There are new allegations one of the country's biggest private vocational education providers, Careers Australia, is using large call centres to pressure vulnerable people into signing up for expensive courses.

Key points: Troy Hattrick says he was called by Careers Australia and pressured to sign up for a course

Troy Hattrick says he was called by Careers Australia and pressured to sign up for a course The company got his details after he signed up to a job website

The company got his details after he signed up to a job website Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to investigate new allegations

Perth 18-year-old Troy Hattrick received a phone call from Careers Australia out of the blue last month.

The company obtained his contact details after he signed up to a job website and agreed to the terms and conditions which included sending his information to third parties like Careers Australia.

"I had never signed up for anything to do with Careers Australia, I had no idea that they existed and they just called me out of the blue after my 18th birthday," he said.

The cold calling of potential students by vocational education providers was banned by the Federal Government from the beginning of this year in a crackdown on the sector.

But 7.30 spoke with former Brisbane call centre employee Peter Jensen, who claimed it was common for people to feel like they were being cold called.

"Absolutely, the majority were very, very surprised [to receive calls]," Mr Jensen told 7.30.

Careers Australia buys phone numbers from marketing companies and Peter Jensen would ring them to try and find potential students.

Do you know more about this story? Email 7.30syd@your.abc.net.au

"[People] would often be quite upset, they felt that they'd been deceived by an online competition or they'd applied for a job at a supermarket or they'd visited an online sales site and answered a few questions," Mr Jensen said.

"I don't believe these people ever gave informed consent to that level of marketing."

'I definitely did feel under pressure'

Troy Hattrick says Careers Australia called him out of the blue after his 18th birthday. ( Supplied )

Mr Hattrick says Careers Australia called him, spruiking a $17,000 online course in leadership and management even though he has not finished high school and is looking for outdoor work.

"They asked me if I was interested in any courses, like what kind of employment would I want to do, and I said something physical and some kind of labouring like welding or landscaping, and they said I wouldn't be able to get a job in that field unless I did this course," he said.

Mr Hattrick was shocked to learn after the call he had been signed up for the course.

"I didn't actually say I wanted to do the course or not, I just said I was interested. When they did put me through that process they basically read me a page-long legal document and I didn't have any idea what they were saying," Mr Hattrick said.

"I definitely did feel under pressure and I felt like I hadn't even signed up for the course."

'We don't cold call'

Careers Australia denied cold calling students and told 7.30 anyone receiving a phone call had already expressed an interest in vocational education.

The company employs 350 telemarketers in call centres in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and the Philippines.

"We don't cold call, the Federal Government has banned cold calling," Careers Australia's executive general manager of marketing, government and public affairs, Gerard Benedet, at said.

"The data that we do purchase is done through a registration process. They clearly know that it is Careers Australia."

A spokesperson for Careers Australia said they got Mr Hattrick's contact details via an agreement with job search website Jobify. They said their records showed Mr Hattrick used Jobify and agreed to be contacted by opting into the following:

I agree to being contacted to have job alerts, career advice and resume templates.

I agree to being contacted to have job alerts, career advice and resume templates. I also agree to being contacted by or on behalf of Education groups to discuss potentially enrolling in education and training courses with 3rd party education providers.

I also agree to being contacted by or on behalf of Education groups to discuss potentially enrolling in education and training courses with 3rd party education providers. By using our services you agree to our terms and conditions and privacy policy.

The spokesperson said: "Like many businesses, Careers Australia use lead generation data where people opt in to be contacted by third parties, to market their services".

Last year, 7.30 revealed door-to-door salesmen were targeting poor communities using so-called "free laptops" as an inducement to sign people up with Careers Australia, leaving them in significant debt.

In May, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission took action against the company for breaching consumer law and it agreed to forgo $160 million in federal government funding, promising the ACCC the bad behaviour would stop.

7.30 has learned the vocational education regulator ASQA received 68 student complaints about Careers Australia since April 2015 and is continuing to investigate more than 30.

Laptops still offered

Former call centre worker Peter Jensen also claims laptops are still being offered as inducements to close deals with students.

Peter Jensen, former Brisbane call centre worker for Careers Australia.

Laptops are now offered as loans and need to be returned by students at the completion of the course.

"I vividly remember a young gentleman who said that he was bored looking after the kids and would like to do a course but didn't have a laptop and I explained to him that wasn't going to be a problem," Mr Jensen said.

"The next day I get a call from his sister saying she wants to do a course and she mentions the laptop. It was the laptop that made that deal."

Careers Australia strongly denied any wrongdoing and branded Mr Jensen a disgruntled ex-employee.

"[The laptop is] not being used as an inducement as I understand it. We have hundreds of good staff in those call centres that aren't on performance management that did not resign from our organisation," Mr Benedet said.

"If Peter has any legitimate evidence that he used them in his calls, which is in breach of his employment agreement and the conditions we place on our staff, then of course we will look at it."

ACCC to investigate

ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said his organisation would investigate the new claims.

"I'm exceptionally concerned to hear those allegations," Mr Sims said.

"The big issue here is are they really approaching people who have no real ability to complete these courses, because that is not only misleading the individual who gets lumbered with the debt but it is causing the Commonwealth to lose a very large sum of money."

Mr Hattrick cancelled his enrolment with Careers Australia, started a TAFE course in landscaping and is excited about his future. But after his close call with Careers Australia he wants to warn others.

"I believe if I hadn't talked to my dad and talked to my mum about this I would have definitely signed up for this and put myself in $17,000 of debt," he said.

"And I think with the tactics they use they are breaking some law or at least morally are questionable and I think it needs to stop."

Careers Australia is adamant its sales practices have changed and they're only enrolling legitimate students.

"We've had over 2,000 graduations this year so we believe we are graduating students who want to study," Mr Benedet said.