Accredited Education & Training Pty Ltd

Training Operations

Accredited Education & Training will ensure that qualified and experienced trainers are used to conduct all training courses. Trainers will present approved course material to meet the appropriate standards.

Assessments will be conducted in a fair, objective and consistent manner to determine a person's level of competency. Course content and learning outcomes will vary according to the course type and duration. If required, this information may be obtained by contacting our office direct.

Workplace Health & Safety

Accredited Education & Training has a responsibility to provide a safe and healthy environment for their employees, customers and visitors

Under the Occupational Health & Safety Act 1985, course participants also have certain responsibilities. These include:

• Undertaking activities in a safe manner
• Follow instructions provided for safety
• Not putting themselves or anyone else at risk
• Reporting an injury / illness or "near miss" to an appropriate person

Privacy Policy

Your Privacy is respected by Accredited Education & Training. Personal information collected about you will be used in the course of Accredited Education & Training's business. Certain personal information is required by the Office of Training and Tertiary Education before you can be issued with a Nationally Accredited Qualification.

Accredited Education & Training does not supply this information to any marketing company, mailing list or public relation company. If you are enrolled through a New Apprenticeship, your personal Information is only shared with your chosen New Apprenticeship Centres and the relevant Government Departments.

From time to time we will use your information internally to forward details about specials, or other courses you may be interested in undertaking. In accordance with the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000, we invite you to advise us if you wish to have your name removed from our internal mailing list. If you have privacy concerns, or do not wish to receive this information, contact our office direct.

If you wish to access your own files held by Accredited Education & Training, please forward your signed request to our office.

Refund Policy

Where cancellation of a course occurs at least 21 days prior to commencement of the course, a full refund, minus the administration fee will be given. Where notification of cancellation occurs between 14 and 21 days prior to commencement of the course, a 50% refund will be granted, minus the administration fee. Where notification of cancellation occurs less than 14 days prior to commencement of the course, no refund will be granted and full fees are chargeable. (Special Circumstances will be determined on a case by case situation). All cancellations must be received in writing. For further details please contact Accredited Education & Training direct.

Accredited Education & Training ensures that its marketing and advertising is ethical. Our privacy policy ensures that written permission is obtained from course participants before any information about them is used in any marketing or promotional material.

Access and Equity

Accredited Education & Training actively encourages the participation of a cross section of the community. This is achieved through the establishment of non-discriminatory selection procedures, encouraging access for all members of the community.

In the first instance, the Trainer will assess literacy, language and numeracy concerns. When indicated, the Training Co-ordinator will make available to the Trainer such materials or training processes to assist with learning. Interpreters are welcome to attend the training of a client with literacy difficulty; however, Accredited Education & Training will not incur any expense associated with interpretation services.

If you require support for any reason at all whilst enrolled with Accredited Education & Training, please contact us direct. We will endeavour to assist you to our fullest capacity, or where appropriate, direct you to a suitable professional agency. This service is of no charge. (Support can include interpreters, trauma, disability, harassment, welfare etc.)

Disciplinary Procedures

If a Trainer, or staff member of AET has evidence that cheating or plagiarism may have occurred, he or she may choose to meet with the trainee and employer to discuss the circumstances. If the trainee admits dishonesty, then AET Management will decide on whether they will only issue the qualification/statement of attainment for modules that have not been subject to the above wrongdoing.

If the student does not acknowledge misconduct, the Trainer/staff member shall report the incident to AET Management. AET management shall gather all relevant evidence from both the trainee and Trainer (and other knowledgeable parties), review the allegations, determine whether there was cheating or plagiarism, and if so carry out the appropriate disciplinary action.

If the trainee does not appeal the action to AET management within one week, AET shall carry on and determine the final disciplinary action that will take place.

If an appeal is requested, and AET discover that there is insufficient evidence of dishonesty to warrant chosen disciplinary action, AET shall decide on an alternate direction which may involve close supervision.

Flexible Delivery

Accredited Education & Training will offer flexible delivery including:

• Alternative course time and dates.
• A second assessment of competencies which were not achieved at first assessment.
• Ensuring we can deliver the training to suit the requirements of your employment.

Recognition of Nationally Accredited Qualifications & Competencies from other RTO's

Accredited Education & Training recognises relevant qualifications or statement of attainments that comply with the Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) and are issued by another Registered Training Organisation (RTO). These qualifications must meet the relevant Training Package Requirements.

Code of Conduct

All employees of Accredited Education & Training are required to follow the Code of Conduct. They:

1. Act with integrity, fairness and honesty.

• Respect the dignity of others.
• Respect the rights of others.
• Do not use oppressive or misleading practices, falsify or wrongly withhold information.
• Ensure that others are treated in accordance with the principles of natural justice.
• Respect the confidentiality of information within Accredited Education & Training.

2. Respect the law and act accordingly.

• Comply with the laws of the Commonwealth of Australia and of its individual States and Territories.
• Scrupulously observe the Australian Taxation Acts and other legislation relevant to the conduct of the affairs of Accredited Education & Training.
• Apply the provisions of the law to others with humanity and charity.

3. Are responsible for their actions and accountable for the consequences of those actions.

• Accept responsibility for action they take, or fail to take, relating to their position in Accredited Education & Training.
• Are responsible for honestly and fully reporting on their actions, and on how they have set about achieving their objectives.
• Do not work while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

4. Do not place themselves in a position where there is a conflict of interest.

• Avoid situations where their private interests conflict directly or indirectly with their obligations to the organisation.
• Do not receive benefits from a person or organisation seeking to do business with Accredited Education & Training.
• Do not promote commercial organisations that compete directly with Accredited Education & Training

5. Use the assets of Accredited Education & Training in an ethical manner.

• Do not use Accredited Education & Training's funds to provide private benefits for themselves or others.
• Do not use Accredited Education & Training's funds beyond what is demonstrated to be necessary for incidental expenditure (such as that on gifts, entertainment, travel or accommodation) that may be necessary for the transaction of the affairs of Accredited Education & Training

COMPLAINTS / APPEALS POLICY
Customer complaints are to be taken seriously by all staff, and are to be actioned within 10 days of receipt. We will act upon the subject of any complaint found to be substantiated. Appeals must be lodged within 20 working days of the assessment decision, and are to be re-validated by the Director of Studies.

Requirements 
Students who are concerned about the conduct of the training provider are encouraged to attempt to resolve their concerns using this procedure. 
All prospective students will be provided with information about the complaints and appeals procedure before making an agreement to enrol. 
All complaints and appeals will be handled professionally and confidentially in order to achieve a satisfactory resolution 
Students will be provided with details of external authorities they may approach, if required 
At any stage in the internal complaint or appeal process students are entitled to have their own nominee included to accompany and support them. 
All complaints and appeals will be managed fairly and equitably and as efficiently as possible 
Students may raise any matters of concern relating to training delivery and assessment, the quality of the teaching, student amenities, discrimination, sexual harassment and other issues that may arise. 

For internal complaints and appeals: 
The student will have an opportunity to formally present their case, in writing or in person 
The student may be accompanied and assisted by a support person at any relevant meetings. 
A student’s enrolment must be maintained whilst an internal complaint or appeal is in progress and the outcome has not been determined. 
The College will encourage the parties to approach a complaint or appeal with an open view and to attempt to resolve problems through discussion and conciliation. Where a complaint or appeal cannot be resolved through discussion and conciliation, we acknowledge the need for an appropriate external and independent agent to review the process implemented by the College. 
If there is any matter arising from a student complaint or appeal that is a systemic issue which requires improvement action this will be reported to the RTO management meeting as part of the continuous improvement process. 
Nothing in this procedure inhibits student’s rights to pursue other legal remedies. Students are entitled to resolve any dispute by exercising their rights to other legal remedies. Students wishing to take this course of action are advised to:-
   • Contact a solicitor; or-
   • Contact the Law Institute of Victoria, 470 Bourke St Melbourne 3000, telephone 9602 5000 for a referral to a solicitor.



Informal Complaint Process
Any student with a question or complaint may raise the matter with staff of the Registered Training Organisation and attempt an informal resolution of the question or complaint. 
Questions or complaints dealt with in this way do not become part of the formal complaint process and will not be documented, recorded or reported on unless the College staff member involved determines that the issue question or complaint was relevant to the wider operation of the College. 
Students who are not satisfied with the outcome of the question or complaint are encouraged to register a formal complaint.


Formal Complaint Process 
Students who are not satisfied with the outcome of the informal process, or, who want to register a formal complaint may do so. To register a formal complaint a student must complete the student complaint form and contact the Director of Studies to arrange a meeting. At this meeting the complaint can be raised and a resolution attempted. 
At the stage of the complaint meeting the complaint must be recorded in writing and signed and dated by the complainant and the Director of Studies. The complaint is recorded in writing by completing the student complaint form prior to the meeting or a new document can be prepared and signed during the meeting. 
The Director of Studies will then attempt to resolve the complaint with the student and any other parties who may be involved. The resolution phase must commence within 10 working days of the complaint being lodged in writing. 
A maximum time of 20 working days from the commencement of the resolution phase will be allowed for the resolution unless all parties agree in writing to extend this time. This period is called the resolution phase. 
At the end of the resolution phase the Director of Studies will report the College decision to the student. The College decision and reasons for the decision will be documented by the Director of Studies and placed in the students file. 
Following the resolution phase the College must implement the decision as conveyed to the student 
If a student is dissatisfied with the outcome of the formal complaint process then they may institute an internal appeals process by completing the appeals form.

Internal Appeals Process 
The following matters must be lodged as formal complaints within 20 days of notification of an intention to Internal appeals may arise from a number of sources including appeals against assessment, appeals against discipline actions and appeals against decisions arising from complaints. The essential nature of an appeal is that it is a request by a student to reconsider a decision made by the College. 
A student’s enrolment must be maintained whilst an appeal is in progress and the outcome has not been determined. 
The appeals process is initiated by a student completing the student appeals form. 
The appeal resolution phase must commence within 10 working days of the internal appeal being lodged in writing. 
A maximum time of 30 working days from the commencement of the appeal resolution phase will be allowed for the appeal resolution unless all parties agree in writing to extend this time. 
After a student makes an internal appeal, the registered training organisation will hear the appeal and propose a final resolution. 
Students appealing an assessment or RPL outcome will be given the opportunity for reassessment by the College. Costs of reassessment will met by the College. The recorded outcome of the assessment appeal will be the most favourable result for the student from either the original assessment or the reassessment. 
The outcome of the internal appeal and reasons for the outcome will be recorded in writing and signed and dated by the student and the College and placed in the student file 
There are no further avenues within the College for complaints or appeals after the internal appeals process has been completed, however an external appeals process is available 
As we are a small RTO, we may utilise the services of Papas, Ryan and Partners (Mr Glenn Ryan) or other RTO consultants to assist with any appeal services


External Appeals Process 
The purpose of the external appeals process is to consider whether the College has followed its student complaint and appeals procedure, not to make a decision in place of the College. For example, if a student appeals against his or her subject results and goes through the College internal appeals process, the external appeals process (if accessed) would look at the way in which the internal appeal was conducted; it would not make a determination as to what the subject result should be. 
For external appeals the independent mediator will be the Australian Council of Private Education and Training phone (03) 9416 1355. The college will pay for costs of mediation. 
The external appeals procedure will be determined by the independent mediator. 
Following the receipt of the outcome of the external appeal the College must immediately implement the decision and convey the outcome to the student.