Online Tutoring Terms And Conditions

Priya runs an online maths tutoring business from Melbourne. At first, bookings were simple: parents paid by the lesson, Priya sent a video call link, and everyone knew what to expect.

Then the business grew. One parent asked for a refund for six unused lessons. Another student missed three classes in a row. A tutor wanted to record sessions for training, and Priya realised she didn't have clear permission from parents to do that.

If you're selling online lessons, packages or subscriptions, your online tutoring terms and conditions do a lot of quiet work in the background. They help you set expectations early, protect your cash flow, and avoid awkward disputes with parents or students later.

Do Online Tutoring Businesses Need Terms And Conditions?

Yes, you should have written online service terms and conditions if you're selling online tutoring services to students or parents.

Your terms are the contract between your business and your customer. For most tutoring businesses, the customer will be the parent or guardian if the student is under 18. If you work with adult students, the student will usually be the customer.

A good tutoring agreement in Australia should explain what you're providing, what the customer is paying for, and what happens if something doesn't go to plan.

Without written terms, you may struggle to deal with issues like:

• Whether a missed class uses up a lesson credit
• How much notice a parent needs to give to reschedule
• Whether unused lesson packs expire
• When refunds are available
• Whether sessions can be recorded
• How student behaviour issues are handled
• Who owns your worksheets, videos and lesson materials

Your terms don't need to be long or intimidating. They just need to be clear, fair and tailored to how your tutoring business actually works. Generic templates often miss tutoring-specific issues, especially around credits, child consent and recordings.

What Should Online Tutoring Terms And Conditions Cover?

Your online tutoring terms and conditions should cover the practical rules for buying, attending, rescheduling and paying for lessons.

The exact clauses depend on your business model, but most online tutoring businesses should cover the following areas.

Who The Agreement Is With

Make it clear who your customer is. If your students are children, the parent or guardian should usually accept the terms and take responsibility for payment, bookings and student conduct.

You might say that a parent or guardian must create the account, book lessons and consent to the student's participation if the student is under 18.

What Services You Provide

Describe what the customer is buying. For example, you might offer:

• One-on-one tutoring sessions
• Small group classes
• Homework support
• Exam preparation programs
• Lesson packs with a set number of credits
• Monthly subscriptions
• Access to recorded lessons or online resources

Try to be specific about session length, delivery method, tutor availability and what isn't included. If lesson preparation, marking or parent updates are limited, say so.

Prices, Payments And Subscriptions

Your terms should explain when payment is due and what happens if payment fails. This is especially useful if you sell recurring subscriptions with clear subscription terms or prepaid lesson packs.

For subscriptions, make sure customers know:

• How often they will be charged
• Whether the subscription renews automatically
• How they can cancel
• When cancellation takes effect
• Whether unused credits roll over or expire

If you display prices to parents or students, make sure the total price is shown as a single figure that includes GST and any unavoidable fees where they can be calculated. If you display prices only to other businesses, different GST-inclusive pricing rules may apply. Your invoices and receipts should also match your Australian business details, such as your ABN or company name where relevant.

Lesson Credits And Expiry Dates

If you sell packs of lessons, your terms should explain how credits work. For example, a customer might buy 10 lesson credits that can be used for 10 one-hour sessions.

You can usually set reasonable expiry dates for credits, but they should be clear at the time of purchase. You also need to think carefully about refund rights under the Australian Consumer Law, which we cover below.

Technology Requirements

Online tutoring depends on technology, so your terms should explain what the student needs to attend lessons.

This might include:

• A stable internet connection
• A working microphone and camera
• Access to your chosen video platform
• A quiet and safe learning space
• Any required software, apps or learning tools

You can also explain what happens if technical issues interrupt a lesson. For example, your policy may treat student-side technical issues differently from problems caused by your platform or tutor.

How Should Your Tutor Cancellation Policy Work?

Your tutor cancellation policy should clearly set out how much notice is needed to cancel or reschedule a lesson, and what happens if notice is late.

For example, you might require at least 24 hours' notice to reschedule a one-on-one session. If the customer gives less notice, the lesson credit may be used or a cancellation fee may apply.

Your policy should deal with:

• Cancellations by the student or parent
• Cancellations by your tutor or business
• No-shows
• Late arrivals
• Illness or emergencies
• Technical problems
• Group class bookings

For one-on-one lessons, you may be able to offer more flexibility because the session can be moved. For group classes, missed sessions are often harder to replace because the class goes ahead for other students.

Say you run an online Year 12 English group program with 12 students. If one student forgets to attend, you might not offer a make-up class because the tutor still delivered the session and the place couldn't be resold. But you might give access to the class recording if your terms and privacy consents allow that.

Your cancellation rules and booking terms should be reasonable and easy to find at the time of booking. If a parent only sees the policy after paying, it can be much harder to rely on it later.

Can You Refuse Refunds For Missed Lessons Or Unused Credits?

No, you can't simply say there are no refunds in every situation, because the Australian Consumer Law gives customers certain rights.

The Australian Consumer Law, which is part of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, includes consumer guarantees for services. Your tutoring services must be provided with due care and skill, be fit for the purpose discussed with the customer, and be provided within a reasonable time if no time is agreed.

If your business fails to meet these guarantees, the customer may have rights to a remedy. Depending on the issue, that could include a refund, re-supply of the service, or compensation.

For example, if a parent pays for a specialist chemistry tutoring package and you can't provide a suitably qualified tutor at all, a strict no-refunds clause is unlikely to help. The customer may be entitled to a refund for services not provided.

On the other hand, you can usually have fair rules for customer-driven cancellations, unused credits and change of mind. For example, your terms might say:

• Lesson credits expire after a stated period, such as the school term or a fixed number of months
• Late cancellations use a credit unless an exception applies
• Subscription fees aren't refunded for a billing period that has already started, unless required by law
• Refund requests for unused credits are assessed under your policy and the Australian Consumer Law

Be careful with blanket wording like no refunds under any circumstances. It can mislead customers about their legal rights and may attract attention from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Do You Need Parent Consent For Online Tutoring?

Yes, if you tutor students under 18, you should get clear parent or guardian consent.

A child may not have the legal capacity to enter into a binding contract in the same way an adult can. From a practical perspective, the parent or guardian is also usually the person paying your invoices and making decisions about the student's education.

Your student terms and conditions should cover parent consent for:

• The student attending online lessons
• Your business collecting basic student information
• Contact between tutors and students
• Use of learning platforms and video conferencing tools
• Recording lessons, if you do this
• Behaviour expectations and consequences

You should also set boundaries around tutor-student communication. For example, you might require all messages to go through your learning platform, business email or parent-visible channels, rather than private social media accounts.

If you work with children, check whether working with children check rules apply in your state or territory. These rules are state-based, and they can apply differently depending on where you operate, where your tutors are based, and whether tutoring is provided to children online.

It's also sensible to have a child safety policy, even if you're a small online business. This can cover tutor screening, supervision, reporting concerns and appropriate online conduct.

Can You Record Online Tutoring Sessions?

Yes, you can record online tutoring sessions in many cases, but you should get clear consent first and explain how recordings will be used.

Recordings are useful for make-up lessons, quality control, tutor training and student revision. They also raise privacy and consent issues, especially when children are involved.

Your terms and booking process should explain:

• Whether sessions may be recorded
• Who can access the recording
• How long recordings are kept
• Whether recordings can be downloaded
• Whether recordings may be used for tutor training or quality review
• Whether recordings will ever be used for marketing, which should require separate permission

Australian recording laws vary between states and territories, particularly where private conversations are involved. The safest approach is to get express consent from the parent or adult student before recording, and to remind participants when recording starts.

Privacy also matters. The Privacy Act 1988 applies to many businesses, including businesses with annual turnover of more than $3 million and some smaller businesses that handle certain types of personal information. Even if the Privacy Act doesn't strictly apply to you, parents will expect you to handle student information carefully.

If you use AI note-taking tools, automated transcripts or learning analytics, be upfront about that too. These tools can involve sending personal information to third-party providers, sometimes overseas, so your privacy wording should match what you actually do.

What Legal Requirements Apply To Online Education Businesses?

It depends on what you teach, who you teach and how you promote your services, but most online tutoring businesses need to think about consumer law, privacy, child safety, IP and basic business setup.

In many cases, you don't need a special licence just to offer general school tutoring online. But there are some important exceptions and extra rules to keep in mind.

Business Setup

You may need an ABN, and if you operate through a company, you'll have an ACN and need to comply with the Corporations Act 2001. If you trade under a name that isn't your own legal name, you may also need to register a business name with ASIC.

Accredited Training Claims

Be careful with words like accredited, certified or nationally recognised training. If you're offering vocational education and training qualifications, registration and compliance with the Australian Skills Quality Authority and the VET Quality Framework may be relevant.

Most tutoring businesses aren't registered training organisations. If that's you, don't market your program in a way that suggests students will receive an official qualification unless that's genuinely the case.

Consumer Law And Advertising

Your marketing must be accurate. Avoid overstating results, guarantees or tutor qualifications. If you advertise score improvements, selective school entry success or ATAR outcomes, you should be able to back those claims up.

The Australian Consumer Law applies to misleading or deceptive conduct, unfair contract terms and consumer guarantees. Your terms should be fair and your ads should match what you actually provide.

Privacy And Marketing Messages

If you collect names, emails, school year levels, learning needs, session notes or recordings, you should have a privacy policy that explains what you collect and why.

If you send marketing emails or SMS messages, the Spam Act 2003 requires consent, sender identification and a working unsubscribe facility. Unsubscribe requests must be actioned within 5 working days.

Intellectual Property

Your worksheets, videos, slides, lesson plans and online course materials can be valuable business assets. Your terms should say customers can use them for personal learning only, and can't copy, share, resell or upload them elsewhere.

You should also make sure your tutors don't use third-party materials in a way that breaches copyright. If you hire tutors, your contractor or employment agreements should deal with ownership of materials they create for your business.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

The most common problems usually come from unclear rules, not bad intentions.

Watch out for these issues when setting up your online tutoring terms and conditions:

• Using a generic service agreement: Tutoring has specific issues like lesson credits, minors, student behaviour and recordings.
• Making refund promises too broad: A no-refunds policy can't override the Australian Consumer Law.
• Forgetting parent consent: If students are under 18, your customer journey should involve a parent or guardian.
• Recording sessions without clear permission: Get express consent and explain how recordings are stored and used.
• Leaving subscriptions vague: Make renewal, cancellation and billing dates obvious.
• Not setting conduct rules: Online classes still need boundaries around behaviour, chat use, screen sharing and respectful communication.
• Overpromising results: You can promise to provide your services carefully, but you should be cautious about guaranteeing marks, rankings or school entry.

A practical way to test your terms is to imagine a parent asking, what happens if my child misses class, wants a refund, or needs to stop halfway through the term? If the answer isn't easy to find, your terms probably need tightening.

Key Takeaways

• Online tutoring terms and conditions help you set clear rules for payments, bookings, cancellations, credits and student behaviour.
• Your refund policy must work with the Australian Consumer Law, not try to override it.
• If you tutor children, get parent or guardian consent and check any working with children requirements that apply to your setup.
• Recordings can be useful, but you should get clear consent and explain storage, access and permitted use.
• Your legal requirements may include business registration, privacy, marketing, consumer law, IP and child safety obligations.
• Tailored terms are usually much safer than a generic template, especially if you sell packages or subscriptions.

If you'd like help with your online tutoring terms, refund and cancellation rules, parent consent wording or privacy documents, you can reach us at 1800 730 617 or team@sprintlaw.com.au for a free, no-obligations chat.