49ASupport for students policy requirements

49A Support for students policy requirements

For the purposes of paragraph 19-43(2)(b) of the Act, a higher education provider’s support for students policy must include information describing:

(a) how the provider assesses a student’s suitability to continue to undertake a unit of study, in particular, information in relation to how the provider identifies students that are at risk of not successfully completing their units of study;
(b) in relation to students who have been identified as at risk of not successfully completing their units of study in paragraph (a), how the provider ensures that support from individuals or organisations with appropriate expertise is available to assist those students with overcoming issues that put them at risk of not successfully completing their units of study;
(c) the provider’s available support services and how the provider ensures that students have access to support services, including how the provider communicates information to students about the existence of support services and how to access such services;
(d) how the provider communicates to students, who request access to support services before the census date for their unit of study, at the time they make that request, that the census date is the date they will incur a HECS-HELP or FEE-HELP debt, and how the provider will ensure the requested support is available to students in a timely manner;
(e) how the provider proactively offers students access to the support services referred to in paragraph (c) where a student has already been identified as at risk of not successfully completing their units of study, and the student demonstrates risk factors that include:
(i) the student has not previously engaged with the support services offered by the provider consistent with paragraphs (b) and (c);
(ii) the student has previously failed to successfully complete a unit of study in their course of study;
(iii) the student demonstrates low levels of student participation in the unit of study, such as where the student has not attended any classes or engaged with any of the unit content online;
(f) how the provider delivers, and how students are able to access, non-academic support, including but not limited to, mental health and well-being support and career planning and employability support;
(g) how the provider identifies students in need of academic support including, but not limited, to literacy and numeracy support and other academic supports and how the provider has organised for these supports to be delivered;
(h) how the provider ensures that students who engage the provider to report non-academic issues that may put them at risk of not successfully completing their units of study, are connected to academic and other supports referred to in paragraphs (f) and (g);
(i) the details of any other support services offered by the provider, such as peer support;
(j) how the provider’s academic staff deliver support to students in relation to their units of study;
(k) the provider’s crisis and critical harm response arrangements for students and instructions to students on how to report incidents;
(l) how the provider’s academic and non-academic supports are culturally appropriate, and include information about the provider’s specific arrangements for First Nations students and students with disability; and
(m) the provider’s specific academic and non-academic supports for students who have experienced family and domestic violence, harassment, sexual harm, or other traumatic events.