IHMA Course Information:

Refund Policy

POLICY

The Australian Institute of Trades Pty Ltd will provide a fair and equitable refund arrangement, which is consistent with the AQTF standards and the ESOS ACT 2000.

RESPONSIBILITY

The Executive Director is responsible for approving all tuition refunds. The Director of Finance and Administration is responsible for processing an approved refund application and will record the details of all refunds made.

PROCEDURE

• All refunds must be authorised by the Executive Director.

• Refunds shall only be considered upon receipt of a completed Application for Refund from the student.

• For any refund to be considered it must be made in writing setting out the reasons for withdrawal from the course and why a refund is sought.  The refund request must be sent by post to the Executive Director IHMA C/- PO Box 200 Richmond Victoria Australia 3121.

• All students receiving refunds will be provided with a written explanation of how the refund amount was calculated.

Domestic students

• Refunds shall only be considered in the following situations:
  • Where cancellation of a course occurs, a full refund will be issued.  Enrolled students will be given at least 7 days' notice in the advent of a course being postponed or cancelled. 
  • Where a student submits an Application for Refund over 14 days prior to commencement of a course a full refund will be issued.
  • Where a student submits an Application for Refund between 7 and 14 days prior to commencement of a course a 75% refund will apply.
    
    
• No refund will be issued where a student submits an Application for Refund less than 7 days prior to the commencement of a course.
  
  
• Where a student cancels and has not made payment for a course; the Australian Institute of Trades reserves the right to recover monies as follows:
  ·          More than 14 days prior to commencement no payment is required.
  ·          A payment of 25% is due and payable if notice of cancellation is given between 7 and 14 days.
  ·          Where notice of less than 7 days is given, 100% of the course fees are payable. 

• Funds are only transferable to other courses at the discretion of the Executive Director.

International students

• The Australian Institute of Trades Pty Ltd trading as the Institute of Hotel Management (IHMA) will refund unconsumed prepaid tuition fees to an international student or a student’s authorised agent, where a written request for refund establishes the right for refund under one or more of the following policy and related conditions:

• Where DIMIA refuses to grant a student visa for reasonable cause.
• Where a student voluntarily withdraws from an IHMA course and provides to IHMA written notice, at least 14 days in advance of the commencement date of the course, of the student’s intention to withdraw from the enrolled course and to seek a refund of prepaid tuition fees.
• Where a student is unable to fulfil the conditions specified in an IHMA letter of offer and that this is made clear to IHMA in writing, prior to the commencement date of the course.
• IHMA reserves the right to cancel a course or withdraw the offer of a place.  Refunds in the case of provider default are covered by the provisions of the ESOS Act 2000 and the ESOS Regulations 2001 as follows:

Provider Default

• In the unlikely event that IHMA is unable to deliver your course in full, you will be offered a refund of all the course money you have paid to date. The refund will be paid to you within 2 weeks of the day on which the course ceased being provided. Alternatively, you may be offered enrolment in an alternative course by IHMA at no extra cost to you.
• You have the right to choose whether you would prefer a full refund of course fees, or to accept a place in another course. If you choose placement in another course, we will ask you to sign a document to indicate that you accept the placement.
• If IHMA is unable to provide a refund or place you in an alternative course our Tuition Assurance Scheme (TAS) ACPET (OSAS) will place you in a suitable alternative course at no extra cost to you.
• Further, if ACPET (OSTAS) cannot place you in a suitable alternative course, the ESOS Assurance Fund Manager will attempt to place you in a suitable alternative course or, if this is not possible, you will be eligible for a refund as calculated by the Fund Manager.
• Where a student has financial arrears with IHMA and in the unlikely event that IHMA is unable to deliver your course in full, and because you have financial arrears with IHMA, you will be able to enrol in another course at your own expense.

(ESOS Act 2000, Section 27 - (1))
".....Provider Default

(1) This Division applies to an overseas student or an intending overseas student in relation to a course if:

(a) the course does not start on the agreed starting day; or
(b) the course ceases to be provided at any time after it starts but before it is completed; or
(c) the course is not provided in full to the student because a sanction has been imposed on the registered provider under Part 6;and the student has not withdrawn before the default day.......”

(ESOS Act 2000, Section 27 - (2))
".....Student Default

(2)   This Division also applies to an overseas student or an intending oveseas student in relation to a course if:

(a) The course starts on the agreed starting day, but the student does not start the course on that day (and has previously withdrawn); or
(b) The student withdraws from the course (either before or after the agreed starting day)............"

(ESOS Act 2000, Section 29 - (1))

(1)    Unless section 28 applies, the registered provider (or former registered provider) for the course must pay the student;

(a) the total of the course money the provider received in respect of the student before the default day; less
(b) the total of the prescribed amounts relating to the expenses the provider incurred for the student for the course before the default day.

(A negative result is treated as nil).

(2)    For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b), the regulations may prescribe different amounts (including nil amounts) for students in different circumstances.
(3)    In a subsection 27 (1) case, the provider must pay the amount within 2 weeks after the default day.
(4)    In a subsection 27 (2) case, the provider must pay the amount within 4 weeks after the default day."

• A student who withdraws from an IHMA course, for whatever reason, by notifying IHMA of their intention to withdraw and seeking a refund of prepaid tuition fees, within 14 days prior to the commencement date of the course, shall be entitled to a maximum of 75% of any unconsumed prepaid tuition fees.
• A student who withdraws from an IHMA course, for whatever reason, by notifying IHMA of their intention to withdraw and seeking a refund of prepaid tuition fees, within 14 days after the commencement date of the course shall be entitled to a maximum of 50% of any unconsumed prepaid tuition fees.
• A student who withdraws from an IHMA course, for whatever reason, by notifying IHMA of their intention to withdraw and seeking a refund of prepaid tuition fees, more than 14 days after the commencement date of the course shall not be entitled to a refund of any fees whatsoever.
• IHMA will not refund a student’s enrolment fee or any administration fee charged for work undertaken to facilitate a student’s enrolment, including commission/s paid to a student’s education and/or migration agent.
• Course resources, such as Knife Kits, Uniforms and text Books already provided to the student are non returnable and non refundable.

Definitions and Conditions

Commencement date

• The course commencement date is the date the course commences according to either the commencement date that appears on the ‘Letter of Offer’ or on the ‘Electronic Confirmation of Enrolment’ (ECoE) – the latter of these two dates is the commencement date for the purposes of this refund policy

Unconsumed prepaid tuition fee conditions.

• To be considered ‘unconsumed prepaid tuition fees’, tuition fees must be:
• paid in advance of the commencement date of the course
• cleared into the IHMA trust account by the financial institution or handling organisation (Australia Post, Bank and/or credit provider etc)
• unconsumed by consumption of training, assessment or educative process for which the fees were intended

General tuition fee refund conditions

This refund policy is not intended to reduce or alter a student’s rights under the Educational Services for Overseas Students Act (ESOS) or relevant Australian (Commonwealth) or Victorian consumer protection laws.

• All tuition fees are deemed as ‘consumed’ unless they meet the test for ‘unconsumed tuition fees’.  IHMA will not refund ‘consumed’ tuition fees under any circumstances.
• Eligible refunds will be processed and paid within 28 days.
• Refunds are normally provided in the form of a business cheque in Australian Dollars made payable to the student or the student’s authorised agent.  Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) may be also be utilised to overcome foreign banking policy or cheque negotiability difficulties.  IHMA will deduct all EFT processing fees, transaction fees, taxes and currency exchange fees from the refunded amount where EFT is utilised.
• Where a student defers commencement in an enrolled course any prepaid fees will be held in trust for up to 24 months unless a full refund is requested.

REFERENCES

AQTF 2007: Essential standards for registration; Standard 2, Element 2.2 and Condition 5 of the Conditions of registration
ESOS Act 2000; 27 & 28
National Code of Practice for Registration Authorities and Providers of Education to Overseas Students 2007  

|Home|About IHMA|Downloads|Contact Us|

Updated: 01-Apr-2009 21:30