A man who carried out First Aid and traffic management training courses without accreditation at two Launceston businesses has been given a $125,000 penalty and ordered to pay $75,000 in court costs.
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Federal Court Justice Nye Perram found the conduct of Leon Vere King, in which he issued fake certificates of attainment, "frays public confidence in the legitimacy of VET courses".
King was given the penalty in the Federal Court last week.
He taught First Aid and emergency protocol courses to about 10 staff members of Incat Tasmania in Launceston in January 2014, and traffic management courses to about 11 MAX Employment Launceston employees in September 2016.
He had an invoice for $616 from Incat and $2035 from MAX, among other invoices between the two dates, some of which had been refunded.
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Neither King, nor the company he was the sole director of, were registered with the National VET Regulator meaning the certificates he issued were "not genuine".
In his reasons for judgement, Justice Perram said there was "no doubt" King was motivated by financial gain and others needed to be deterred from attempting to run fake training courses.
He said this conduct could have wider ramifications.
"I accept that what has happened in this case has the potential to undermine public confidence in the vocational training sector," Justice Perram said.
"It is to be observed that the conduct in question not only frays public confidence in the legitimacy of VET courses but also in the certificates of attainment.
"One group of people likely to lose confidence in the sector will be employers who may become sceptical of the worth of certificates of attainment.
"Another relevant matter is that the VET sector is so large that there is a substantial risk that contraventions of the Act - such as Mr King's - may go undetected."