Fairness, Review, Equal Benefits and Opportunities Policy and Procedure

In line with the VET quality and accountability requirements for the purposes of clause 18 of Schedule 1A of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA), Inspritive Pty Ltd abides by the following fair treatment of students and equal benefits and opportunities for students.

1. Fair treatment of Students

Inspiritive will treat fairly:

a). all of its students who are, or would be, entitled to VET FEE-HELP assistance under clause 43 of Schedule 1A of the HESA Act.

b). all persons seeking to enrol with the College in a VET unit of study that meets the course requirements under subclause 45(1) of schedule 1A of HESA and who are, or would be, entitled to VET FEE-HELP assistance under clause 43 of Schedule 1A of HESA.

The application of fair treatment does not require that all students be treated the same. Fairness must be considered in the context of all the relevant circumstances. There are clearly situations in which the fair treatment of students will result in students in different circumstances being treated differently.

2. Equal Benefits and Opportunities

Inspiritive will ensure that it maintains and adheres to open, fair and transparent procedures that, in the College’s view are based on merit for the making of decisions in relation to:

a). the selection, from among the persons who are, or would be, entitled to VET FEE-HELP assistance under clause 43 if the Schedule of HESA and who seek to enrol with the College in a VET unit of study that meets the requirements under subclause 45(1) of Schedule 1A of HESA, of persons to enrol; and

b). The treatment of students who are, or would be, entitled to VET FEE-HELP assistance under clause 43 if Schedule 1A if HESA undertaking a VET course of study.

3. Application of Merit

The application of merit in decision-making processes would generally be expected to involve the Inspiritive considering each application on a case by case basis and not applying inflexibly policies that preclude eligible applicants from having their application considered.

4. No Income Test

The Inspiritive as a provider may not apply an income test when making decisions about which students are eligible for FEE-HELP assistance.

5. Educational Disavantage

When making decisions about the selection of students, the Inspiritive is able to take educational disadvantages that a particular student has experienced into account. This should involve consideration of the actual disadvantages that a particular student has experienced. As a provider, the Inspiritive should not use ‘proxy indicators’ of educational disadvantage in the absence of clear evidence that all students in such a group necessarily suffered educational disadvantage. Such proxy indicators should not be used because they assume that all people who satisfy the proxy condition (eg. being from a low income group or being from a rural area) have necessarily experienced educational disadvantage. A provider is required to consider a particular student’s specific circumstances before making a decision about whether the student has actually suffered educational disadvantage.

6. Ristricted access arrangement

When making decisions about the selection of students, a provider is able to take into account students that are enrolled under a restricted access arrangement [VET Provider Guidelines 5.10.5]. A restricted access arrangement is an agreement entered into between a provider and an employer or industry body for the provision of a course(s) or places in a course(s) in which enrolment is limited or restricted to employees of the employer or industry body.