Ensuring teacher effectiveness within higher education contexts continues to shape institutional policy discourse and practice. However, there is limited research exploring how assessment practices correspond with teachers' and students' perceptions of teacher effectiveness, particularly in vocational higher education settings. Acknowledging the complexities of assessing vocational competence and the dearth of literature exploring teacher and student views on vocational assessment practices, this study interrogates the perceptions of 13 teachers and 15 students from five Indonesian vocational higher education institutions to better understand what constitutes "fair assessment" as an aspect of effective teaching. This study examines how teachers and students are positioned within the assessment process and the existing opportunities to make decisions regarding assessment design and processes. It shows (i) discrepancies in teachers' and students' perceptions of student positionality within assessment processes; (ii) blurry lines between ideas of 'assessment contract' and 'assessment practice'; and (iii) contested views on student learning processes and attitudes as attributes of vocational competence. The study illuminates the tensions between students' and teachers' positionality within assessment practices, highlighting the need for increased student participation while maintaining teachers' desire to make assessment decisions.