Validate and release

Validate and release confirms the package is fit for use and fixes it as a named version. Later evidence can then be tied to exactly what was delivered.

In regulated sectors this stage already exists in part. In Australian vocational education, for example, providers registered with the national regulator must show that "assessment tools are reviewed prior to use" (Standard 1.3, in force from 1 July 2025). The EDLC treats that review as one gate in a loop rather than a standalone compliance event. Running this gate does not, by itself, show compliance with any standard.

What happens

• Review the assessment tools and materials before use, with reviewers who did not write them wherever you can.
• Record the findings and fix what must be fixed before use.
• Give the package a release identifier and record which cohort it is released to.

At the gate, ask

• Has it been reviewed before use, and did the findings change it?
• Can we say, a year from now, exactly which version this cohort received?
• Are the known limitations recorded, so they are not rediscovered as complaints?

Source: National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Outcome Standards for Registered Training Organisations) Instrument 2025, Standard 1.3(b). Commenced 1 July 2025. Federal Register of Legislation, F2025L00354.