Your provider deregistered — can you still claim your fees in 2026?
Deregistration does not end a provider's ESOS obligations. Here is what section 7AB keeps alive, and how fee and default claims still work.
Yes — losing registration does not, by itself, make the money you are owed disappear. Section 7AB of the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act), in the text published on the Federal Register of Legislation as at September 2026, states that the Act continues to apply in relation to a person or entity that was a registered provider as if that person or entity were still a registered provider. In plain terms, the rulebook that applied while they were registered keeps reaching them after they have left the register, for specific purposes.
This article explains how that continuation rule is framed. It is general information, not advice on your own situation, and what it means for you depends on your documents, your dates and the official position at the time.
Does deregistration cancel my refund?
No, not on the face of the legislation. Section 7AB exists precisely so that a provider cannot step off the register and leave unfinished business behind. The section applies for the purpose of dealing with or resolving any matter that arose during, or that relates to, the period when the person or entity was a registered provider.
That framing matters more than the registration status itself. The question is usually not "were they registered when I ask?" but "does my issue connect back to the time they were registered, or to money and defaults covered by the Act?"
What does "as if still a registered provider" actually cover?
Section 7AB sets out two limbs. The first is the general one: matters that arose during, or relate to, the registration period. The second is stated to apply without limiting the first, and it names two categories of subject matter.
| Subject matter | Timing under section 7AB |
|---|---|
| Tuition fees or other money received by the provider in accordance with the Act | Covered whether or not the money was received while the provider was registered |
| Money owed by the provider in accordance with the Act | Covered whether or not the debt arose while the provider was registered |
| A default | Covered whether or not the default occurs while the provider is a registered provider |
Fees and other money
The wording is deliberately wide. It reaches tuition fees and other money received in accordance with the Act, and money owed in accordance with the Act, and in each case the timing of receipt or the timing of the debt does not have to line up with registration.
Defaults
The second category is a default. The same "whether or not" logic applies: section 7AB covers a default whether or not the default occurs while the person or entity is a registered provider.
What counts as a default under the ESOS framework?
The guide to the Act at section 7B describes the shape of the obligation. There are obligations on registered providers when the provider, or an overseas student of the provider, defaults and does not start or finish a course. In that situation the provider is required to provide a refund to the student.
For a provider default, the provider may instead provide an alternative course for the student at the provider's expense. So "refund" is the default outcome described in the guide, with an alternative course at the provider's own cost as the alternative that a defaulting provider may offer.
The same part of the guide notes that the Act, the national code, the ELICOS Standards and the Foundation Program Standards impose obligations on registered providers, including obligations relating to record keeping and financial requirements. Because section 7AB keeps treating a former provider as if it were still registered, those obligation-bearing provisions remain the frame for working out what was owed.
What happens if a defaulted provider does not meet its obligations?
The section 7B guide sets out a backstop. If a provider that has defaulted does not discharge its obligations to an overseas student, the TPS Director must provide the student with options for suitable alternative courses, if any such courses are available.
In the case of a default, a call is made on the Overseas Students Tuition Fund to pay for alternative courses, or to provide refunds to students, if providers have not already done so. That is the mechanism described in the guide where the provider itself has not paid.
How do I work out where my claim sits?
The sequence below follows the order the legislation itself moves in: establishment, money, default, backstop.
- Find your written agreement and the refund terms that applied to your course.
- Write down the dates you paid each amount.
- Write down the dates of the period you say was not delivered.
- Note whether the provider was registered during that period.
- Identify whether your claim is about tuition fees or other money received, or about money owed.
- Identify whether the trigger was a default by you or a default by the provider.
- Keep the records together, because record keeping is itself one of the obligations described in the guide.
Assume a student who paid a full year of tuition, completed one semester, and then found the campus closed. Under the section 7AB framing, the provider being deregistered does not decide the outcome; what decides it is whether the unpaid amount is tuition fees or other money, or money owed, in accordance with the Act, or whether it arises from a default.
What should I be careful not to assume?
Two assumptions cause the most trouble.
The first is that deregistration ends the relationship. It does not, for the purposes listed in section 7AB.
The second is that a refund is the only possible response. The section 7B guide describes a refund as what a provider is required to provide, but also describes an alternative course at the provider's expense as the option a provider in default may instead provide, and describes the Overseas Students Tuition Fund as the source that pays for alternative courses or refunds where providers have not already done so.
Neither assumption changes the fact that the continuation rule is about coverage, not about a guaranteed result.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still claim if the provider was deregistered before I noticed the problem?
Yes, the coverage question is not about when you noticed. Section 7AB applies the Act to a former provider as if it were still registered, for matters relating to fees or other money received, money owed, or a default, whether or not those things happened while it was registered.
Does it matter that the default happened after deregistration?
Section 7AB addresses this directly by covering a default whether or not the default occurs while the person or entity is a registered provider. The timing of the default relative to registration is not, on the wording of the section, what removes coverage.
Do I have to accept an alternative course instead of a refund?
The section 7B guide describes the provider as required to provide a refund, and describes an alternative course at the provider's expense as something a provider in default may instead provide for a provider default. The two are presented together in the guide rather than as a choice the student must make in every case.
Who pays if the provider simply does not pay?
The section 7B guide says the TPS Director must provide the student with options for suitable alternative courses if a defaulted provider does not discharge its obligations, where such courses are available. It also says a call is made on the Overseas Students Tuition Fund to pay for alternative courses or provide refunds if providers have not already done so.
Does the national code still matter once they are off the register?
The section 7B guide lists the Act, the national code, the ELICOS Standards and the Foundation Program Standards as imposing obligations on registered providers, including record keeping and financial requirements. Because section 7AB treats a former provider as if it were still a registered provider, that body of obligations remains the frame for the period at issue.
Is this the same as saying I will get my money back?
No. Section 7AB answers who and what the Act still reaches; it does not convert a claim into a payment. Fees and money must be ones received or owed in accordance with the Act, and the section 7B backstop depends on the TPS Director's options and on calls on the Overseas Students Tuition Fund.