Important Enrolment Information
What’s this page about?
ACFEC is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) and this means we have a range of additional regulatory obligations that other companies you do business with might not. It adds a few extra layers of complexity to the relationship we have with a person who enrols in a Nationally Recognised Training course with us. Here we have tried to summarise in as plain-English as possible our obligations, key policies and procedures, as well as your responsibilities as our client.
Ultimately we want to establish a great relationship with you, and part of this is being totally transparent about our commitment to you, our obligations and expectations. To enrol with us, you will need to check a box that acknowledges you’ve read and understood the stuff on this page.
Refund Policy
Refund may be granted only where ACFEC is unable to provide the course that has been enrolled into and paid for (excludes superseded training products – transitions will be managed as part of the enrolment).
No refunds will be given for any other circumstances including:
Change of mind
A change in personal circumstances including financial position, employment status, family or personal health, access to resources (including workplace, internet access, computer)
Participant finds the course too difficult
The course is no longer required
The course is found at a lower price
Choosing an alternative delivery method
Breaching ACFEC’s Code of Conduct
The participant is unable to complete the course within the course duration
The participant is on a payment plan
Don’t rush. Please make your decision to enrol carefully, gathering all the information you need from us beforehand.
All courses have limited places. Setting up your enrolment place (even before you’ve completed any of the course) is involved and includes reporting obligations. It takes up a place that could otherwise be given to a committed participant.
All enrolments include a $100 non-refundable administration fee.
In the unlikely event that ACFEC is unable to deliver a course, ACFEC will issue the enrolled person with a Statement of Attainment for any units successfully completed. ACFEC will issue a pro-rated refund amount based on the number of days remaining in the participant’s enrolment. We calculate this as:
Daily rate = student fees paid by an individual or their employer [minus] non-refundable administration fee [divided-by] course duration in days.
Refund amount = daily rate [multiplied-by] the number of days remaining in enrolment period.
Refunds will be processed within 20 business days of notification of the participant’s correct bank details.
Suitability
ACFEC provides detailed information about each course on its website www.acfec.edu.au.
By enrolling, the student acknowledges that he or she has read and understood the course information, entry requirements and prerequisites published on our website (including this section).
Sexual Harassment Policy
ACFEC has zero tolerance for sexual harassment of any kind, whether from a student, client, staff member, or any person interacting with ACFEC. This includes zero tolerance for:
touching or grabbing another person’s body in an unwanted way
demanding sex
asking, emailing, messaging, or texting requesting sexual favours, including during video calls
leering or staring at a person’s breasts, genitals or other body parts
showing or sending pornographic or offensive material
making sexual jokes, comments or gestures that cause a person discomfort
asking intrusive questions about a person’s sex life
sexually insulting someone
displaying sexual material, such as pictures, posters or screensavers
indecently or sexually assaulting someone, including when the sexual harassment makes a person feel humiliation, pain, fear or intimidation
It is illegal in Australia for a person to sexually harass anyone else at work, in school or when providing goods, services or accommodation, under the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and state anti-discrimination laws. Extreme forms, including sexual assault and indecent exposure, are also crimes.
Where sexual harassment of any kind has occurred, ACFEC reserves the right to:
cancel enrolment without refund
summarily dismiss an employee or contractor involved
refuse to provide a service.
Code of Conduct
In the unlikely event of unsatisfactory performance and/or conduct we will strive to address it in a fair, professional and tactful manner.
ACFEC is committed to ensuring that inappropriate behaviour that could impair the integrity of the learning and assessment processes or the wellbeing of individuals, is managed effectively.
ACFEC clients have a right to:
Be treated fairly and with respect
Learn in a safe and supportive environment
Learn in an environment free of discrimination and harassment, including sexual harassment
Privacy of their personal information and records
Lodge a complaint without fear of victimisation.
ACFEC clients have responsibilities including:
Treat other clients and staff with respect and fairness
Follow any reasonable direction from staff
Not engage in plagiarism, collusion or cheating in assessment activities
Submit assessment activities by the due date or seek approval to extend the due date, and retain a copy of all assessment materials that are submitted in the event that submitted items are not received by ACFEC
Return company equipment and materials on time
Work and learn in a safe manner
Not discriminating, harassing (including sexual harassment), bullying, other clients or ACFEC staff.
Where ACFEC identifies that plagiarism, collusion or cheating in assessment activities may have occurred among a group of 2 or more clients, either concurrently or over a period of time:
Those involved will be invited to resubmit
Once all clients involved have resubmitted all materials that they wish to be included in the assessment, these will be assessed by a single Assessor
Clients who choose not to resubmit will have their most recent previous submissions assessed.
Where one or more clients has previously been awarded an outcome, that outcome will be subject to revision based on the findings of the re-assessment outlined above.
If one or more clients are dissatisfied with the outcome of the assessment, they may pursue the Complaints and Appeals Process
If, through this re-assessment, plagiarism, collusion or cheating in assessment activities is found to have occurred, then any outcomes that have previously been awarded will be revoked and/or credentials recalled and the steps below will be followed.
Where a client breaches one or more of these guidelines the following steps will be taken:
The client will be invited to participate in an interview or provided a written request to adopt a more courteous tone.
If the client acknowledges the breach and indicates a willingness to address it, then the client will be issued a first written warning.
If the client does not acknowledge the breach and/or is unwilling to address it, then the client’s enrolment will be terminated.
If the breach persists after the first warning, then the client will be issued with a final written warning.
If these repeated attempts to manage unsatisfactory behaviour fail then the client’s enrolment will be terminated.
Where client behaviour constitutes an attempt to threaten or otherwise coerce staff such as in relation to the integrity of learning or assessment decisions, ACFEC reserves the right to immediately cancel that client’s enrolment.
Access permission
Only the individual named as the student on the enrolment form may access and complete the course and be awarded certification, regardless of who paid the fees.
Changes to course materials
ACFEC will from time to time update and modify course materials and assessments for quality and compliance purposes.
Copyright
Participants in any ACFEC course are not permitted to use or share copyrighted material without express written permission from the copyright holder. This includes online discussions and chat forums.
Learning is ultimately your responsibility
Each participant is responsible for viewing, reading, understanding and engaging with the course material and assessment tasks.
Each participant is responsible for completing the course within the specified timeframe.
We may not be able to support students with additional needs who have disregarded the entry requirements of a course or who have not considered their suitability for a course.
Payment of course fees
Upon graduation, the participant who did the course will be directly awarded the appropriate certification, regardless of who paid for the course.
Payments made by others
If someone other than the participant enrolled in a course pays the course fees, they cannot apply for a refund or modify a course without the participant’s written consent.
Upon graduation, the participant who did the course will be directly awarded the appropriate certification, regardless of who paid for the course.
Non-payment of Government Funded Training
Where courses are funded by a government organisation or program certification of achievement will not be released until full remittance is received from the relevant party, in the event that the agreed fees are not paid under the funding arrangement the student may be liable. Where a student has been directed to enrol by an employer, the employer may be liable for payment of all fees owed.
Financial hardship
If a client owes ACFEC course fees and is experiencing financial hardship we may grant, at our discretion, up to a 30-day extension on payment terms, and/or the option to split the payment plan into lesser payments over a longer period of no more than 12 months.
Course duration
The specific course duration is notified on enrolment.
Deferments
Key points:
Deferments for up to 6 months may be applied for no less than 60 days before the course expiry date.
During the deferment period, access to course resources, support and assessment services will be restricted temporarily.
Any outstanding payments and payment plans are still payable during a deferment period.
A deferment fee of $25 is payable and will be invoiced if approved. The applicant will have 30 days to pay and the deferral time will start on the date payment is received.
All deferments are subject to approval and may be declined if all courses are full or no longer being offered
Course Deferment or Discontinuation of study
Depending on where participants are in their course, they may have the option to Defer or ‘pause’ their studies. It is important to note that during the deferment period, access to course resources, support and assessment services will be restricted temporarily.
All deferments are subject to approval and may be declined if all courses are full or no longer being offered.
Should pausing the course not be the solution and the participant would like to discontinue their studies, we advise that they contact the administrative team.
In the case of Withdrawal/Discontinuation, the following will take place:
ACFEC will require, in writing, confirmation of intent to withdraw specifying the date on which this will take place
A Statement of Attainment and associated transcript for completed Units of Competency will be issued via post within 30 days of notification of the discontinuance
Privacy Notice
Under the Data Provision Requirements 2012, ACFEC is required to collect personal information about you and to disclose that personal information to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research Ltd (NCVER).
Your personal information (including the personal information contained on this enrolment form), may be used or disclosed by Accellier for statistical, administrative, regulatory and research purposes. Accellier may disclose your personal information for these purposes to:
Commonwealth and State or Territory government departments and authorised agencies; and
NCVER
Personal information that has been disclosed to NCVER may be used or disclosed by NCVER for the following purposes:
populating authenticated VET transcripts;
facilitating statistics and research relating to education, including surveys and data linkage;
pre-populating RTO student enrolment forms;
understanding how the VET market operates, for policy, workforce planning and consumer information; and
administering VET, including program administration, regulation, monitoring and evaluation.
You may receive a student survey which may be administered by a government department or NCVER employee, agent or third party contractor or other authorised agencies. Please note you may opt out of the survey at the time of being contacted.
NCVER will collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the National VET Data Policy and all NCVER policies and protocols (including those published on NCVER’s website at www.ncver.edu.au).
For more information about NCVER’s Privacy Policy go to https://www.ncver.edu.au/privacy.
Feedback, Complaints, Assessment Appeals
As a private education provider, we take our role in providing a quality service very seriously. All decisions at ACFEC are made and viewed through the lense of our mission statement to build value through excellence in service and education.
We have high expectations of ourselves and if you feel we’ve fallen short of your expectations, please let us know. We will be grateful to know of any issues ASAP so we can work together to resolve it.
In our role, we also sometimes have the responsibility of making decisions that might make people feel unhappy in the moment, for example, an unfavourable assessment result. Please be assured we have your best interests at heart. We have no desire to make the journey more challenging for you.
Consider it from our perspective; the sooner you are a happy graduate – satisfied that you’ve completed what you set out to achieve – the better!
If you genuinely feel that you’ve been treated unfairly during your studies, please, let us know. If you disagree with an assessment decision made, you may appeal it within 10 working days of the receipt of an official assessment outcome. To appeal a decision:
First, please try to resolve the issue professionally and tactfully with your assessor. Rudeness or anger will not help resolve your issue.
If you feel you are unable to resolve the issue with your assessor, you may appeal in writing by either telling your assessor you wish to appeal the decision (they will then enact this same procedure) or completing this form.
We will assign a new assessor to review the evidence and make an independent assessment decision within the timeframes indicated below.
The new assessor’s decision is final and we will not enter into any further debate over the decision made.
We will use the following procedure to process all complaints and appeals:
Initial complaint or appeal is received and assigned to the manager responsible. The manager will notify the person making the complaint or appeal within five working days that their issue has been received and is being reviewed. It is the manager’s responsibility to manage this process to its conclusion.
The investigation phase will commence. During this phase the manager of the complaint or appeal with gather additional information, including liaising with the person making the complaint or appeal if necessary. This may take up to 15 working days from the issue being acknowledged.
If an issue is identified where ACFEC is at fault, a root-cause analysis will be conducted by the manager to identify the source of the problem and the issue will be addressed via our continuous improvement process.
The person making the complaint or appeal will be notified in writing of the final outcome within 20 days of the issue being acknowledged.
We will endeavour to resolve all complaints much sooner than the indicated times, it just depends on the complexity of the issue raised. If further time is required for more complex matters, the person making the complaint or appeal will be notified.
All complaints, appeals and feedback can be made here.