School or Uni Charged Fees for Stuff That Never Happened? Get a Refund

The private school charged a $1,400 “camps and excursions levy”. Two of the three camps were cancelled. No refund, no credit, just a line in the newsletter thanking families for their “understanding”. Or: you paid $2,900 for a 12-week diploma course at a private college. Six classes ran. The trainer quit. The college says “we’re restructuring” and stops replying.

Education is a service you paid for.

The ACL applies to schools, colleges and unis

Any organisation that charges you money for a service is a supplier under the Australian Consumer Law. That includes private schools, TAFEs, universities (for fee-paying courses) and every private training college. They are bound by:

• Section 60 – services must be provided with due care and skill.
• Section 61 – services must be fit for the purpose and delivered within a reasonable time.
• Section 267 – if the service isn’t supplied, or is so far off what was promised that it’s a major failure, you can cancel and recover what you paid for the part not delivered.

A levy for specific activities is money paid for those activities. If they don’t happen, the money isn’t the school’s to keep.

Private colleges have extra rules

Registered training organisations (RTOs) must have a written refund policy, and they can’t charge you more than $1,500 in advance per course. If your college collected more than that upfront and then failed to deliver, that is a breach of the standards, and ASQA (the regulator) wants to hear about it. International students also have the Tuition Protection Service.

Steps

• Get the fee schedule, the enrolment agreement or the school’s fee policy. Highlight what the fee was for.
• List exactly what was not delivered: dates, activities, classes.
• Write once to the business manager, bursar or college director, asking for a pro-rata refund within 14 days, citing s 267.
• If they say “policy says no refunds”, send a Letter of Demand. Policies cannot override the ACL.

Why institutions pay

Schools and colleges are very sensitive to reputation and regulation. A formal Letter of Demand from a parent, copied to the school board or the college’s regulator, with the ACL sections and a tribunal deadline, is handled by someone senior. The amount is small to them. The problem isn’t.

If they don’t, it’s a tribunal claim like any other: a fee schedule, evidence that the thing didn’t happen, and a simple dollar figure.

“Thanks for your understanding” is not a refund. Ask for a real one.

Claim Done drafts your Letter of Demand for $49. Done in about 5 minutes. You approve it before it is sent.