Policies and Procedures
For International Students
Institute policies and procedures for international students are in accordance with Australian regulations and policies.
- Australian Government Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2020C00039 - Education Services for Overseas Students Regulations 2019
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2019L00571 - National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2017L01182 - Standards for Registered training Organization (RTOs) 2015
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2017C00663
The Institute has policies and procedures that specifically apply to International Students and it is important that you read and understand them.
Changes of contact details
Under Australian Government student visa regulations, you must notify the Institute your contact details including current residential address, mobile number, email address, emergency contact details and any changes to those details within 7 days of the change.
Students who undertake practical work placements as part of their course must also comply with this requirement
Use of personal information
Your personal information that is available to the Institute, such as your address, telephone number(s) or academic results, cannot be disclosed under Australian law to third parties, including your parents, sponsors, family members or friends, without your written consent.
Under Australian law (ESOS Act 2000), your personal information may be made available by the Institute to Commonwealth and State Government authorities. The Institute is also required to tell Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations about certain changes to your enrolment and of any breach to the condition of your visa relating to attendance and/or satisfactory course progress.
Maintaining privacy
We provide security for all our database intelligence in line with the Privacy Act 1988 and Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000. If we need to seek the services of a third party in order to receive your information or maintain our database, we will obtain a privacy agreement with that operator so as to maintain a secure database. If at any time you receive information from us that you don't want to receive, just let us know by contacting the Information Centre by phone or email and we will remove your details from our database.
Admissions
The Institute has a documented policy and procedure for assessing whether the international student's English language proficiency, educational qualifications or work experience are sufficient for them to enter their desired course.
International Student Admissions Procedure
Selection and Admissions Policy
Selection and Admissions Procedure
Credits and Skills Recognition
A formal process for conducting and recording the course credits granted to international students. These procedures must be read as an adjunct to the Institute's Policy and Procedures for RPL and Credit Transfer for VET and the Higher Education
Recognition Policy and Procedure as this set of procedures applies only to international students
If you have earned qualifications or Statements of Attainment from other Institutes conducting nationally recognised training, you may be eligible for credits.
Subject credits may be awarded to students who can supply documentation of having successfully completed prior subjects of similar duration, content and assessment requirements. Students may be required to undertake challenge or theory tests as part of the process of recognising credits. William Angliss staff who grant the exemptions will need to be confident the information provided by the student is reliable and authentic. If an assessment could lead to your study load being less than full time, you will be offered substitute subjects as available and where timetabling permits. Students must maintain a full-time study under Student Visa conditions.
No semester fee reductions are available for any changes to your subject loading within a semester. Fee reductions apply only if credits can be applied as semester blocks.
The adjustment to the duration of your course due to credit processes can occur either before your student visa is issued or after it is issued. The Institute is required to notify DHA of any change in course duration after a visa has been granted.
International Student Recognition of Course Credit Procedure
Issuing Qualifications and Statements of Attainment
Upon successful completion of all of the competencies in your course, you will be eligible to apply for the qualification for the course that you enrolled in. If you have only partially completed the course, you can apply for a Statement of Attainment.
Deferred, Suspended or Cancelled Studies
Deferred Commencement (new students)
International Students who have accepted an Offer of Enrolment and have been issued a CoE, may request to defer commencement to a later study period. The request to defer commencement must be made in writing to the Manager, International Office at international@angliss.edu.au and state the grounds on which the request is based.
Acceptable grounds may include:
- serious illness or injury (medical certificate required)
- bereavement of close family members such as parents or grandparents (documentation required)
- major political upheaval or natural disaster in your home country requiring emergency travel (evidence this has impacted on your studies required)
- delay in the grant of a student visa (dated documentation required).
If your application for deferral is approved, you will be issued with a new Offer and CoE.
If your visa has been granted but your reason for deferring is not considered a compassionate or compelling reason, the Institute must report your status to DHA as a 'non-commencement' (i.e. did not start studies). You will need to contact DHA for information on how this will affect your student visa.
Leave of Absence – Suspended studies (current and continuing students)
Leave of Absence is available to international student visa holders who have been granted their student visa and commenced their studies. A Leave of Absence means taking a break from studies. Students may be granted Leave of Absence only one the grounds of compassionate or compelling circumstances.
You can apply for leave of absence for up to a maximum of two study periods (12 months). You must be outside Australia for the period of your leave i.e. you will need to return home unless there are extenuating circumstances that are approved by WAI and DHA.
It is important that Leave of Absence follows an extensive consultation with the International Office and academic staff. A formal application for
Leave of Absence must be made in writing to the Angliss International Office Manager. Only compassionate and compelling circumstances will be considered for Leave of Absence, unless the suspension of studies is due to misconduct (see below).
Compassionate and Compelling circumstances may include:
- serious illness or injury, where a medical certificate states that the student is unable to attend class or that studies are severely and adversely affected.
- bereavement of close family members such as parent or grandparent (where possible, a death certificate should be provided, and evidence of relationship to the deceased)
- major political upheaval or natural disaster in the home country requiring emergency travel and this has impacted on the student's studies, or
- a traumatic experience which could include: involvement in, or witnessing of a serious accident; or witnessing or being the victim of a serious crime, and this has impacted on the student (these cases should be supported by police or psychologist's reports)
- where the Institute is unable to offer a pre-requisite subject
Suspension and Cancellation
The Institute may cancel or suspend your enrolment because of:
- student misconduct
- failure to pay amounts agreed to for undertake or continue the course as per written Agreement.
- A breach of course progress requirements
Misconduct may be any act or omission by a student that is prejudicial to the orderly conduct of the business of WAI; directly and adversely affects the Institute or any student, staff member or visitor of the Institute; or suspected criminal activity.
If the Institute intends to cancel or suspend your enrolment, you will be notified in writing and you will have 20 working days to appeal using the Institute's internal complaints and appeals process. The cancellation or suspension will not take effect until after the internal process is completed, unless extenuating circumstances relating to your welfare apply.
In the event that you have not appealed your notification, or you have been unsuccessful in your appeal, the DHA will be notified of your deferment, suspension or cancellation of enrolment. You will be required to present your air ticket to William Angliss Institute office and return to your home country unless DHA provides written advice that you can stay in Australia.
Your enrolment will be cancelled and your visa will be cancelled if you exceed the period of your suspension and you will be required to obtain a new visa to recommence your studies at the Institute.
The Institute Refund Policy should be referred to in terms of eligibility for refund of fees
The Institute tuition fees in place at the time of your new application will apply. You will also be able to recommence your studies within a semester only if a full time load can be configured.
Attendance
The Institute has an expectation that your attendance will be 100%. Poor attendance is a primary contributor to poor academic performance. The Institute monitors academic performance as per ESOS and National Code Requirements
Your attendance will be recorded and monitored on a regular basis and the Institute will note nonattendance, including absences due to illness or for any other circumstances, on your file. This information may be used in the decision to report you to DHA if you do not make satisfactory course progress.
Course Progress
The Institute is required to monitor your course progress. Should you receive a letter from the Institute at any stage during a semester advising you that your course progress is a matter of concern to your teachers and coordinators, you will be required to participate in learning support and/or counselling, and/or undertake other obligations required by the Institute.
The Institute will require you to sign an agreement that you understand that your course progress is of concern and that you will participate in the support programs provided by the Institute. If you fail five units or more (50% for degree courses) in that semester, you will be required to attend further Institute support programs in the following semester and sign another agreement to participate in these support programs. If you fail five units or more (50% for degree courses) at the end of the following semester, the Institute will notify you of the intention to report you to DHA for unsatisfactory course progress. You will have 20 days to appeal against this notice. If your appeal is not successful, the Institute will proceed with the report to DHA and you will be provided with the address of the DHA office that you must attend for an interview. The Institute will also notify DHA that this letter has been sent to you. You will be required to make an appointment with the DHA office within 28 days of the date on the letter and present for the interview with photographic identification (such as your passport). As a result of this meeting, DHA will make a decision on whether or not your student visa will be cancelled.
International Student Progress Procedures
Change of Institution/Provider
According to Standard 7 of the National Code 2018 of the ESOS Act 2000, students are restricted from transferring between registered providers prior to the student completing six months of the principal course of study. If you are currently studying at another registered provider in Australia and have completed less than six months of the principal program, William Angliss Institute can only accept you into our course if one of the following conditions is fulfilled
- The original provider has provided a written letter of release;
- The original registered provider has ceased to be registered or the course in which you are enrolled in has ceased to be registered;
- The original registered provider has had a sanction imposed on its registration by the
- Australian Government or state or territory government that prevents the student from continuing his or her principal course, or
- Any government sponsor considers the change to be in your best interest and has provided written support for that change.
For current international students at William Angliss Institute, the Institute will consider issuing a release letter under the following circumstances:
- Compassionate or Compelling Circumstances
- Unable to deliver the course or offer pre-requisite units
- Misleading information
- Unsatisfactory Course Progress
- Unmet expectations
- Appeal Outcome
However, you have the right to lodge an appeal against this decision. You must lodge an appeal in writing with the Director, International Services, within 20 working days. Whether you choose to lodge an appeal or not, you must remain enrolled and attend all classes as normal until the process is complete.
International Student Application for Release Policy
Complaints and Appeals
If you have a complaint about your course, your assessment or the Institute, we want to hear from you. But to make things fair for everyone, we've developed a student complaints procedure that everyone needs to follow.
Students who wish to lodge a formal grievance should refer to the full Student Academic and Non-Academic Grievance/Complaints Policy and Procedure in conjunction with the William Angliss Institute Managing Diversity (Equal Opportunity and Minimisation of Inappropriate Behaviour) Student Policy.
There is no financial penalty for students to pursue the William Angliss Institute Academic and Non-Academic Grievance/Complaints and Appeals Policy and Procedure. Both documents, and the complaints form are available on our Complaints & Appeals page.
If at any time the student is not satisfied with the fairness of this process or if a grievance still remains unresolved, the student has the right to lodge a complaint externally with an appropriate Government authority or external agency such as:
- International Student Care Service info@iscs.vic.gov.au
- Overseas Student Ombudsman www.oso.gov.au
- Equal Opportunity Commission of Victoria www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au
- Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission www.hreoc.gov.au
- Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria https://www.disputes.vic.gov.au/
- Anti-Discrimination Board www.AntiDiscriminationAustralia.com.au
- Consumer Affairs Victoria (Office of Fair Trading) www.consumer.vic.gov.au
Refund of Fees
See our refund of fees for international students' page.
Welfare of Under 18 International Students
International students who are under the age of 18 years and who will be studying on a student visa are required by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to have acceptable arrangements for their accommodation, support and general welfare for the duration of the student visa or until they turn 18 (whichever happens first). WAI does not accept International students who are under 17 years of age.
William Angliss Institute (WAI) will provide monitoring and on-going support to international students who are under 18 years of age in relation to accommodation, support and general welfare.
Welfare and Accommodation Arrangements for International Students under the Age of 18 Procedure
Accomodation Arrangement Form
Welfare Arrange Form
Other Policies and Procedures
The Institute also has policies and procedures relating to Freedom of Information, access and equity, student agreements, appeals processes, declarations, enrolment and orientation, assessment, excursions, field trips, uniforms, equipment, and attendance. They are available on our policies page.
