Refund Policy

1. Australian Consumer Law (ACL) — your rights

Nothing in this Refund Policy is intended to exclude, restrict, or modify any rights you may have under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) or other laws that cannot be excluded.

If the ACL applies to you, you may be entitled to a refund, repair, replacement, re-supply of services, or compensation depending on the circumstances. Where we are permitted to limit our liability, we do so only to the extent allowed by law.

2. Definitions (what we mean)

For clarity, in this policy:

• Consultation means a paid appointment (online or in-person) for advice, assessment, or strategy discussion.
• Professional Services means migration and/or education services that involve work performed by our team (e.g., document checklists, strategy, nomination/application preparation, lodgement support, responding to requests, case management).
• Third-Party Fees means fees charged by external organisations (e.g., Department of Home Affairs VACs, skills assessment authorities, education providers, translators, medicals, police checks).
• Disbursements means out-of-pocket costs we incur for your matter (e.g., courier, postage, certified copies, external software verification, translations) whether paid by you directly or paid by us and billed to you.
• Change of Mind means you decide not to proceed, without a fault in the services we provided.

3. Scope: what this policy covers

This Refund Policy covers:

• Paid consultations
• Professional service fees (including staged services and packages)
• Deposits and part-payments
• Online payments made via the Site (where applicable)

This policy does not change:

• The terms in any Client Agreement/Engagement Letter you have signed, to the extent those terms are consistent with ACL; or
• Refund rules imposed by external organisations (e.g., Home Affairs, skills assessing bodies, education providers).

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4. Consultations (paid appointments)

4.1 Cancellation and rescheduling

• If you cancel or request to reschedule at least 24 hours before your scheduled consultation time, you may choose either:
  
  • a full refund, or
  • one reschedule to another available appointment time.
• If you cancel or request to reschedule within 24 hours of the appointment, the consultation fee is generally non-refundable, but we may offer a reschedule at our discretion (e.g., illness, emergency, unavoidable circumstances).
• If you do not attend your appointment (no-show), the fee is non-refundable.

4.2 Late arrival

If you arrive late, we will attempt to accommodate you, however:

• the consultation may be shortened to avoid impacting other bookings; and
• the full consultation fee remains payable.

4.3 Consultation outcomes

A consultation fee is paid for time, expertise, and assessment. A refund is not provided simply because:

• the advice is not what you hoped to hear;
• you are not eligible for the outcome you wanted; or
• you decide not to proceed after receiving information.

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5. Professional services (migration & education)

5.1 When refunds may be available

Depending on the circumstances (and subject to ACL and any written agreement), we may consider:

• Full refunds where:
  
  • payment was taken in error or duplicated;
  • we cannot provide the service for reasons within our control and no work has commenced; or
  • if work has not yet commenced, you may request a refund. Approval (and any deductions for admin/processing) may apply.
    
    
• Partial refunds where:
  
  • if work has already commenced, fees may be partially refundable only for the unused portion of work not yet performed (if any), assessed case-by-case.

5.2 When refunds are generally not available

Refunds are generally not available for professional service fees where:

• a visa or application outcome is refused or not approved (decisions are made by third parties/government);
• you provide inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, or late information which affects timelines or outcomes;
• you do not follow advice or instructions, or you choose to proceed against advice;
• you withdraw an application after we have completed substantial work; or
• fees relate to work already completed (time spent, drafting, strategy, review, submissions, correspondence).
• any other relevant matters.

5.3 Staged services and packages

Many services are delivered in stages (e.g., eligibility assessment → document checklist → drafting → review → lodgement → post-lodgement support). Where services are staged:

• any refund assessment will be based on stages not yet commenced and the work already performed.

5.4 Deposits and part-payments

If you have paid a deposit or part-payment:

• we may allocate the payment toward time already spent and costs incurred; and
• any refund (if applicable) will generally be limited to the unused portion after deducting work performed and non-refundable costs.

5.5 Administrative and processing costs

Where a refund is approved, we may deduct reasonable administrative or processing costs, including:

• payment gateway transaction fees charged to us (where applicable);
• documented time already spent on the matter; and
• disbursements already incurred.

6. Third-party fees and disbursements (usually non-refundable)

Third-party fees you pay directly

Where you pay fees directly to external bodies like:

• Department of Home Affairs application charges (VACs)
• Skills assessment fees
• Medical examinations
• Police checks
• Education provider fees
• Translation / NAATI / courier costs
• Any other third-party costs or disbursements,

those fees are subject to that third party’s refund rules. We are not responsible for those refund decisions.

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8. Chargebacks and payment disputes

If you initiate a payment dispute/chargeback through your bank or card provider:

• we may pause work on your matter until the dispute is resolved; and
• we may provide supporting documentation to the payment provider (e.g., invoices, engagement terms, timestamps, communications, work logs).

We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve the issue quickly.

9. How to request a refund

9.1 What to include

To request a refund, please email support@knowbal.com.au with:

• your full name;
• phone number;
• invoice number/receipt;
• the service purchased (consultation / package / other);
• date of purchase and payment method;
• reason for the refund request; and
• any relevant documents or screenshots.

9.2 Identity verification

For security and privacy, we may ask you to verify your identity before processing any refund.

10. Assessment process and timeframes

• We aim to acknowledge refund requests at our earliest.
• If a refund is approved, we process it in 24 hours, but:
  
  • card refunds may take 5–10 business days to appear (depending on your bank), and
  • bank transfers may take 2–5 business days once processed.

These timeframes are indicative and may vary.

11. Refund method

Approved refunds will generally be issued using the original payment method (where possible). If that is not possible, we may arrange an alternative method.

12. Changes to this Refund Policy

We may update this Refund Policy from time to time by publishing the revised version on our Site and updating the “Last updated” date. The updated policy applies from the date it is published.

13. Contact us

Knowbal Migration & Education
Phone: (03) 9448 1800
Email: support@knowbal.com.au\

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Office hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm

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‍Williams Landing: 308/111 Overton Rd, Williams Landing VIC 3027

‍Melbourne CBD: Level 1, 25 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

‍Geelong: Suite 3, Level 1, 110 Little Malop Street, Geelong VIC