Refund Clauses For Online Course Businesses

Yes, your online course refund policy in Australia can protect your revenue - but it can't override the Australian Consumer Law.

That means you can usually say no to change-of-mind refunds, especially where a student has already received access to your course content. But if your course has a major problem, doesn't match what you promised, or isn't delivered with due care and skill, the student may have legal rights to a refund, fix or other remedy.

The tricky part is that online courses often sit somewhere between a digital product, an educational service, a coaching program and a subscription. Each part can raise slightly different refund issues.

A good refund clause gives students confidence, sets clear boundaries and helps you avoid messy refund arguments after someone has bought your course.

Can An Online Course Refund Policy Say No Refunds?

Yes, you can say you don't offer refunds in certain situations, but you can't say no refunds in all circumstances.

Under the Australian Consumer Law, consumer guarantees apply automatically when you sell courses, memberships, coaching or digital content to consumers in Australia. You can't contract out of those guarantees, even if your terms and conditions say sales are final.

A no refunds clause is usually risky if it suggests a student has no rights at all. For example, a clause like all purchases are non-refundable under any circumstances can mislead students about their rights.

A better approach is to be specific. Your refund policy can say things like:

• You don't provide refunds for change of mind.
• You don't provide refunds because a student decided the course wasn't right for them after purchase, unless the Australian Consumer Law requires it.
• You don't refund simply because a student didn't complete the course.
• You may offer a refund, credit or extension at your discretion in genuine hardship or technical situations.
• Nothing in the policy limits the student's rights under the Australian Consumer Law.

This gives you room to protect your revenue while still respecting consumer rights.

Say Chloe runs a self-paced business course from Melbourne. A student buys the course, logs in, downloads the workbook and watches three modules. Two days later, they say they're too busy and want their money back. If Chloe's refund policy clearly says there are no change-of-mind refunds after access is granted, she may be able to refuse that refund. But if the course videos don't work, the promised templates are missing and Chloe doesn't fix it, the answer may be very different.

What Does The Australian Consumer Law Say About Online Courses?

The Australian Consumer Law says your course must meet certain consumer guarantees, even if your contract doesn't mention them.

For online course businesses, the most relevant guarantees are usually that your services are:

• provided with due care and skill
• fit for any purpose the student told you about, if they relied on your skill or judgement
• provided within a reasonable time, if no timeframe was agreed

Your course materials, workbooks, templates, recordings and other digital products may also need to match their description, be fit for purpose and be of acceptable quality, depending on what you're supplying.

The Australian Consumer Law also prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct. This is often where online course refund disputes really begin.

For example, problems can arise if your sales page says:

• students will get lifetime access, but you remove access after 12 months
• students will receive weekly live coaching, but the live calls are rarely held
• the course is suitable for complete beginners, but it assumes advanced knowledge
• students will receive personalised feedback, but they only get automated comments
• the program is guaranteed to help them earn a specific income, but that claim isn't properly qualified or supported

If there's a major failure with your course or service, the student may be entitled to cancel and receive a refund. If the failure is minor, you usually get a chance to fix the issue within a reasonable time.

For service failures, a major failure can include situations where the student wouldn't have bought the course if they had known about the problem, the course is substantially unfit for its purpose and can't be fixed easily, or the service doesn't achieve a purpose the student made known to you and relied on you to meet.

The ACCC can also take action where businesses mislead customers about refunds or make claims that don't match what they actually deliver. For most course businesses, the more immediate risk is refund disputes, chargebacks, complaints and reputational damage.

Can You Refuse Change-Of-Mind Refunds?

Yes, you can generally refuse change-of-mind refunds if your refund policy is clear and the Australian Consumer Law doesn't require a refund.

A change of mind might include a student saying:

• they found a cheaper course elsewhere
• they no longer have time to study
• they bought the wrong course by mistake
• they don't like the teaching style, where the course matched what was advertised
• they expected different results but you didn't promise those results

You don't have to offer a refund just because someone changes their mind. But you should make this clear before they buy, not hidden after checkout.

Your student refund policy should be easy to find on your checkout page, course sales page or terms and conditions. If a student only sees the refund rules after they've paid, you'll have a weaker position if there's a dispute.

Should You Offer A Cooling-Off Period?

For ordinary online course sales, there usually isn't a general cooling-off period just because a student bought online.

Cooling-off rules can apply in some special situations, such as unsolicited consumer agreements, where a business approaches a consumer outside normal retail settings. Most self-enrolment online course purchases won't fall into that category, but your sales process matters.

Even where you're not legally required to offer a cooling-off period, some course businesses choose to offer a short refund window, such as 7 or 14 days, for customer experience reasons. If you do this, set conditions around it, such as:

• whether the refund window starts from purchase or first login
• whether students can access all modules during the refund window
• whether downloadable materials are included
• whether admin fees are deducted
• how students must request the refund and use your complaints handling process

A generous policy can be great for sales, but only if the numbers work for your business.

What If A Student Has Already Accessed The Course?

It depends on why they're asking for a refund, but course access can make a real difference.

If a student has accessed the course, downloaded materials or attended live sessions, you may be in a stronger position to refuse a change-of-mind refund. This is especially true for digital products, where the student can't truly return what they've received.

Your digital product refund policy should deal with access clearly. For example, it can say:

• access will be granted immediately after payment, or after payment clears
• refunds for change of mind aren't available once access has been granted
• downloaded resources are non-returnable
• you may suspend access if a payment plan instalment is overdue
• you can remove access if a refund is issued

However, course access doesn't defeat Australian Consumer Law rights. If the course has a major failure, it won't be enough to say the student logged in once.

Access also matters when you're deciding whether to offer a partial refund. For example, if a student completed 80% of a course and then raises a minor issue you can fix, a full refund may not be appropriate. If they couldn't access the course at all because your platform failed and you didn't resolve it, a refund may be more likely.

Keep Records Of Access And Delivery

Good records can save a lot of time if there's a dispute.

Keep track of:

• when the student purchased
• what version of the sales page or offer they saw
• when login details were sent
• which modules were accessed
• whether materials were downloaded
• which live calls or coaching sessions were attended
• your email or support history with the student

Without records, refund discussions can turn into competing stories about what was promised and what was delivered.

How Should Refunds Work For Coaching, Live Calls And Failed Outcomes?

Your refund clause should treat coaching and promised outcomes carefully, because these are often more sensitive than self-paced content.

If your course includes live coaching, group calls, assessments, accountability support or personalised feedback, you're not just selling digital content. You're also providing services. That means expectations around timing, quality and delivery become more important.

Coaching And Live Components

If you advertise live coaching, your terms should explain exactly what that means.

Set out:

• how many calls are included
• whether calls are group or one-on-one
• whether calls are recorded
• what happens if a student misses a call
• whether calls can be rescheduled
• how much notice a student must give to cancel or reschedule
• whether unused coaching sessions expire

If a student simply doesn't attend scheduled group calls, you may be able to refuse a refund. If you repeatedly cancel calls or fail to provide a key part of the program, the student may have stronger refund rights.

Failed Outcomes

You can usually refuse a refund just because a student didn't get the outcome they hoped for, as long as you didn't guarantee that outcome.

This is where your marketing matters. There's a big difference between saying your course is designed to help students improve their grant writing skills and saying they will win a $50,000 grant after completing it.

If you make outcome claims, make sure they're accurate, supported and properly qualified. If results depend on the student's effort, experience, market conditions or other factors, say so clearly.

Your terms can also say that:

• you don't guarantee a particular income, grade, job, business result or personal outcome
• students are responsible for completing the work and applying the material
• examples and testimonials are illustrative and don't promise identical results
• your course is educational and doesn't replace tailored professional advice where that advice is needed

Be careful with guarantees like 30-day money-back guarantee or results guaranteed. If you offer one, write the conditions in plain language and honour them. If the conditions are too narrow or hidden, they may create more problems than they solve.

How Do Refunds Work For Subscriptions And Payment Plans?

It depends on the structure, because subscriptions and payment plans aren't the same thing.

A subscription usually gives ongoing access for a recurring fee, such as monthly membership access to a course library. A payment plan is usually a way to pay a fixed course fee in instalments.

Your terms should make that difference very clear.

Subscriptions

For subscriptions, explain:

• the billing amount and frequency
• when the first payment is taken
• whether the subscription renews automatically
• how students can cancel
• when cancellation takes effect
• whether you offer refunds for unused time
• what happens to course access after cancellation

Automatic renewal terms should be clear before payment. If a renewal clause is hidden, confusing or one-sided, it may raise issues under the Australian Consumer Law, including unfair contract term laws.

Since November 2023, unfair contract terms in standard form consumer and small business contracts can attract penalties, not just be declared void. If your online terms are standard, take extra care with clauses that let you change pricing, remove access, renew contracts or limit refunds.

As a practical step, send clear renewal notices for longer memberships, make cancellation easy, and avoid making students email multiple times just to stop being charged.

Payment Plans

For payment plans, make clear that instalments aren't the same as pay-as-you-go access unless that's what you intend.

For example, if your course costs $2,000 and the student chooses four payments of $500, your terms might say the student remains liable for all instalments even if they stop participating, unless the Australian Consumer Law gives them a right to cancel.

Your terms should also cover:

• failed payments
• late payment fees, if any
• whether access is suspended while payments are overdue
• chargebacks
• debt recovery costs, if you intend to claim them
• when you may terminate access

Keep these clauses fair and proportionate. Overly harsh clauses can be challenged, and they often make disputes harder to resolve.

What Should Your Online Course Terms And Conditions Cover?

Your online course terms and conditions should cover more than refunds, because the refund clause only works properly when the rest of the offer is clear.

At a minimum, your terms should deal with:

• What students are buying: the course, modules, resources, coaching, community access, any content moderation policy and support included.
• Access: when access starts, how long it lasts, and when it can be suspended or removed.
• Refunds: change-of-mind rules, Australian Consumer Law rights, how to request a refund and any timeframes.
• Subscriptions and renewals: billing cycles, cancellation, renewals and access after cancellation.
• Payment plans: instalments, missed payments and consequences of default.
• Student obligations: login security, respectful behaviour, any student code of conduct, completion requirements and acceptable use of communities.
• Intellectual property: your ownership of videos, workbooks, templates and frameworks, any licensing agreement for course content, plus limits on copying or sharing.
• Confidentiality: especially if students share business, financial or personal information in coaching sessions.
• Disclaimers: no guaranteed outcomes, no substitute for tailored professional advice where relevant, and responsibility for implementation.
• Changes to the course: when you can update content, replace resources or change live session times.

If you're a registered training organisation, higher education provider, CRICOS provider or you teach overseas students, you may also have extra refund rules under education-specific laws, funding contracts or regulator requirements. Get tailored advice if your course is accredited, government-funded or regulated.

Templates can be a useful starting point, but online course businesses vary a lot. A refund clause for a $49 downloadable mini-course won't work the same way as terms for a $5,000 coaching program with live calls, assessments and payment plans.

Key Takeaways

• You can usually refuse change-of-mind refunds, but you can't exclude Australian Consumer Law rights.
• Your refund policy should clearly explain what happens after course access, downloads, coaching sessions and live calls.
• Be careful with outcome claims, testimonials and guarantees, because your marketing can affect refund rights.
• Subscriptions and payment plans need different refund and cancellation wording.
• Your online course terms and conditions should match what you're actually delivering, not just what sounds good on a sales page.
• If your course is accredited or regulated, extra refund rules may apply.

If you'd like help with your online course terms, refund policy, subscription wording or payment plan clauses, you can reach us at 1800 730 617 or team@sprintlaw.com.au for a free, no-obligations chat.