Life in Australia Guide

If a provider cannot deliver your course after you have paid and enrolled, or suddenly closes, you can face serious financial and visa problems. Australia has the ESOS Act 2000 (Education Services for Overseas Students Act) and the National Code 2018 for these situations. Providers and courses that can enrol student visa holders are listed on the government register, CRICOS, and providers must follow rules on recruitment information, written agreements, limits on prepaid tuition, changing providers and handling complaints. If a provider cannot deliver a course, the government's TPS (Tuition Protection Service) helps with a replacement course or a refund.

Before or at the same time as a provider takes any tuition or other fees, it must enter into a written agreement that the student (or a parent or guardian, if under 18) signs or accepts. The agreement sets out the course, fees and how to pay them, refund conditions and the complaints process in plain English, and says the student is responsible for keeping a copy and receipts. The ESOS Act also bars taking more than 50% of the total tuition fees before the course starts, but this does not apply if the student or payer agreed to pay more or the course is 25 weeks or less (checked October 2026).

Standard 7 of the National Code 2018 limits when you can move to another registered provider. A new provider cannot knowingly enrol a student before they have completed a set period of their principal course with their current provider. That period is a temporary 12 months from 2 October 2026 to 30 June 2027, then 6 months from 1 July 2027; for the school sector it is the first 6 months of the first school course (checked October 2026).

• 4 exceptions: the current provider or course ceases to be registered, a sanction blocks study, the current provider approves the transfer, or a government sponsor gives written support
• Transfer policy: providers must give students a documented policy covering the request process, approval and reasons for refusal (students under 18 need written confirmation from a parent or guardian)
• Approval is free, refusal is in writing: no charge for approval; a refusal must state the reasons and your right to appeal within 20 working days

The provider's internal process comes first; external bodies are divided by course type. Where the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) applies, the written agreement says it does not affect your rights under that law. For private disputes, see the small claims tribunal and legal assistance guides.

Follow these steps in order if a provider has closed or you are in a dispute. Deadlines and forms can change, so check the official guidance first.

• Check official notices: read the Department of Education's Education Provider Notices and your provider's notices, and ask the provider for your academic record, course structure, CoE and receipts.
• Request help through TPS Online: if you are eligible, you will be given an account, and receipts and bank records of what you paid are used to calculate a refund (1300 131 798).
• Replacement courses are distinguished by who arranges them: if the provider that defaulted offers a replacement course, it is at the provider's cost (no additional cost) and you must accept it in writing (the provider may instead choose to give a refund in place of a replacement course). If the provider cannot comply, TPS gives you options in writing when a suitable course is available; accepting is optional, and if you do, you accept in writing, in principle within 30 days after the provider's obligation period (14 days from the default date) ends. You can also move to a provider you choose yourself, but you must gain admission yourself, and if that course's tuition fees are higher than the original course, you pay the difference. Check the deadlines on the official website.
• Do not delay your TPS request: the law says the Overseas Students Tuition Fund (OSTF) cannot be used where TPS only learns of the matter more than 12 months after the default date.
• Check your visa separately with Home Affairs: staying enrolled is a student visa condition, and there is a deadline for getting a CoE for a replacement course. TPS cannot help with visa issues.

These misunderstandings can cost you rights you are trying to use. Knowing how the system works avoids most of them.

• Myth: "I can stop attending and paying during a dispute." Attendance, progress and payment conditions still apply during a complaint. Unpaid fees can lead to suspension or cancellation, and poor attendance or progress can be reported to Home Affairs.
• Myth: "TPS gives back everything I paid." In a provider default, TPS helps with a replacement course or a refund of unspent tuition fees. Books, equipment, OSHC, administration fees, accommodation and visa application fees are not tuition fees.
• Myth: "I get a refund whenever I quit." If you choose to stop studying, the written agreement in principle decides whether you get a refund and how much. With an agreement, the 4-week deadline only starts when you make a written claim. However, if you could not start, or stopped, because of a student visa refusal, or there is no written agreement that meets the requirements, the refund amount is set by a statutory formula rather than by the agreement's terms, and the provider must refund within 4 weeks of the default date. Check the formula on the official website.
• Myth: "What an agent says has nothing to do with the provider." The internal complaints process also covers dealings with the provider's agents, and the Overseas Student team also looks at wrong advice from an agent acting for the provider.
• Myth: "I can go straight to the Ombudsman." You are advised to use the provider's internal process first, and jurisdiction depends on course type. The Commonwealth Ombudsman says it will refer you to the right body if you contact the wrong one.