Private college course refund rights in Australia

You paid a private college, a training provider or a short-course business. Then the course was cancelled, the teaching fell well short, or the qualification, accreditation or job outcomes you were promised turned out not to be true.

Your rights depend on two things: what went wrong, and what kind of provider and course you're dealing with, including how you paid. The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) often applies, but vocational training, higher education, student loans, international study and provider closures each bring separate pathways.

Quick answer

First, identify the provider and course. Is it an ordinary short course paid directly to a business, a registered training organisation (RTO) delivering vocational (VET) training, a higher education provider, a course paid with a VET Student Loan, a course you're taking on a student visa, or a provider that has closed?

Then identify what failed:

• The course was cancelled or never delivered. A business that accepts payment must supply within the period it specified or, if none, a reasonable time (section 36), subject to narrow exceptions. Ask in writing for your money back; your contract and the provider's refund policy may also give you a refund. If the provider has closed, the Tuition Protection Service may help some students.
• The course was delivered, but badly. The services guarantees may be breached (sections 60–62). If the failure is major, or can't be remedied, you can cancel and get a refund for the part not yet consumed, or claim compensation; otherwise the provider gets the first reasonable opportunity to fix it (sections 267 and 269).
• The course was misrepresented. False or misleading claims about accreditation, outcomes or fees may breach sections 18 and 29, independently of the guarantees; you can recover loss the conduct caused.

Write to the provider first, using its formal complaint process. Which external body comes next depends on the provider and course type.

What the law actually says

Consumer status. The guarantees protect you if you acquired the services as a consumer under section 3 of the ACL: the amount paid or payable was $100,000 or less, or the services are of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use or consumption. Either limb is enough; check how section 3 applies to your course. The services must be supplied in trade or commerce, which most private colleges and training businesses do.

The services guarantees:

• Section 60 — due care and skill. The services will be rendered with due care and skill. Disorganised delivery or repeatedly missed classes may breach it.
• Section 61 — fitness for a particular purpose and result. If you made known a particular purpose (for example, meeting a licensing requirement), the services, and any product resulting from them, must be reasonably fit for that purpose. If you made known the result you wanted them to achieve (to the provider, or to someone who conducted the pre-enrolment negotiations or arrangements), they must be of such a nature, and quality, state or condition, that they might reasonably be expected to achieve that result. Section 61 doesn't apply if the circumstances show you didn't rely on the provider's skill or judgment, or that it was unreasonable to rely on it. That's an exception for the provider to raise, not something you must prove.
• Section 62 — reasonable time. If the time for supply isn't fixed by the contract, and isn't to be determined in a manner you and the provider agreed, the services must be supplied within a reasonable time.

A limit for sections 61 and 62. Under section 267(1)(c), you can't take action for a section 61 or 62 failure that occurred only because of someone other than the provider or its agents or employees, or a cause independent of human control that occurred after the services were supplied. This limit doesn't apply to section 60.

Major failure (section 268). A failure is major if:

• a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the nature and extent of the failure would not have acquired the services;
• the services are substantially unfit for a purpose for which services of the same kind are commonly supplied, and they cannot, easily and within a reasonable time, be remedied to make them fit for such a purpose;
• the services, and any product resulting from them, are unfit for a particular purpose you made known, and cannot, easily and within a reasonable time, be remedied to make them fit for such a purpose;
• the services, and any product resulting from them, are not of such a nature, or quality, state or condition, that they might reasonably be expected to achieve a result you made known, and cannot, easily and within a reasonable time, be remedied to achieve that result; or
• the supply of the services creates an unsafe situation.

That list is exhaustive. Under section 268(2), a failure is also major if it is one of two or more failures to comply with a guarantee and a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the nature and extent of those failures, taken as a whole, would not have acquired the services. That rule applies to contracts entered into on or after 18 December 2020.

Remedies (sections 267 and 269). If the failure is major, or can't be remedied, you can cancel and get a refund for any part of the service not yet consumed (section 269), or keep the contract and claim compensation for any reduction in the value of the services below the price paid or payable (section 267(3)(b)). If the failure isn't major and can be remedied, you can require the provider to fix it within a reasonable time; if it refuses or doesn't, you can have it fixed elsewhere and recover all reasonable costs of doing so, or cancel (section 267(2)). You can also recover other loss suffered because of the failure that was reasonably foreseeable (section 267(4)), such as fees for a replacement course, if you can evidence it, took reasonable steps to limit it, and don't claim the same loss twice.

"No refunds" terms. A term that purports to exclude, restrict or modify the guarantees or their remedies is void to the extent it does so (section 64). Section 64A is narrower: for services not of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use, the provider's contract may limit its liability to supplying the services again or paying the cost of doing so, unless you establish that it isn't fair or reasonable for the provider to rely on that limit. Separately, an unfair term in a standard form consumer contract is void (section 23); a one-sided cancellation penalty may be unfair, but a court or tribunal decides.

Courses that are never delivered (section 36). The guarantees cover services that are supplied. If a provider takes your money (including a deposit or part payment, section 36(7)) and then doesn't supply the course within the period it specified, or a reasonable time if none was specified, section 36 applies. It doesn't apply if the failure was due to the act or omission of another person, or a cause beyond the provider's control, and the provider took reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence; or if it offered a different course as a replacement and you agreed to it. Section 36 is enforced through damages for loss suffered because of the contravention (section 236, on the conditions set out for misleading claims below) or court orders, rather than the guarantee remedies. In practice, a demand for the money back, backed by your contract and the provider's own refund policy, is usually the first step. If you signed up during an uninvited phone call or approach away from the provider's premises, and the price was over $100 or not ascertainable, it may be an unsolicited consumer agreement you can end within 10 business days, or longer if the seller broke the rules for those sales.

Misleading claims (sections 18 and 29). A business must not engage in misleading or deceptive conduct (section 18), whether or not it meant to mislead. Section 29 specifically prohibits false or misleading representations that services are of a particular standard, quality, value or grade (s29(1)(b)), that they have sponsorship, approval, performance characteristics or benefits (s29(1)(g)), that the provider itself has a sponsorship, approval or affiliation, such as a false claim to be registered or accredited (s29(1)(h)), about price (s29(1)(i)), and about your rights or remedies, such as "no refunds under any circumstances" (s29(1)(m)). A promise about a future matter, such as job outcomes or completion dates, is taken to be misleading if the provider had no reasonable grounds for making it. You can claim damages for loss suffered because of the conduct (section 236) if you can evidence the loss and that the conduct caused it, took reasonable steps to limit it, and don't claim the same loss twice; the claim must be brought within 6 years of the cause of action accruing. A court can also make compensation orders on your application (section 237), from the kinds of orders listed in section 243.

When this applies (and when it doesn't)

The ACL is usually the main tool for an ordinary private short course, coaching program or professional-development course you paid for directly.

Separate pathways apply to some courses:

• Registered training organisations (VET). Use the provider's complaint and appeal process first. ASQA, the national VET regulator, says it cannot resolve disputes between students and training providers; reports to it inform regulation, not refunds. The National Training Complaints Hotline is a referral service that directs your complaint to the most appropriate authority.
• Higher education providers. The National Student Ombudsman is a free, independent service for complaints about higher education providers, including from international students. It encourages, but doesn't require, a complaint to the provider first, and it may consider fee and refund complaints. It can recommend steps and conciliate, but it isn't a court: it can't award damages, and its recommendations aren't enforceable.
• VET Student Loans. Complain to the provider first. The VET Student Loans Ombudsman handles issues such as an incorrect loan debt, misleading information about the course or loan, and a provider cancelling your enrolment. It doesn't handle teaching quality, and it can't re-credit a loan debt or require a provider to act. If your provider closed and you have a VET FEE-HELP debt, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations decides whether it can be re-credited.
• International students. Complaints about a higher education course go to the National Student Ombudsman. Complaints about a VET course with a private provider while on a student visa can go to the Commonwealth Ombudsman, which can look at course fees and refunds and cancellation of enrolment.
• The provider closed or can't finish your course. The Tuition Protection Service can assist international students on student visas, domestic VET Student Loans students and domestic higher education students whose provider can't fully deliver their course. Help depends on the scheme and the provider default, and may be another course or provider, or a refund or loan re-credit for education paid for but not received. If you're not in one of those groups, your claim is against the provider (and any chargeback).

These schemes don't necessarily replace your ACL or court rights, and some have their own review or re-credit deadlines, so check them early.

The ACL may not help, or may help less, where:

• the course cost more than $100,000 and isn't of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use, so you may not be a consumer under section 3;
• the course was run by an individual outside trade or commerce.

What to do today

1. Identify the provider. Note its legal name and ABN, its registration (RTO code or higher education registration), the CRICOS code if you're an international student, and the course code.
2. Preserve what you were told before enrolling. Save the enrolment agreement, fee schedule, refund policy, brochure and advertising, and screenshots of the website and any accreditation or job-outcome claims as they were when you enrolled.
3. Record your study and payments. Keep receipts and bank or card records, loan statements, census dates, attendance, completed units and assessments, results and academic records, and every message from the provider. Note which money was cash, a loan, a government subsidy or third-party finance; each may need a different remedy.
4. Check a chargeback or BNPL dispute early. If you paid by card, ask your card issuer (not the college) now whether a chargeback may be available; if you used buy now pay later, ask the BNPL provider about its dispute process. Time limits follow the card scheme's or provider's rules, not the ACL, and may run from when you paid or when the course was due. Contacting the college first may matter to the issuer.
5. Write to the provider through its formal complaint process. Say what happened and when, which rule you rely on (section 36 for a course never delivered, sections 60–62 for poor delivery, sections 18 and 29 for misleading claims), and what you want: a refund, a partial refund, compensation or a fix. Give a reasonable deadline; 14 days is a practical default, not a legal requirement.
6. Get an independent view if teaching quality is disputed. A written opinion from someone qualified in the field, on what a competent provider would have delivered, may strengthen your case.
7. Read any offer carefully before accepting. A credit, a partial refund or a "full and final" settlement may end your claim if it includes a release. Saying you accept "under protest" won't necessarily preserve your rights, so get advice before signing anything described as final.

If you'd like help putting your claim in writing, you can generate a free demand letter with fairgo.

What if the business refuses

Use the provider's internal complaint and appeal process first where you can; most external bodies expect it, though the National Student Ombudsman encourages rather than requires it. Then, depending on your course:

• An education pathway, if one applies — the ombudsman, referral service or Tuition Protection Service for your course type, listed above.
• Your state or territory consumer protection body. It may help, for example by contacting the business or conciliating, if your complaint meets its criteria. Most expect you to have tried to resolve the matter with the business first, and eligibility rules vary by state and dispute type (in the ACT, for example, statutory conciliation applies only where the remedy you seek is worth $5,000 or less). These bodies don't make binding orders in ordinary consumer disputes and can't make the business settle. Contact details are at /agencies.
• A tribunal or court with jurisdiction. In NSW, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and the NT, a tribunal (NCAT, VCAT, QCAT, ACAT or NTCAT) hears many consumer claims within its limits; in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania, ordinary consumer claims go to the Magistrates Court. Jurisdiction depends on each forum's enabling legislation, the type of claim and the amount, so confirm the forum and its current thresholds on the official site before filing. You can usually run a claim without a lawyer, though some forums restrict legal representation (QCAT, for example, requires permission). Check current filing fees on the official site, and ask about fee exemptions, waivers or deferrals if cost is a concern. If you and the provider are both individuals living in different states (say, a sole-trader tutor interstate), the dispute may need a court rather than a tribunal; this doesn't usually arise where the provider is a company. Our guide to choosing the right tribunal or court has more.
• The ACCC. The ACCC investigates systemic conduct rather than individual disputes, so it won't resolve your claim, but reporting a pattern of misleading course marketing can still be worthwhile.

Common mistakes

• Treating the refund policy as the last word. A "no refunds" clause can't remove the guarantees or their remedies for a consumer (section 64), and telling you that you have no rights may itself breach section 29(1)(m).
• Using the wrong rule for a cancelled course. A course never delivered mainly engages section 36 and your contract; if part was delivered, or delivery was late, the services guarantees (including section 62) may also apply.
• Mixing up a refund and a loan re-credit. If you paid with a VET Student Loan or FEE-HELP, the remedy you need may be a debt re-credit, which follows its own process.
• Waiting too long. The ACL has no single warranty-style expiry for the guarantees, but limitation laws and forum rules still apply, a misleading-conduct damages claim must be brought within 6 years of the cause of action accruing (section 236), and chargeback and dispute windows can be short.

Related reading

• Services that go wrong: your ACL rights explained
• Section 60: the due care and skill guarantee
• Business refused your refund? Here's what to do next
• Gym membership cancellation rights under the ACL
• Subscription you couldn't cancel: ACL rights

This article is general information about Australian Consumer Law, not legal advice. It also touches on complaint and escalation pathways (state and territory consumer bodies, tribunals and courts, the ACCC, the National Student Ombudsman, the Commonwealth Ombudsman including the VET Student Loans Ombudsman, ASQA, the National Training Complaints Hotline, the Tuition Protection Service, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, student loan re-credit processes, and card chargeback rules and buy now pay later providers' dispute processes) and limitation laws, whose scope, rules, thresholds and processes sit outside the ACL or can change. Confirm the current position with the relevant body before lodging. For advice on your specific case, see your state or territory consumer body — full list at /agencies.