they removed the penalty.
they also removed the part where subjects had to be done within a certain amount of years around each other to count.
BUT, as of this year, if you have done a CERT 3 or a UNI degree and you decide to go and do a VCE subject, then you have to pay FULL FEE. you cant get concession or anything.(this is done so people, such as the druggie from my class last year who did uni in 1987, and then did vce from 2000 until 2010, to "keep his mind active" at the ripe age of 42 couldnt do vce, then uni, then vce, then uni thus huge hecs bill that will never be paid and a wanker who will never work)
edit: When i looked at doing my vce as an adult, one thing that turned me off RMIT was that not many subjects were on offer. hence why i went to the cae, but i also looked at Distance Ed