The following refund policy will apply:
- Learners, who give notice to cancel their enrolment 10 business days or more prior to the commencement of a program, will be entitled to a full refund of fees paid.
- Learners who give notice to cancel their enrolment 9 business days or less prior to the commencement of a program will be entitled to a 75% refund of fees paid. The amount retained (25%) by Diamond Protection Training is required to cover the costs of staff and resources which will have already been committed based on the learner’s initial intention to undertake the training.
- Learners who cancel their enrolment after a training program has commenced will not be entitled to a refund of fees of any fees paid in advance. An exception to this policy is where Diamond Protection Training fails to fulfil its service agreement and fees are refunded under our guarantee to clients.
Discretion may be exercised by the Chief Executive Officer in all situations, if the learner can demonstrate that extenuating or significant personal circumstance led to their withdrawal. In these cases, the learner should be offered a full credit toward the tuition fee in another scheduled program in-lue of a refund. Chief Executive Officer may also authorise a refund of tuition fees if the circumstances require it.
Where refunds are approved, the refund payment must be paid to the learner within 14 days from the time the learner gave written notice to cancel their enrolment. Tuition refunds are to be paid via electronic funds transfer using the authorised bank account nominated by the learner on the Refund Request Form.
Statutory cooling off period
The Standards for Registered Training Organisations require a person is to be informed of their right to a statutory cooling off period, if one is applicable. A statutory cooling off period is defined with in the Australian Consumer Law introduced in 2011. A statutory cooling off period (which is 10 days) is a period of time provided to a consumer to allow them to withdraw from a consumer agreement, where that agreement was established through unsolicited marketing or sales tactics. These include tactic such as door-to-door sales and telemarketing. A statutory cooling off period allows a consumer to withdraw from a sales agreement within 10 days of having received a sale contract without penalty. All staff are recommended to refer to the Australian Consumer Law, Sales Practices Guide for further details about a statutory cooling off period and our general obligations for consumer protection during the enrolment process.
Diamond Protection Training do inform prospective learners within the learner handbook. It must be noted by all staff that Diamond Protection Training do not engage in unsolicited marketing or sales tactics and therefore a statutory cooling off period in not applicable to our learners who have enrolled into a program through contacting us. For refund option in other circumstances, learners and staff must refer to the refund policy.
Our Guarantee to Clients
If for any reason Diamond Protection Training is unable to fulfil its service agreement with a learner, Diamond Protection Training must issue a full refund for any services not provided. The basis for determining “services not provided” is to be based on the units of competency completed by the learner and which can be issued in a statement of attainment at the time the service is terminated.
Limiting fees being paid in advance
Diamond Protection Training acknowledges that it has a responsibility under the Standards for Registered Training Organisations to limit the fees paid by learners in advance of their training and assessment services being delivered. To meet our responsibilities, Diamond Protection Training may not accept payments in advance of services being delivered, exceeding $1,500 from each learner at any time. This means not prior to the course commencing or during the learner’s enrolment. Following the course commencement, Diamond Protection Training may require payments of additional fees in scheduled payments in advance from the learner but only such that at any given time, the amount required to be paid in advance is consistent with the portion of training being delivered.
This requirement only applies when the payment for the fees are being made directly by an individual consumer that falls under the protection of Australian Consumer Law. By this we generally mean the learner or the learner’s family member.
This requirement is not applicable where the fees are being paid by the learner’s employer or a funding authority. This is a business-to-business transaction and does not require the limiting of fees paid in advance. Also, if fees are being charged in arrears of the services being delivered (at the end) then the need to limit the amount of fees does not apply. It only applies where fees are being sought in advance of the services being delivered.
Payment of GST
GST is exempt under section 38-85 GSTR 2003/1 Goods and Services Tax, tax ruling. The ruling explains the supply of a course for ‘professional or trade course’ is a GST-free education course.
ATO reference: http://law.ato.gov.au/atolaw/view.htm?docid=GST/GSTR20031/NAT/ATO/00001
Where a learner is enrolled in a course which is offering units of competency or a whole qualification, the course fees attached to this enrolment will be exempt from the payment of GST. GST does apply on the payment of some miscellaneous charges where these charges are in addition to and outside the normal services offered in a course. Please refer to Diamond Protection Training schedule of fees and charges for details of what GST is and is not applied to.
Miscellaneous Charges
Diamond Protection Training will levy some miscellaneous charges for services. These may include:
- Re-issuing a certificate after it has been initially issued to a learner.
- Replacing issued learning materials which the learner has lost or damaged
- Re-assessment services
- Photocopy fee
These miscellaneous charges are to be clearly specified in Diamond Protection Training Schedule of Fees and Charges. It is to be made clear if these services will include GST. All miscellaneous charges are to be based on a cost recovery basis and are not intended to be a source of profit.
Learner complaints about fees or refunds
Learners who are unhappy with Diamond Protection Training arrangements for the collection and refunding of tuition fees are entitled to lodge a complaint. This should occur in accordance with Diamond Protection Training complaints policy and procedure.
Issuing Certificates and Outcomes
It is a requirement of the Standards for Registered Training Organisations for Diamond Protection Training to meet the following:
- Clause 3.1. The RTO issues AQF certification documentation only to a learner whom it has assessed as meeting the requirements of the training product as specified in the relevant training package. This means that the learner has been assessed in accordance with the standards and if being issued a qualification has achieved the required units of competency as specified in the training package.
- Clause 3.2. All AQF certification documentation issued by an RTO meets the requirements of Schedule 5. This means that any certificate issued by Diamond Protection Training is produced in the required format as specified in Schedule 5 and includes integrity mechanisms to prevent its fraudulent production.
- Clause 3.3. AQF certification documentation is issued to a learner within 30 calendar days of the learner being assessed as meeting the requirements of the training product if the training program in which the learner is enrolled is complete and providing all agreed fees the learner owes to the RTO have been paid.
- Clause 3.4. Records of learner AQF certification documentation are maintained by the RTO in accordance with the requirements of Schedule 5 and are accessible to current and past learners. This means that Diamond Protection Training must maintain an accurate register of all AQF outcomes it has issued and that current and past learners can access their records including obtaining a record of results or a re-issued certificate if this is requested by a learner.
To provide clarity throughout this policy and procedure, there are three types of AQF certificates that Diamond Protection Training can issue. These are described below:
- Statement of Attainment. A statement of attainment recognises that one or more accredited units has been achieved. A statement of attainment is generally issued when the learner has achieved one or more units of competency during a course which included units of competency only. This may include a course such as first aid or may occur where the learner achieved one or more units of competency as part of an enrolment in a qualification-based course, but the learner did not achieve all of the units of competency to receive the full qualification. In these situations, a statement of attainment would be issued.
- An AQF qualification is the result of a learner achieving all of the units of competency for a qualification outcome as specified in an endorsed industry training package or an accredited course. A qualification is a formal certification that a learner has achieved learning outcomes as described in the AQF. Technically, within the AQF a qualification is comprised of a testamur and a record of results. A testamur is the actual official certification document that confirms that a qualification has been awarded to an individual. In Australia a testamur may also be referred to as an ‘award’, ‘parchment’, ‘laureate’ or ‘certificate’. Within this policy, it is referred to as a qualification or an AQF qualification.
- Record of Results. A record of results is a record of the achieved units of competency leading to an AQF qualification. In Australia this may also be referred to as a ‘transcript of results’, ‘academic transcript’, ‘and record of achievement ’or‘statement of results’. A record of results can also be issued at any time during a learner’s enrolment sand is often used to provide a learner with a formal notification of their current progress in a course in which they are enrolled. A record of results is always issued with a testamur or AQF qualification to specify the units of competency that were issued to the learner as part of the achievement of the qualification. A record of results is usually issued as a separate document, but sometimes is printed onto the back page of the qualification certificate.
When we refer to AQF certificates, we are referring to all of the above documents generally. These requirements are outlined in detail in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), Second Edition, 2013 and also within the Standards for Registered Training Organisations, Schedule 5.
In terms of issuing AQF certificates, Diamond Protection Training is required to issue qualifications or statements of attainment to learners who have achieved the required outcomes within 30 calendar days of the final assessment being completed. In addition to achieving the required outcomes, learners must also have paid all fees owed to Diamond Protection Training to be eligible to receive their AQF certificate. The learner must also hold and have provided to Diamond Protection Training a valid Unique Student Identifier unless an exemption applies under the Student Identifiers Act 2014. Further guidance on the procedure to issue the learners AQF certificate within the 30 calendar days, can be found in the section below – Issuing AQF Certificates Procedure.
Staff with responsibility for preparing certificates for issue must be familiar with the policy outlined on the ASQA website at the following address: ASQA – Issuing qualifications and statements of attainment. Specific reference should be made to the Standards for Registered Training Organisations, Schedule 5.
Record Retention and Reporting
Diamond Protection Training is required to maintain a register of AQF qualifications and statements of attainment it has issued. This is maintained within the student management system and can be produced as a report in the Learner Management Reporting section. Diamond Protection Training is also required to retain records of AQF certification documentation issued for a period of 30 years and must provide reports of qualifications and statements of attainment it has issued to ASQA on request. Further details on reporting obligations can be found within the reporting obligations policy.