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| POLICIES ON REFUNDS / RE-CREDITING OF FEES |
Withdrawals from Modules or a Course of Study
2. Withdrawals AFTER the Census Date
Non Fee-Help Students
: After the Census Date, if a student withdraws from a
module/s, including where the student withdraws from their course of study,
the student remains liable for the fees for that module/s and these must be
paid. A credit or refund of tuition fees will only apply after the Census Date
if the College has agreed to refund/re-credit a student’s tuition fees due to
special circumstances (see Para. 3 below for Policies on Re-crediting of Fees
for more detailed information).
Fee-Help Students: After the Census Date, if a student who has completed a
Request for Fee-Help assistance withdraws from a module/s, including where the
student withdraws from their course of study, the student will incur a
Fee-Help debt for that module/s.
3. Policies on Refunding or Re-crediting of Fees and Review Process
This policy applies only when all of the following conditions are satisfied:
a student is enrolled in a module within an accredited course of the College;
the student has enrolled in the module and Fee-Help students have completed
a Request for Fee-Help Assistance for the module.
the Census Date for the module has passed;
the student has been unable to complete the requirements of the module; and
the student believes that this inability to complete the unit was due to special circumstances.
Where all of the foregoing conditions are satisfied, a student may apply in
writing for re-crediting of the applicant’s Fees or Fee-Help balance.
Applications for the re-crediting of Fees or Fee-Help balance must be made
in writing to the Bursar of the College.
Applications for the re-crediting of Fees or Fee-Help balance must be
accompanied by independent documentary evidence, provided by a competent
person, which substantiates the claim that one of the following special
circumstances exist or existed:
medical circumstances; or
family circumstances; or
personal circumstances; or
employment related circumstances; or
course related circumstances.
Applications for re-crediting of Fees or Fee-Help balance must be submitted
within 12 months of the withdrawal date, or if the student has not withdrawn,
within 12 months of the end of the semester in which the unit was, or was to
be, undertaken. (If the College is satisfied that the application could not be
submitted within this timeframe due to circumstances beyond the control of the
student, the College may at its discretion waive this requirement).
The Bursar must consider each application for re-crediting of Fees or
Fee-Help balance on its merit. In order to approve an application, the Bursar
must be satisfied that special circumstances (see par. 3. d., above) applied
or apply to the applicant that are or were:
beyond the applicant’s control;
did not make their full impact on the applicant until after the census
date; and
made it impractical for the applicant to complete the requirements of the
module during the period in which the student undertook, or was to undertake,
the module.
The Bursar will be satisfied that the applicant’s circumstances were beyond
the applicant’s control if:
a situation occurred which a reasonable person would consider is not due to
the applicant’s action or inaction, either direct or indirect, and for which
the applicant is not responsible; and
the situation was unusual, uncommon or abnormal.
The Bursar will be satisfied that the applicant’s circumstances did not
make their full impact on the applicant until on or after the census date for
the unit(s) of study concerned if the applicant’s circumstances occurred:
before the census date, but worsened after that day; or
before the census date, but the full effect or magnitude did not become
apparent until on or
after that day; or
on or after the census date.
The Bursar must give a written response to applications for re-crediting of
Fees or Fee-Help balance within one month of receiving them in writing.
If the Bursar decides against re-crediting of Fees or Fee-Help balance, the
written response must inform the applicant or his or her right to apply to the
Principal for a review of the decision and that the time limit for such
applications for review is 28 days from the time when the applicant receives
the decision (or such longer period as the Reviewer may, at the Reviewer’s
sole discretion, allow).
Requests for a review of a decision not to re-credit Fees or Fee-Help
balance must be made in writing to the Principal and must state the reasons
why the application for review is being made.
The Principal must acknowledge in writing receipt of an application for a
review of a decision within fourteen days. This written acknowledgement must
include advice that if the applicant has not been advised of a decision
concerning the review within 45 days of the Principal receiving the request
for review, the Principal is taken to have confirmed the original decision by
the Bursar. The letter shall also include advice that the applicant has the
right of appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), their contact
details and information concerning the cost of an appeal to the AAT.
The Principal will review the consistency of decisions reached by the
Bursar with the College’s published Review Procedures: Re-crediting of Fees or
Fee-Help Policy and will consider information contained in the written reasons
for the application for review in terms of this policy.
The Principal has available one of the following options:
confirm the decision; or
vary the decision; or
set aside the decision and substitute a new decision.
A decision of the Principal shall supercede any decision made by the Bursar.
The Principal must inform the applicant in writing of the decision on the
review of the Bursar’s decision and state the reasons for making this
decision. The letter shall include advice that the applicant has the right of
appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, their contact details and
information concerning the cost of such application.
4. Reconsideration by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT)
statement setting out the findings on material questions of fact,
referring to the evidence or other material on which those findings were based
and giving the reasons for the decision; and
every other document or part of a document that is in the reviewer’s
possession or under the reviewer’s control and is considered by the reviewer
to be relevant to the review of the decision by the Tribunal.
The AAT may be contacted on tel: (02) 9391 2400, at
http://www.aat.gov.au or
at 55 Market St, Sydney NSW 2000.
1. Withdrawals on or BEFORE the Census Date
If, on or before the Census Date# a student withdraws from a module/s, or from their course of
study, tuition fees for that module/s will be credited / refunded in full. If the student has applied for Fee-Help the student will
not incur a Fee-Help debt for that module/s. Note: A Subject Withdrawal Penalty
of $100 per module will apply after Enrolment Week whether or not the student has attended any classes except where a student meets
the conditions outlined in paragraph 3. (#See the link on
Census Dates information page for further
information and specific Census Dates for each subject).
No refunds or credit for fees applies for withdrawals after Census Date except
under special circumstances outlined below. However the student, with the
approval of the Registrar, may change to another module offered in the same
semester (this change will be subject to the Change of Enrolment Penalty).
A Fee-Help debt is only removed after the census date if the College has
agreed to re-credit a student’s Fee-Help balance due to special circumstances
(see Para 3. below for Policies on Re-crediting of Fees for more detailed
information).
A person may make an application to the AAT for a reconsideration of the
College’s decision to refuse to re-credit a person's Fees or Fee-Help balance
and may supply additional information to the AAT which he or she did not
previously supply to the College (including the College’s reviewer).
The Secretary of the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) or
his delegate will be the respondent for cases which are before the AAT. Once
DEST has received notification from the AAT that the person has applied for
the reconsideration, under section 37 of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal
Act 1975 (AAT Act), the Secretary must lodge the following documents with the
AAT within 28 days:
An application to the AAT for review of a decision may involve an application
fee (currently $639 at 29 June 2006).