How much is too much?

A student enrolled with an Australian education provider and applied for a student visa, which was refused.

The student gave his refund information to the education agent he enrolled through but soon became seriously unwell. When he recovered, he followed up with the education agent. The agent tried to obtain the refund from the provider, but the provider responded they would not accept applications more than 90 days after the visa refusal date, in line with their refund policy.

The student complained to us.

We investigated and formed the view that, under legislation, there was no scope for providers to limit their obligation to refund students after a visa was refused, for example by placing conditions on when a student must make the request. We also considered a limit of 90 days was unreasonable in any case, especially in the student’s circumstances.

The education provider asserted that if the student was dissatisfied, he should hold the education agent accountable. We explained that education agents act on behalf of education providers, so providers are responsible for the behaviour of their agents.

We suggested the provider refund the student, and the provider accepted this. Our work ensured the provider:

• understood the need to correctly apply legislation in relation to refused visas
• amended their refund policy to remove time limits for visa refusal refund applications
• realised the education agent was contracted to act on their behalf
• understood our role in supporting them to apply best practice complaint handling.

2024