1. Under the provisions of Schedule 1A of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) and Chapter 3 of the VET Provider Guidelines, Study Group Australia Pty Limited (the First Provider) must comply with the VET Tuition Assurance requirements. This is to protect students in the event that Study Group Australia Pty Limited ceases to provide a VET course of study in which a student is enrolled. The meaning of ‘ceasing to provide a VET course of study’ is set out at paragraph 3.1.25 of the VET Provider Guidelines. A copy of these is available from: http://www.deewr.gov.au/Skills/Programs/VetFeeHelp/UsefulPublications/Pages/Home.aspx#vetguide.

2. In the event that Study Group Australia Pty Limited ceases to provide a VET course of study in which a student is enrolled, the student is entitled to a choice of:

a) an offer of a place in a similar VET course of study with a Second Provider without any requirement to pay the Second Provider any VET tuition fee for any replacement VET units (this is known as the “VET Course Assurance Option”);

OR

b) a refund of his or her up-front VET payments for any VET unit of study that the student commences but does not complete because Study Group Australia Pty Limited ceases to provide the VET course of study of which the VET unit forms part (this is known as the “VET Tuition Fee Repayment Option”).

3. Group Australia Pty Limited has met the VET tuition assurance requirements as specified in the VET Provider Guidelines through its current membership of the Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET) Australian Student Tuition Assurance Scheme. Contact details for ACPET’s Australian Student Tuition Assurance Scheme are:

SYDNEY Address: Suite 12, Level 14, 329 Pitt Street, SYDNEY  NSW  2000
Telephone: 02 9264 4490 / Fax: 02 9264 4550

BRISBANE Address: Level 26, Lennons Commercial Tower, 76 Queen Street, BRISBANE  QLD 4000
Telephone: 07 3210 1628 / Fax: 07 3210 6347

E-mail: acpet@acpet.edu.au / Website: www.acpet.edu.au

Further information can be obtained by visiting the ACPET website, in particular: http://www.acpet.edu.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=160&Itemid=101

4. If Study Group Australia Pty Limited ceases to provide a VET course of study, ACPET’s Australian Student Tuition Assurance Scheme will send a student enrolled in the VET course of study a Written VET Tuition Assurance Offer (the Offer) advising the student of the options available under the VET tuition assurance requirements. The Offer will include directions that the student must follow in order to notify ACPET’s Australian Student Tuition Assurance Scheme of the choice they have made for each affected VET unit. ACPET’s Australian Student Tuition Assurance Scheme will provide this Offer within twenty Business Days after it knows, or should know by reasonable enquiries that Study Group Australia Pty Limited has ceased to provide the VET course of study.

5. For the purposes of VET FEE-HELP, all courses offered by Study Group Australia Pty Limited in accordance with the course requirements of clause 45 of Schedule 1A of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 are covered by the ACPET’s Australian Student Tuition Assurance Scheme (’the Scheme’) as part of Study Group Australia Pty Limited’s membership of the Scheme.

6. A student may choose either:

The VET Course Assurance Option:

a. Under the VET course assurance option, a student will be offered a place in a similar VET course of study by ACPET’s Australian Student Tuition Assurance Scheme. If the student accepts this option, ACPET’s Australian Student Tuition Assurance Scheme will make all necessary arrangements to ensure a student is able to enrol with the Second Provider in the similar VET course of study. This offered VET course will lead to the same or a comparable qualification without any requirement on the part of the student to pay the Second Provider any VET tuition fee for any replacement VET units (that is, units that the student had commenced but not completed because the VET course ceased to be offered). A student will receive full credit from the Second Provider for any VET units of study successfully completed at Study Group Australia Pty Limited.

b. The Second Provider nominated by ACPET’s Australian Student Tuition Assurance Scheme may have different VET tuition fees to the fees the student would have paid for VET units of study which were part of the VET course of study that Study Group Australia Pty Limited ceased to provide but which the student had not yet started studying.

c. A student is not obliged to enrol in a VET course of study with a Second Provider offered by ACPET’s Australian Student Tuition Assurance Scheme under the VET Course Assurance Option. However, if he/she enrols with any other VET provider there is no obligation on that VET provider to offer full credit transfer for the VET units of study completed with Study Group Australia Pty Limited or to offer replacement VET unit/s free of charge.

OR

The VET Tuition Fee Repayment Option:

d. Under the VET Tuition Fee Repayment Option, ACPET’s Australian Student Tuition Assurance Scheme undertakes to pay the student the total of any up-front VET payments already paid by the student for any VET units of study the student has commenced but not completed because the VET course ceased to be offered. Students selecting this option will also have their FEE-HELP balance re-credited for the uncompleted VET units.

7. This Statement of VET Tuition Assurance will be made available for the information of students and intending students by publication on the College’s website: http://www.martincollege.edu.au/about/policies-guidelines.aspx. The College’s brochure will also contain information for students about where the Statement of VET Tuition Assurance may be obtained.