RPL & CREDIT TRANSFER POLICY

PURPOSE
Business Station adheres to the relevant compliance and legislative frameworks such as the Standards for
Registered Training Organisations (SRTOs 2015). As such, Business Station will provide transparency in the
application and administration of fees and charges including refund and will put in place a fair and reasonable
refund process.

The purpose of this policy is to provide for the appropriate application and administration of fees and handling
of client refunds.

POLICY PRINCIPLES
Business Station implements fair and reasonable refund practices and transparent and process for fee
application and administration. Business Station will ensure that:

1. prospective students are aware of its fee policies to make informed decisions about enrolment in a course.
2. its fee and refund policy is prominent and accessible to its staff, prospective students, and existing students.
3. it implements and maintains a process for fair and reasonable refund and fees paid; and
4. it provides refunds for feeds and charges paid by clients, where training and assessment activities have not been delivered

Fee Administration Policy Principles
Fee Information

1. Business Station will inform its prospective students and employers (if applicable) of the full and accurate course fees associated with the training and the refund policy before enrolment.
2. Business Station will ensure that the fee and refund policy is accessible to its staff, prospective students and existing students. The fee information will include but will not be limited to the following information:
   1. Breakdown of the course fee (if any)
   2. Fee and Refund policy
   3. Incidental fees
   4. Compulsory fees
   5. Additional charges or co-contributions
   6. Methods of fee collection
   7. Process for recovery of outstanding student fees
3. For any incidental fees that may be applicable, Business Station will inform the prospective student before enrolling that such fees are a charge for an essential good or service and that the student has a choice of acquiring this from a supplier other than Business Station.

Fee Administration

1. Business Station will only charge fees for accredited training in accordance with the fee information published and provided to the prospective student and the Fee Administration and Refund policy.
2. Business Station will retain accurate course fee payment, waiver, exemption or refund record for each student.
3. Business Station will require payment prior commencement of training as well as pre-payment plans for students.
4. Business Station will apply standard student fees for Fee-for-Service (FFS) students.
5. Business Station will allow participant course fees to be paid on behalf of the student by their employer or another third party (if applicable).
6. Business Station will maintain arrangements for the protection of any fees paid in advance in accordance with 7.3 of the Standards for RTOs.

Fee Payment Arrangements

1. Business Station ensures that its financial practices promote the protection of fees (paid in advance and exceeding $1500) made by any student. Business Station will only adhere to the accepted fee protection measure to protect fees more than the threshold fee amount of $1,500 as stated in Schedule 6 of the Standards for RTOs.
2. Business Station implements a fee payment plan and will only collect upon enrolment a non-refundable enrolment administration fee of 25% of the full course fee payable (non-discounted) or a minimum of $100 (whichever is greater) in the first instalment of the tuition fee.
3. Tuition fees are broken into instalment payment plans to ensure students do not pre-pay fees over $1,500. Schedule of the payment plans are outlined in the student enrolment forms.
4. Fees must be paid in full before certification will be issued.
5. If payment instalment / arrangements are in place, and a payment becomes overdue and remains unpaid for a period more than 14 days, Business Station reserves the right to suspend the clients learning or assessments (or both) until all fee payments are up to date.
6. Flexible payment arrangements, such as instalments, credit card, and direct debit, cheques and EFT remittance are acceptable to accommodate the diverse financial situations of clients.

Outstanding Student Fees

1. Non-payment of fees by the due date for continuing enrolments will result in suspension of training. Business Station will notify all parties in writing if suspension. Once payment has been finalised, parties will be notified of the recommencement of training.
2. Business Station will charge a recommencement fee for any suspended training to cover administration cost.
3. Business Station will not issue SOAs or Certificates if training fees are outstanding.
4. Business Station will inform students of its process for the recovery of outstanding student fees prior to enrolment through the Fee Administration and Refund Policy.

Refund Policy Principles

1. Details of Business Station Refund Policy are publicly available to prospective students and employers (if applicable), staff and existing students and employers (if applicable).
2. Business Station will make students aware of the refund policy prior enrolment.
3. Regarding all withdrawal of training, Business Station will first encourage a client to continue training or provide other options such as enrolling to another course date, prior to processing refund applications.
4. All refund requests made to must be done in writing via the Refund Request Form. Business Station will only acknowledge, and review requests based on information provided through the form. Exemptions are made to mitigating circumstances, provided there are supporting evidence.
5. No refunds will be issued for cancellations outside of the Refund Period.
6. For refund applications within the Refund Period, the Refund Request Form must be received by Business Station, within the Refund Period. A refund of the course fee, less the applicable Administrative Fees will only be issued if all above criteria have been met and the student has no previous outstanding monies with the Business Station.
7. Business Station requires written notification of withdrawal from training; this may be via letter, email or the completion of the Withdrawal from Training Form. Refund will be assessed upon receipt of the request. Statement of fees that includes all fees applied and any fees refunded (if applicable) will be provided where a student withdraws from training.
8. Business Station will process refund requests within 1 week from the day of receipt. The reimbursement procedure for approved refunds may take up to 4 weeks.
9. A non‐refundable administration fee of 25% of the full course fee payable (non-discounted) will be subtracted from any refund granted under the terms and conditions outlined in this policy.
10. All refunds will be paid to the person or organisation that originally paid the fees.
11. Business Station does not provide refunds where:
    1. A client has commenced their course/unit
    2. There are changes to work hours
    3. Moving interstate
    4. Student leaves before full course completion and does not complete qualification after assessment
    5. Recognition resources and services have been supplied to the client.
12. Business Station may provide consideration for refund for students who have commenced training with the discretion of the CEO/ RTO Manager.
13. Business Station does not accept liability for loss or damage suffered in the event of withdrawal from a course by a client.
14. Business Station provides a full refund to all clients, should there be a need for Business Station to cancel a course. In the first instance Business Station will (where possible) provide an opportunity for the client to attend another scheduled course. If Business Station cancels a course, clients do not have to apply for a refund; Business Station will process the refunds automatically.
15. Refunds for cancellation of enrolments and other conditions are granted based on the refunds table in the annex of this policy.

MONITORING AND IMPROVEMENT

The Business Station RTO Manager is responsible for ensuring compliance with this policy. The Administration Team of Business Station will process refund requests.

Business Station’s CEO and/or Administration Coordinator is responsible for all continuous improvement processes in relation to the fee administration and refund policy and procedure and ensuring all staff, including those from the third-party providers are complying with the provisions of this policy.

Annex
Business Station Refunds Table

1. Business Station Refunds for enrolments are subject to the following refund formula.
2. “Refund Period” – 14 calendar days of the enrolment application date

VERSION CONTROL TABLE

RTO INFORMATION

Business Station | Fee Administration and Refund Policy v1.1
RTO CODE: 45731 | P: 08 9396 1959 | E: training@businessstation.com.au

You can download Fee Administration and Refund Policy v1.1 here: