What counts as 'student default' in Australia and does it kill my refund (2026)?

Plain-language guide · general information, not immigration advice

Under the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act), "student default" is a defined legal trigger, not a general comment on your conduct — and on its own it does not cancel your refund. Section 47A lists the exact events that count as a student defaulting in relation to a course at a location; section 47D then requires the registered provider to pay a refund of the amount set out in the written agreement it entered into with you, within four weeks of receiving your written claim. This article reflects the September 2026 version of the ESOS Act text published on the Federal Register of Legislation.

What does the Act actually say counts as student default?

Section 47A(1) gives three routes, and only these three.

You never start. The course starts at the location on the agreed starting day, but you do not start on that day and had not previously withdrawn.
You withdraw. You withdraw from the course at that location, whether before or after the agreed starting day.
The provider refuses to teach you. The registered provider refuses to provide, or continue providing, the course at that location because of one of three events: you failed to pay an amount you were liable to pay the provider in order to undertake the course; you breached a condition of your student visa; or your misbehaviour.

Two things are worth noting about the wording. First, the third route is framed around the provider's refusal plus a listed reason — the reason alone is not enough. Second, the Act applies to both current and future students: it covers an "overseas student" (a person who holds a student visa, other than kinds prescribed in the regulations) and an "intending overseas student" (someone who intends to become, or has taken steps towards becoming, one).

How is student default different from provider default?

The Act treats these as two separate definitions, and which one applies changes who owes what. Section 5 defines default by pointing to section 46A for a registered provider and section 47A for a student. The clearest structural difference is the "default day" — the date the Act anchors the default to:

	What triggers it	Default day under s 5
Student default — not starting	Course starts on the agreed starting day, student does not start and had not withdrawn	The agreed starting day
Student default — withdrawal	Student withdraws, before or after the agreed starting day	The day the student withdraws
Student default — provider refuses	Provider refuses to provide or continue the course for a listed reason	The day the provider refuses
Provider default	Defined in s 46A (not s 47A); s 47A(2) refers to s 46A(1)(a)(i)	For s 46A(1)(a)(i), the agreed starting day; for s 46A(1)(a)(ii), the day the course ceases to be provided

Two exceptions sit inside the student-default definition itself, and both run in the student's favour:

If the provider is the one that defaulted. Section 47A(2) says you do not default by failing to start if you did not start because the provider defaulted in relation to the course at that location under s 46A(1)(a)(i).
If the provider skipped natural justice. Section 47A(3) says you do not default on the misbehaviour ground unless the provider accorded you natural justice before refusing to provide or continue providing the course. In other words, a misbehaviour-based default is only valid if the process behind it was fair.

That second point is the practical one readers most often miss: the same set of facts can be a valid student default or not, depending on whether the provider followed its own process first.

So does student default kill my refund?

No — it triggers a refund obligation rather than extinguishing one. Section 47D(1) states that a registered provider must provide a refund under that section if an overseas student or intending overseas student defaults in relation to a course. The mechanics are:

The amount comes from your written agreement. Under s 47D(2), the provider must pay a refund of the amount (if any) required by the agreement entered into with you under s 47B. The Act sets the obligation to pay; the agreement sets how much.
Payment goes to you, or to a named person. Under s 47D(3), the refund is paid to you, or to another person specified in the agreement to receive it.
Four weeks from a written claim. Under s 47D(4), the provider must pay within the provider obligation period of four weeks after receiving a written claim from you.
It may come from a protected account. A note to s 47D(2) points out that for providers required to maintain an account under s 28, the refund might be paid out of that account (see s 29).

The honest framing is this: student default does not remove your refund right, but the size of the refund is governed by what your written agreement says. An agreement can legitimately result in a small refund or none, so the number to check is in your contract, not in the Act.

The obligation is also backed by consequences. The note to s 47D(1) lists breach outcomes: section 47G (offence), Division 4 (calls on the Overseas Students Tuition Fund), and Division 1 of Part 6 (conditions, suspension and cancellation).

When is the provider allowed not to refund?

Section 47D(5) sets one exception. The provider is not required to refund under s 47D if both conditions are met:

you were refused a student visa; and
that refusal was a reason for one or more of the listed acts or omissions that directly or indirectly caused you to default — failing to start on the agreed starting day, withdrawing from the course at that location, or failing to pay an amount you were liable to pay.

Even then you are not left without a path: the note to s 47D(5) states that the provider is required to provide a refund under section 47E instead.

What should you look for in your own agreement?

Because s 47D defers to the written agreement, the decision-relevant reading is of your contract, not of general summaries. Three checks follow directly from the provisions above:

Identify which limb is being invoked. "You withdrew" (s 47A(1)(b)) and "the provider refused to continue because you did not pay" (s 47A(1)(c)(i)) are different defaults with different default days, and the day matters to any deadline-linked clause in your agreement.
Check whether an exception applies before accepting the label. If you did not start because the provider defaulted under s 46A(1)(a)(i), s 47A(2) says you did not default. If the ground is misbehaviour and no natural justice was given, s 47A(3) says the same.
Confirm who receives the refund and how the claim is made. The obligation to pay runs four weeks from a written claim, and s 47D(3) allows the agreement to name a different recipient.

This is general information about how the ESOS Act is structured, not personalised advice about your enrolment or your visa situation, and outcomes depend on your agreement and facts; for anything that turns on your own circumstances, rely on the official legislative text as currently in force and on a qualified professional.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is withdrawing from my course always a student default?

Yes, as a matter of definition. Section 47A(1)(b) counts a withdrawal from the course at that location as a student default whether it happens before or after the agreed starting day, and s 5 sets the default day as the day you withdraw. What follows from that default — the refund amount — is governed by your written agreement under s 47D.

If I am in default, do I automatically lose all my tuition fees?

No. Section 47D(1) says the provider must provide a refund when a student defaults, and s 47D(2) sets the amount as whatever the written agreement requires. The agreement may result in a reduced refund, but default itself is the trigger for the refund obligation, not a cancellation of it.

How quickly must the provider pay after I ask?

Under s 47D(4), the provider must pay within the provider obligation period of four weeks after receiving a written claim from you. Making the claim in writing is what starts that period, so an informal request may not start the clock.

What if I never started because the course never began?

Section 47A(2) provides that you do not default by failing to start if the reason is that the provider defaulted in relation to the course at that location under s 46A(1)(a)(i). That puts the matter on the provider-default side, which is a different part of the Act with its own refund provisions.

Can a provider rely on "misbehaviour" without giving me a chance to respond?

No, not validly. Section 47A(3) says a student does not default on the misbehaviour ground unless the provider accords the student natural justice before refusing to provide, or continue providing, the course. The fairness of the process is part of whether the default exists at all.

Does a student visa refusal change the refund position?

It can. Under s 47D(5), the provider is not required to refund under s 47D where the visa refusal was a reason for the failure to start, the withdrawal, or the failure to pay that caused the default. In that case the note to s 47D(5) says a refund is required under s 47E instead.