ease costs but was never paid himself. A creditor also told the ABC that Mr Crisafulli was forthright and kept his promises.

ABC announced this year:

• Liquidators had thought the company might have been trading insolvent from the day Mr Crisafulli took over
• While Mr Crisafulli denied the insolvent trading claim, he later paid $200,000 to satisfy the liquidators’ demands
• Attempts to prove that the company fixed past compliance issues while Mr. Crisafulli was CEO were rejected by federal regulators

Loading…