Policies and Terms & Conditions

ACTAC – POLICIES, TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Effective: 22 October 2025

1. INTRODUCTION
   • Enrolment is available to learners aged 18 years or over at the time of enrolment.
   • By applying to study with Australian College of Teacher Aides and Childcare (ACTAC) you agree to these Policies, Terms and Conditions and to the Student Handbook as amended from time to time.
   • ACTAC may update these terms; the current version is published on our website.

2. ENROLMENT SUITABILITY, SUPPORT AND USI
   • Suitability and support: Before confirming enrolment, ACTAC considers whether the course is suitable for you, including any entry requirements and whether you have the language, literacy, numeracy (LLN) and digital literacy needed to participate. Where gaps are identified, we will advise support options or alternative pathways.
   • Child-related checks and placement prerequisites: Courses with vocational placement in schools or early childhood settings may require a Working With Children Check or Blue Card, immunisations, first aid, police checks, site inductions and other prerequisites set by the host service. You are responsible for meeting these prerequisites; failure to do so may delay progression or completion.
   • Unique Student Identifier (USI): A verified USI is required before ACTAC can issue VET certification (unless an exemption applies). Your USI is not printed on your certificate.
   • Reasonable adjustment: ACTAC provides reasonable adjustments to training and assessment where appropriate, without compromising the integrity of the outcome.

3. FEES, PAYMENTS AND FEE PROTECTION
   3.1 Prepaid fees: ACTAC will not require a learner to prepay more than 1,500 AUD for services not yet delivered at any given time. If any arrangement would exceed this threshold, ACTAC will stage payments or use an approved fee-protection measure.
   3.2 Payment plans:
   • You may pay by instalments under an agreed schedule.
   • To defer a scheduled instalment, contact ACTAC before the due date; approval is at ACTAC’s discretion. When payments are paused, access to training and assessment may be paused until payments resume.
   • To alter the debit day or frequency, contact us; an administration fee may apply. For current fees call 1300 511 455.
   • Early completion: if you finish all requirements before paying your total fees, the balance becomes due before ACTAC issues your certification.
   3.3 Dishonoured payments and overdue accounts:
   • If a payment fails, ACTAC may add a reasonable bank or administration fee limited to our direct processing cost and re-attempt the debit.
   • If overdue fees remain unpaid after reasonable attempts to contact you, the account may be referred to a collection service. You may be responsible for reasonable, verifiable third-party recovery costs.
   3.4 Cancelling the direct-debit authority:
   • You may cancel your debit authority with us or your bank. Cancelling the authority does not cancel your enrolment obligations; any outstanding amounts remain payable under these terms.

4. CANCELLATIONS, WITHDRAWALS AND REFUNDS
   4.1 Change-of-mind (domestic, non-CRICOS students):
   • Skill Sets or Short Courses: no refund for change of mind after enrolment (unless required by law).
   • Qualifications or longer courses paid in full: withdraw within 7 days of enrolment (cooling-off) for a full refund; after 7 days, no refund for change of mind (unless required by law).
   • Payment plans: withdraw within 7 days for a refund of instalments paid; after 7 days, a 200 AUD administration fee is payable and future instalments are cancelled.
   • Refunds do not apply to extensions, placement arrangement costs or non-tuition charges unless required by law.
   4.2 Provider-initiated changes: If ACTAC cancels a course or cannot deliver remaining services, you will receive a suitable transfer or a refund for any undelivered portion of prepaid tuition, consistent with Australian consumer law and our fee-protection settings.
   4.3 Visa status (non-CRICOS domestic delivery): Learners are responsible for maintaining the right to study in Australia for the course duration. If your visa status changes so you can no longer lawfully study, notify us within 7 days. We will withdraw you in line with this Refunds section; fees already due for services delivered remain payable.

5. COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS (INCLUDING ASSESSMENT APPEALS)
   • ACTAC maintains a free, accessible complaints and appeals process that affords procedural fairness, sets reasonable timeframes, documents outcomes, and provides avenues for independent review if you are not satisfied with our decision.
   • Using our process does not limit your rights to raise concerns with external bodies, including consumer protection agencies.
   • Payment disputes and chargebacks: please contact us first so we can investigate and resolve. You will not be penalised for lodging a bona fide dispute. If your bank determines a dispute was invalid and charges ACTAC a fee, we may recover that direct bank fee only, with evidence.

6. CONDUCT, CHILD-SAFE PRINCIPLES, ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND USE OF AI
   6.1 Code of conduct: Treat children, families, peers and staff with respect; follow child-safe and site policies during placement; do not harass, bully, threaten, or misuse ACTAC or host-service property or information; follow lawful directions and safety rules; and uphold Australia’s laws and community standards.
   6.2 Academic integrity:
   • Submit your own work and accurately reference sources. Contract cheating, plagiarism, falsifying evidence, collusion, or identity fraud is unacceptable.
   • Generative AI and similar tools may be used only where permitted for the task. You must acknowledge any assistance and ensure the submitted work reflects your own knowledge and skills. ACTAC may use interviews, oral assessments, workplace evidence, draft history or other authentication steps to confirm authorship.
   • Outcomes for integrity breaches are proportionate and may include support, resubmission with conditions, alternative assessment, suspension, or cancellation of enrolment for serious or repeated misconduct.
   6.3 Resubmissions and fees:
   • Normal “Not Yet Competent” resubmissions are free within reasonable limits set by the assessment plan.
   • Where resubmission is required because of an integrity breach (for example, plagiarism), a 50 AUD administrative fee per assessment may apply to cover the extra verification and marking effort.

7. ENROLMENT CANCELLATION BY ACTAC
   • We may suspend or cancel enrolment where a learner engages in serious misconduct; breaches child-safety obligations or placement site policies; persistently fails to engage with study after reasonable support and notice; repeatedly breaches academic integrity requirements; or is more than two scheduled instalments in arrears.
   • Except where there is a serious risk to safety or integrity, ACTAC will provide written notice, the reasons, and a chance to respond or appeal before a final decision.
   • If cancelled, you remain liable for fees for training and assessment already provided. Following serious misconduct, you will not be eligible for further training with ACTAC.

8. CREDIT TRANSFER (CT) AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING (RPL)
   • ACTAC recognises credit transfer for equivalent units where you supply authentic AQF certification or a USI transcript. No fee applies for credit transfer.
   • RPL is available for relevant prior learning and experience; normal assessment fees apply.

9. ISSUING OF QUALIFICATIONS AND STATEMENTS
   • ACTAC issues AQF certification within 30 calendar days of you being assessed as meeting the requirements (including where you withdraw after completing one or more units), provided all agreed fees are paid and your USI is verified or exempted.
   • ACTAC issues certification only to students who have been assessed as competent for the relevant training product.

10. COURSE CHANGES, TRANSITION AND TEACH-OUT
    • When training products change, ACTAC will stop new enrolments in superseded products by the required national date and ensure current learners either complete in a timely manner or are transferred to the replacement product with appropriate advice and support.

11. COURSE EXTENSIONS
    • Qualifications and longer courses: you may request up to two extensions of six months each, unless a training product transition or placement calendar makes this impracticable.
    • Skill Sets and Short Courses: you may request one extension of one month.
    • Where a training product is changing, extensions may be limited so you can complete in a timely manner or transition appropriately.

12. PRIVACY, DATA AND RECORDS
    • ACTAC manages personal information under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and our Privacy Statement. Some data must be reported to government for national VET statistics; details are in our Student Privacy Notice.
    • Records retention: completed assessment evidence is retained for two years from completion of the training product (or longer if required by funding or licensing). Records of AQF certification issued are retained for the regulatory long-term minimum period (currently 30 years).
    • Child-safety and placement information: where required for clearance or placement, additional personal information may be collected and shared with host services strictly for placement suitability and safety purposes.

13. CHANGE OF COURSE
    • Within the 7-day cooling-off period you may switch courses without a change-of-course fee.
    • After 7 days, a 149 AUD change-of-course fee applies (additional fees may apply if moving to a higher-fee qualification).
    • A second change of course incurs an additional 299 AUD fee.
    • Maximum of two course changes per enrolment.

14. EXTENSION, PLACEMENT AND RE-ISSUE FEES
    • Extension requests are made via the website and are subject to approval and published fees.
    • Additional placement coordination, re-arrangements caused by learner non-attendance or unmet prerequisites, and replacement certificates or records may attract fees per the current schedule.

15. “FAIR GO” – YOUR STUDY RESPONSIBILITIES
    • ACTAC is an online and distance education provider. You agree to engage with learning materials and submit work regularly; keep your contact and billing details up to date; and ask for help early.
    • Trainers and assessors provide occasional support (for example, short calls or emails to clarify requirements) but cannot provide answers or complete work for you.
    • During placement, you must follow site policies, professional standards and directions of the supervising teacher or educator.

16. CONTACT
    • Phone: 1300 511 455
    • For the latest forms, fee schedules and policies, please refer to our website.

17. FORCE MAJEURE
    • A Force Majeure Event is an event beyond a party’s reasonable control that prevents or delays performance, including natural disasters, extreme weather, public emergencies, war or civil unrest, terrorism, government actions, widespread utility or network failures, major industrial action not specific to the affected party, third-party system outages, and similar large-scale disruptions.
    • Notice and suspension: The affected party must promptly notify the other of the event, likely duration, obligations affected and steps being taken. The affected obligations are suspended for the duration of the event to the extent they are impacted.
    • Effort to overcome: The affected party will use best endeavours to remove, overcome or minimise the effects as quickly as practicable; this does not require settlement of an industrial dispute on unfavourable terms.
    • Alternative supply: During the period of non-performance, the other party may arrange alternative performance of obligations without liability to the affected party.