Information about the VET FEE-HELP Student Redress Measures

Written on the 13 August 2020 by SAFCA

The Commonwealth Ombudsman is seeking your help in letting your organisation and your network know about the VET FEE-HELP Student Redress Measures (the redress measures).

The redress measures came into effect at the beginning of 2019 and provide a remedy for students who incurred a debt under the VET FEE-HELP scheme due to the inappropriate conduct of their education provider, by removing all or part of a VET FEE-HELP debt.

Applications under the redress measures need to be made to the VET Student Loan Ombudsman by 31 December 2020.  As an organisation with links into your community, we would value your help in getting to those students who may be eligible to have their VET FEE-HELP debt removed.

What is 'inappropriate conduct'?

Under the redress measures, 'inappropriate conduct' includes:

• being offered an incentive (such as a laptop) to enrol even though the person had no intention of completing the course
• failing to provide accurate information about the course before the person enrolled, leading to the person enrolling in a course that wasn't suitable and was different to what they believed
• not withdrawing a student's enrolment when asked to do so by the student, leading them to incur a VET FEE-HELP debt.

Please note that this is about VET FEE-HELP debts only, and that it does not apply to VET Student Loans debts.

How can someone make a complaint?

Complaints can be made through our website, just select 'VFH outreach referral 2020' in the 'how found' field. If people have any questions then they can contact the Ombudsman by email at VET@ombudsman.gov.au, or call us on 1300 362 072.

Where can I go to get more information?

You can find more information, including factsheets, posters and other resources, at our website at vet.ombudsman.gov.au/. There is also a factsheet about the VET FEE-HELP Student Redress Measures, which I have attached to this email and can be downloaded from our website here. We suggest that these can be used for the purposes of newsletter articles or to have displayed at your organisation.

We would appreciate it if you could bring this to the attention of other community organisations, groups and networks that you are aware of. This will help as many people as possible who may be affected by this issue.

VET FEE-HELP Fact Sheet

VET FEE-HELP Redress Measures Poster