Student Review and Re-Crediting After Determination Date

Transcription

1 Student Review and Re-credit of VET FEE-HELP Policy and Procedure Purpose The purpose of this procedure is to provide guidelines to assist the determination of whether a student who withdraws from their unit or course of study after census date will be entitled to having their VET FEE-HELP balance re-credited. Census Date Census Date refers to the published date set by ISI, no earlier than twenty per cent of the way through a VET Unit of Study. A student may apply for review after the census date if they believe their withdrawal is due to special circumstances. Responsible Officers The VET FEE-HELP Officer or delegate will be responsible for the assessment of a student s request for re- crediting a VET FEE-HELP balance due to special circumstances and for the initial decision regarding the request. Special Circumstances ISI will only consider applications for re-crediting a student s VET FEE-HELP debt where there are special circumstances. To assist students with their application and to guide ISI in processing requests for recrediting a VET FEE- HELP balance, the following definitions and guidelines are to be applied in determining special circumstances. 1. A student may make an application to have his or her FEE-HELP balance recredited within 12 months of the withdrawal date for a unit or, if the student has not withdrawn, within 12 months of the end of the period in which the unit was to be undertaken. 2. The 12 month period may be extended on the grounds that it was not possible to apply within the 12 months period. 3. Special circumstances which would make it impracticable for the person to complete the requirements for the unit of study may include: Document Number: 0000 Page 1 of 5

2 medical circumstances; family circumstances; personal circumstances; employment related circumstances; course related circumstances. 4. Special Circumstances need to be: beyond the student s control; AND do not make their full impact until on or after the census date for the unit of study in question; AND make it impracticable for a person to complete the requirements for the unit of study. 5. For circumstances to be beyond a student s control, the situation should be that which a reasonable person would consider is not due to the student s action or inaction, either direct or indirect, and for which the person is not responsible. 6. ISI needs to be satisfied that a student s circumstances did not make their full impact until on or after the census date for a unit of study. If satisfied, ISI will provide a refund if the student s circumstances occur: before the census date but worsen after that day; or before the census date, but the full effect of magnitude does not become apparent until on or after that day; or on or after the census date. 7. The situation must be unusual, uncommon or abnormal to be considered special circumstances. VET FEE HELP Re-crediting Procedure An application may be made to ISI from a student wishing to have their VET FEE-HELP balance re-credited if the student has withdrawn from the unit/s after census date or has been unable to complete the requirements of the unit/s and believes that this was due to special circumstances. ISI will consider these applications and must agree to such requests if satisfied that there were special circumstances in the student s case. 1. Students will be required to complete a Change / Defer / Withdraw form and send it to: VET FEE-HELP Officer ISI Pty Ltd Document Number: 0000 Page 2 of 5

3 P.O. Box 2547 Southport QLD, The VET FEE-HELP Officer or delegate will acknowledge receipt of the application and inform the student of any likely delays. 3. Each application will be assessed by the VET FEE-HELP Officer or delegate against the guidelines for determining special circumstances taking into account the explanation and evidence provided by the student and must reach a decision within 15 working days of receiving all required documentation. 4. The VET FEE-HELP Officer or delegate will advise the student in writing of a decision within 15 working days of the date of reaching a decision and notify that the application is either approved or disallowed. 5. Where a request to re-credit a student s VET FEE-HELP balance is granted, the VET FEE-HELP debt will be removed in respect of the affected units of study. 6. Where ISI makes the decision not to re-credit a student s VET FEE-HELP balance that decision may be subject to review. If a student is not satisfied with the decision made by ISI, the student may apply for a review of the decision. The application for review must be made in writing within 28 days of receipt of the original decision to: Review Officer ISI Pty Ltd P.O. Box 2547 Southport QLD, 4215 And include: The date of the original decision State the reasons for applying for the review Include any additional relevant evidence 7. The Review Officer will acknowledge receipt of an application for review of a reviewable decision in writing within 10 working days of receipt. The acknowledgement of receipt will contain information on the student s right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) if the student disagrees with the review decision. 8. The Review Officer will be a senior person who has not been involved in making the original decision and will occupy a position that is senior to that of the original decision maker. 9. The Review Officer will inform the student in writing of the decision to confirm or rescind the original decision along with the reasons for the decision, within 45 days from receipt of an application for review. If the reviewer has not advised the student of a decision within 45 days of receiving the request for Document Number: 0000 Page 3 of 5

4 review, the reviewer is taken to have confirmed the original decision. 10. At the time of the original decision and at the time of the subsequent review decision, the student will be notified of their review rights. The Review Officer will inform the student in writing of their right to appeal to the AAT if they are not satisfied with the outcome and the contact details of the closest AAT office and the approximate costs of lodging an appeal. 11. Where a student is unsatisfied with the reviewed decision they may apply to the AAT for consideration of the Review Officer s decision to refuse the recredit of their applicable VET FEE- HELP balance. Additional information may be supplied to the AAT which they did not previously supply to ISI either in the original application or the request for review. AAT contact details can be found online at or by calling The current cost of applying to the AAT for the review of a decision must also be applied to the student. As at November 2013 this fee is $816. This cost is subject to change. ISI will update this information from the AAT website to ensure students receive up to date and correct information. 13. The Secretary of the Commonwealth of Australia represented by the department which has the responsibility for administering the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (the Department) or the Secretary s delegate will be the respondent for cases that are brought before the AAT. Upon the Department s receipt of notification from the AAT, the Department will notify ISI that an appeal has been lodged. Upon receipt of this notification from the Department, the Review Officer will provide the Department with copies of all the documents they hold that are relevant to the appeal within five (5) business days. Note: The Department is the Australian Government Department of Education. 14. Students should be aware that the department will be the other party in any case in the AAT. All relevant documents will be forwarded to the department by ISI. Receipt of a notification A written notification is deemed to have been received by ISI at the date and time it is physically received in the applicable ISI office. Document Number: 0000 Page 4 of 5

5 Publication This Student Review Policy and Procedure will be made available to students and prospective students of ISI through publication in the Student Handbook and on the ISI website ( For the purposes of communicating to training staff, this Policy and Procedure will be included in the Staff Handbook and form part of the staff induction process (which will facilitated by the Human Resource Manager or delegate). Standards Standards for Registered Training Organisations 2015 Legislation Higher Education Support Act 2003, Higher Education Support (VET)Guideline 2015 Relevance Document Number: 0000 Page 5 of 5