Nash and Secretary, Department of Education and Training

This matter concerned an appeal by Ms Nash against a decision by the Secretary, Department of Education and Training, which required her to repay the entire VET FEE-HELP balance for a diploma course undertaken at TAFE. Ms Nash had not made a written request for withdrawal on or before the census date for the course. The core of the dispute was whether there were grounds to re-credit her VET FEE-HELP balance due to special circumstances.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal was required to determine if special circumstances applied to Ms Nash's case under the relevant provisions of the *Higher Education Support Act 2003* (Cth). Specifically, the Tribunal had to be satisfied that any circumstances were beyond Ms Nash's control, that they did not make their full impact until on or after the census date, and that they made it impracticable for her to complete the course requirements. The Tribunal noted that these three conditions were cumulative and all had to be met for Ms Nash to succeed.

The Tribunal considered the evidence regarding a disputed telephone call between Ms Nash and a Ms Chanel Burgos, which Ms Nash claimed had occurred after an email exchange on 24 March 2014 and led her to believe her situation would be resolved. However, the Tribunal found no record of such a call in the provided documentation and concluded that Ms Nash was mistaken in her recollection, finding that the call did not take place. The Tribunal also noted that Ms Nash had been actively seeking employment in the child care industry prior to the email exchanges and had, in an email dated 24 March 2014, clearly stated her intention to continue with her diploma courses, despite an offer to backdate her withdrawal. While the Tribunal expressed sympathy for Ms Nash and acknowledged she may not have fully understood the implications of the census date or the VET FEE-HELP scheme, it found that the necessary cumulative conditions for special circumstances were not met.

The decision under review was affirmed.