About ABE Education — Owner Builder & CPD Training Since 2007

What is ABE Education?

ABE Education is an Australian online training provider specialising in Owner Builder and CPD courses, with White Card and asbestos awareness training delivered through registered RTO partners. Since 2007, more than 31,000 students across five states and territories have completed courses built and reviewed by licensed industry professionals and approved by state regulators.

ABE Education was founded in Sydney in 2007 by licensed NSW builder Dominic Ogburn to fix a gap in how Owner Builder and CPD training was delivered in Australia. Print workbooks, weekend classrooms, and generic online modules were leaving licensees and owner builders with content that was either outdated or disconnected from the way state regulators actually assess permit applications and continuing professional development.

Nearly two decades later, ABE has trained more than 31,000 students across every state and territory it operates in. Owner Builder and CPD courses are delivered directly by ABE under state regulator approvals; nationally recognised qualifications such as the White Card and asbestos awareness are delivered in partnership with registered training organisations. In both pathways, courses are developed by licensed industry professionals and independently reviewed for compliance before publication.

What does ABE Education set out to do?

ABE Education exists to make construction licensing and continuing professional development clear, current, and completable online. Every course is written to match what regulators actually require — current legislation, current fees, current forms — so students can finish training, submit applications, and get back to building with confidence.

Training only works if it matches the jurisdiction the student is licensed in. An Owner Builder application in Tasmania is not the same as one in Western Australia. A CPD-point cycle in NSW runs on different rules to a CPD cycle in TAS. A White Card issued through a Queensland RTO partner follows different assessment requirements to one issued in the ACT.

Every ABE course is built for a specific jurisdiction and a specific regulator, with links out to the official .gov.au pages so students always work from current primary sources.

Is ABE Education a Registered Training Organisation?

No. ABE Education is not a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) — and we do not claim to be. ABE operates through a dual-pathway authority model: for nationally recognised training, we partner with registered RTOs who issue the qualification; for state-regulated Owner Builder and CPD courses, we are approved directly by the relevant state regulator.

This two-pathway structure is stronger for students than a single-RTO model because it delivers multiple verification points — national accreditation through our RTO partners and direct state approval for jurisdiction-specific courses — all backed by third-party .gov.au verification links.

Pathway 1: RTO partnerships for nationally recognised training

For nationally recognised training, ABE delivers the online learning platform and student experience while a registered training organisation issues the qualification and holds the ASQA accreditation.

• Blue Dog Training (RTO 31193) — White Card (CPCWHS1001) for QLD, WA, and TAS
• AlertForce (RTO 91826) — White Card, Asbestos Awareness, and Silica Awareness for the ACT

The Statement of Attainment and White Card are issued by the RTO partner, not by ABE.

Pathway 2: Direct state regulator approvals

For Owner Builder and CPD courses, ABE Education is approved directly by the state regulator and issues its own Certificate of Completion.

• CBOS Tasmania — approved Owner Builder and CPD provider for Tasmanian practitioners
• Access Canberra — approved Owner Builder course for the ACT
• LGIRS (Western Australia) — course meets Form 75 knowledge requirements
• QBCC — Owner Builder training co-delivered with Edway Training (RTO 91401)
• NSW Fair Trading — CPD for builders and swimming pool builders meeting the 12-point annual criteria

Who develops and reviews ABE Education’s courses?

Every ABE course is developed by a licensed industry professional and independently reviewed for compliance and currency by a separate specialist. The developer and reviewer are always different people. This two-stage process is the same discipline used by RTOs and state regulators to keep training accurate over time.

Dominic Ogburn — founder and CEO — develops ABE’s Owner Builder and CPD content. Dominic is a licensed NSW builder (Licence 369417C), a 2005 NSW Fair Trading Minister’s Award winner, and a former member of Standards Australia committee BD-038. His construction career began in 1980 at Stuart Brothers Pty Ltd, a Sydney builder founded in 1886.

Warwick Smith — Compliance and Currency Reviewer — independently verifies that every published course page reflects current legislation, government fees, regulator names, and official links. Warwick is Senior Consultant, Compliance and Operations at Corporate Development Resource Group (CDRG), with 27 years in the Australian VET sector.

Meet the experts who develop and review our courses →

Who takes ABE Education courses?

ABE Education trains owner builders managing their own home construction, licensed tradespeople meeting annual CPD obligations, real estate agents and property managers clearing elective points, and building professionals needing a White Card to work on site. Students are based everywhere from Perth and Hobart to regional WA, ACT, and Tasmania — a third of our WA owner builders are from outside Perth.

The audiences we work with have different licences and different regulators, but they share a common need: training that fits around paid work and a family, not the other way around. Some are clearing an annual CPD obligation before their renewal date. Some are owner builders whose finance, land, and plans are all sorted — the course is the final compliance step before building starts. Others are entering the construction industry and need their White Card to start on Monday.

Every ABE course is designed to be completed on any device, at any hour, from anywhere with an internet connection. No classrooms, no fixed intakes, no travel — because most of our students cannot afford to take a day off work to sit in a room.

Why do students choose ABE Education?

Students choose ABE Education because our courses are jurisdiction-specific, developed by licensed industry professionals, independently reviewed for compliance, and approved by the regulator who assesses their application. The content matches what the regulator requires, and the format matches how working tradespeople, licensees, and owner builders actually have time to study.

• Around your schedule, not the other way around. 100% online, self-paced, mobile-friendly. Study between appointments, during a lunch break, or after knock-off. Most students finish a course in a single sitting.
• Jurisdiction-specific content. Every course is built for the state it serves. ACT Owner Builder content references Access Canberra forms and ACT legislation — not generic “Australian” material adapted at the last minute.
• Two-stage quality control. A licensed industry professional develops the content; a separate compliance specialist reviews it. Nobody marks their own homework. Our courses hold a 95% first-attempt pass rate.
• Real-world, not textbook. Content is written by experienced builders and compliance specialists, not academics — so the skills land in your actual work on Monday morning.
• Instant certificate delivery. Finish the course, receive your completion certificate or Statement of Attainment immediately — no waiting, no postal delays.
• Built for anywhere in Australia. Almost a third of our WA Owner Builder students are in regional areas. Courses work equally well from Bunbury, Launceston, or Canberra as they do from Sydney or Perth.
• Honest pricing. Bundles can save you more than $200 compared with individual courses, and we do not run coupon-of-the-week promotions — the price you see is the price you pay.