• School fees accounts are a 30 day account.
• This means 30 days after the date of the invoice you must pay the account in full, if it is not paid it is overdue unless you have provided the school with a Request to Pay School Fees by Instalment.

• A Request to Pay School Fees by Instalment is formal advice to the school that your family wishes to access a
  flexible payment arrangement and pay the account over the school year rather than pay the account in full after 30 days.
• Access to a flexible payment arrangement is only available to those families that intend to pay their account in full within the school year.
• A Request to Pay School Fees by Instalment allows you to pay your account by instalments at regular intervals.
• You only need to complete this request once and it will stay in place until you leave the school or wish to amend your instalment arrangement.
• The request will advise the school of the following:
• How often you intend to pay – eg fortnightly, weekly, etc.
• How you will pay – eg BPay, Direct Debit, Centrepay, etc.
• Families who believe that they may not be able to pay their school fees in a school year should not make the Request to Pay School Fees by Instalment. Please contact your school to discuss ways in which we may assist including Application for Fee Concession.

It is sufficient for one parent/carer to sign the Request. The Request to Pay School Fees by Instalment does not replace the contractual agreement for payment on the Enrolment Application.

• You will need to pay your account in full 30 days after invoicing unless you have submitted a Request to Pay School Fess by Instalment.
• If you are paying by instalments, you will be issued with a Schedule of Payments detailing the amount to be paid and the date it is due, with your first school fee statement of the year.

Completion of a Request to Pay School Fees by Instalment IS NOT an authority for payments from your Bank Account or Centrelink benefit and the following applies according to your method of payment:

• In the case of BPay or regular internet banking payments you must log on to your bank
  account and make adjustments to your payment.
• In the case of a Direct Debit, where the school is taking money from your account, you must complete an amendment to your Direct Debit Authority. These forms are available from your school office. The school will lodge the amended authority on your behalf.
• In the case of a Centrepay Payment, where Centrelink is making payments on your behalf, you must complete an amendment to your Centrepay Authority. These forms are available from your school office. The school will lodge the amended authority with Centrelink on your behalf.

• When parents/carers enrol their child/children, all parties enter into a contractual agreement to pay school fees for the time that their child is enrolled at the school. This contract includes payment of school fees under joint and several liability.
• One school fee account allows us to manage your account as one debt in accordance with
  joint and several liability.
• Under joint and several liability, we are obligated to keep all parties informed of the status of their school fee account. Splitting fees and creating separate accounts with individual school fee statements does not align with this obligation.

Put simply, joint and several liability means that each person who has signed the Enrolment Application is individually responsible for payment of all school fees and levies regardless of actual fee payer arrangements. The contract for enrolment prior to 2022 is the Enrolment Application and from 2022, the Acceptance of Enrolment Letter.

It is an expectation that parents will come to their own arrangements regarding payment of fees.

Schools will accept a Request to Pay School Fees by Instalment  per account. Parents/Carers may make additional payments to their account if necessary.

Please note that Child Support and Family Law Court Orders do not obligate schools to split fee accounts.

• In the case of hardship, families are encouraged to seek an Application for Fee Concession from the school office.
• On submission of the application with appropriate documentation, an interview with the Principal will generally be made.
• Matters of hardship are treated with respect and in the strictest confidence.

• These applications are a formal way of applying for consideration in relation to hardship.
• They provide information and evidence to support your claim so that consideration may be given to such concessions as reduced payments, extensions of time or reduction in school fees.
• Fee concessions are reviewed annually and applications will be required to provide up to date financial information.
• In the case of families attending more than one school, schools may share this information so that assistance can be considered across schools.
• Concessions granted are generally based on your capacity to pay rather than set discounts.

Fee Concession consideration is a financial decision requiring financial information. Therefore, there are certain things we ask you to commit to providing in order for us to consider your request for hardship assistance:

• We ask that you complete an Application for Fee Concession and provide us with the reason/s that are the cause of your hardship;
• We ask that you provide personal and financial documentation to assist us make sound financial decisions that will have the right outcome for your family;
• We ask that you work with us, and respond to reasonable requests we make both verbally and in writing to you for further information and/or documentation;
• We ask that you attend an interview with the Principal to discuss your situation;
• We are unable to consider your Application unless this information is supplied.

• School fees are invoiced annually and therefore your commitment changes each year.
• There is also the possibility that your family’s situation has changed.
• Fee Concessions decisions must be made on current information.

• School Fee Clearances are a means of having families who do not address the issue of outstanding fees, do so by offering their child/children conditional enrolment on transfer of one school to another.
• Schools will consult with each other in this regard upon receiving Enrolment Applications.
• Once an arrangement is made with the child/children’s previous school the condition is
  generally removed.