Terms and Conditions

Course Terms and Conditions

Alliance Française de Sydney (AFS) is the most renowned and reputable French learning centre in Sydney, boasting 120 years of experience in teaching French. AFS offers a wide range of French courses and services for all levels and ages at its Sydney CBD and Chatswood locations, including a Media Centre and cultural events.

These Course Terms and Conditions (Terms) will remain applicable until AFS notifies the Student of their amendment.

1. DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATION

1.1 Definitions

In these Terms, unless the context requires otherwise:

  • AFS means Alliance Française de Sydney ABN 23 151 008 606 of 257 Clarence Street, Sydney NSW 2000.
  • Agreement means the Enrolment Form and these terms and conditions.
  • Business Day means a day which is not a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in Sydney, New South Wales.
  • Course means a French course operated by AFS.
  • Course Fees means the fees payable for the Course (but do not include amounts payable for textbooks).
  • Course Materials means any materials provided to a Student by AFS for the purposes of a Course (but do not include textbooks).
  • COVID-19 means the novel coronavirus declared  as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on 11 March 2020.
  • E-Tuition means group classes and/or one-on-one lessons provided by AFS online. 
  • Enrolment Form means the form by which the Student enrols in a Course, which may be either in paper form or online.
  • Student means a Student of a Course.

1.2 Interpretation

In these Terms, unless the context requires otherwise:

  1. words importing the singular include the plural and vice versa;
  2. headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation of this document;
  3. a reference to a clause, paragraph, schedule or annexure is a reference to a clause, paragraph or schedule of or annexure to this document;
  4. a reference to "$" is to Australian dollars;
  5. an expression importing a natural person includes a body corporate, partnership, joint venture or association;
  6. a reference to a statute or regulation includes all amendments, consolidations or replacements thereof;
  7. a reference to a party to a document includes that party's successors and permitted assigns;
  8. no rule of construction applies to the disadvantage of a party because that party was responsible for the preparation of this document;
  9. a covenant, agreement, representation or warranty on the part of or in favour of two or more persons binds them or is for the benefit of jointly and severally;
  10. if an event must occur on a stipulated day which is not a Business Day, then the stipulated day will be taken to be the next Business Day; and
  11. a reference to a body, whether statutory or not:
  1. which ceases to exist; or
  2. whose powers or functions are transferred to another body,

is a reference to the body which replaces it or which substantially succeeds to its powers or functions.

2. APPLICATION

2.1 These Terms will apply to any Student who enrols in a Course and agrees to be bound by these Terms.

2.2 By agreeing to be bound by these Terms, the Student agrees that a Course may be provided, at the sole discretion of AFS:

  1. in person, at either the Sydney CBD or Chatswood branch (or any further or other branch operated by AFS from time to time);
  2. by e-Tuition; or
  3. by a mixture of e-Tuition and in person learning.

3. ENROLMENT 

3.1 A Student will enrol in a Course by completing an Enrolment Form and agreeing to be bound by these Terms.

3.2 Upon a Student enrolling in a Course, AFS will issue him or her with:

  1. a confirmation document specifying the details and duration of the relevant Course; and
  2. a tax invoice for the applicable Course Fees.

4. COURSES

4.1 Any Student who is not enrolling in a “beginner” Course must take an assessment test (which is conducted by telephone) at the time of their enrolment so that AFS may assess their proficiency in French. 

4.2 AFS will then allocate the Student to the Course that best corresponds to the Student’s language level and needs.  

4.3 A Student does not have the right to choose a particular teacher.  

4.4 Any change of Course requires the approval of the teacher.

4.5 Each Course will have a maximum of 16 students.  

4.6 AFS reserves the right at its entire discretion to cancel a Course by written notice to the Student.  In the event of a cancellation, AFS will offer the Student the choice of either:

  1. attending another Course suitable to the Student; or
  2. transferring their credits to a later session.


4.7 AFS reserves the right to change teachers during a Course.

5. COURSE FEES

5.1 Payment of Course Fees

  1. In consideration for AFS providing the Course, the Student must pay AFS the Course Fees.
  2. The Student must pay the Course Fees in full without set-off or deduction. 
  3. Examination Fees are payable separately in accordance with clause
  4. Subject to clause 6, the Course Fees will not be refundable even if the Student does not complete the Course.

5.2 Late enrolments

  1. Generally, a Student will not be permitted to enrol in a Course that has already commenced.
  2. In the event that AFS does decide to allow a Student to enrol in a Course that has already commenced, the Student will receive the following discount on their Course Fees:

Week of Enrolment
 Discount

Week 1:
 no discount

Week 2: no discount

Week 3 or later The Student may be granted a discount at the sole discretion of AFS

6. REFUNDS

6.1 Subject to clause Error! Reference source not found., a Student will only be entitled to a refund of Course Fees if the Student cancels their enrolment 5 Business Days or more before the Course commencement date.

6.2 A Student will only be entitled to a refund of Course Fees if he or she cancels their enrolment less than 5 Business Days before the Course commencement date if the Student satisfies AFS that special circumstances exist, such as:

  1. a medical emergency supported by a medical certificate;
  2. financial hardship (such as that Student has lost their job); or
  3. the death of a close family member.

6.3 Any refund is at the sole discretion of AFS.

6.4 AFS will charge an administration fee of $80 in relation to any cancellation, which (where applicable) will be deductible from any refund payable under this clause 6.

6.5 The Student may, if he or she wishes, request that any refund be retained by AFS as a credit towards a future Course, in which case the credit must be used within 12 months.

7. GST

7.1 In this clause input tax credit, recipient, supplier, tax invoice and taxable supply have the meanings set out in the GST Act.

7.2 A recipient of a taxable supply made under the Agreement must pay to the supplier, in addition to the consideration for the taxable supply, any GST paid or payable by the supplier in respect of the taxable supply.

7.3 The recipient must pay the GST to the supplier:

  1. if there is a due date for the consideration for the taxable supply, on the same day as the due date for the consideration in respect of the relevant taxable supply; or
  2. if there is no due date, within 7 days of receiving a written request for a tax invoice from the supplier.

7.4 A party’s obligation to reimburse another party for an amount paid or payable to a third party (eg a party’s obligation to pay another party’s legal costs) includes GST on the amount paid or payable to the third party except to the extent that the party being reimbursed is entitled to claim an input tax credit for that GST.

8. EXAMINATIONS AND TESTS

8.1 AFS is accredited as an official examination centre by:

  1. the French Government through its agency ‘France Education International’; and
  2. Alliance Francaise de Paris Ile de France.

8.2 AFS conducts the following examinations:

  1. Diploma of French Language (DELF); and
  2. Advanced Diploma in French Language (DALF).

8.3 To pass either the DELF or the DALF, a candidate must pass each of the 4 core competencies (written and oral expression and comprehension) to obtain the Diploma, which is valid for life.

8.4 The official language test administered by AFS is the Test de Connaissance du Français (TCF).

8.5 Candidates are delivered a percentage result based on the 4 core competencies (written and oral expression and comprehension).

8.6 A test is only valid for a limited period, usually between 6 months to one year.

8.7 A candidate will not be permitted to sit an examination until they have paid in full all amounts payable under this Agreement.

8.8 If a Student fails an examination, they will not be entitled to a refund of any amount payable under this Agreement.

9. TEXTBOOKS

9.1 Textbooks are not included as part of the Course Materials and must be purchased separately.

9.2 AFS will make available for sale at its Sydney CBD branch the textbooks used in its Courses. 

9.3 AFS will not accept the return of any textbooks and will not refund the price of any textbooks purchased from AFS.

10. E-TUITION ACCESS

10.1 In order to be able to access E-Tuition, the Student must ensure that he or she has access to the following:

  1. either:
  1. Google Meet; or
  2. Zoom,

so that the Student can attend online meetings, see and hear the teacher and participate in classes;

b. the ‘Apolearn’ platform so that the Student can:

  1. submit homework and assignments (formal teaching); and
  2. engage with his or her classmates (informal teaching);

c. an online French keyboard that will assist the Student with written work and typing accented characters. 

10.2 Upon receipt of the Course Fees, AFS will:

  1. provide the Student with their username and password for E-Tuition access; and
  2. arrange for the teacher allocated to the Student will send the Student an email inviting him or her to join the ‘Apolearn’ platform. 

11. E-TUITION MATERIALS, ACCESS AND ASSESSMENT

11.1 E-Tuition Materials are supplied in an online environment, unless otherwise stated in the Course description, and are available for viewing online and may not be either downloaded or copied unless the Student is instructed to do so by AFS.

11.2 The content of the E-Tuition Materials, including copyright and all other such intellectual property rights contained therein, remains the exclusive property of AFS. The Student will not reproduce any part of the E-Tuition Materials without the prior written consent of AFS.

11.3 E-Tuition Materials are personal to the Student and the Student is prohibited to either sell or give or transfer the E-Tuition Materials to any other person or organisation who is not the Student.

11.4 E-Tuition Materials and E-Tuition content are subject to change at AFS’ sole discretion.

11.5 The Student acknowledges that the E-Tuition Materials may occasionally be inaccessible for technical reasons or during scheduled maintenance or for any other reason outside AFS’ control.  

12. STUDENT OBLIGATIONS

The Student must:

  1. ensure that any information he or she provides to AFS is accurate;
  2. notify AFS immediately of any changes to his or her contact details;
  3.  notify AFS immediately of any difficulties or problems the Student may experience with E-Tuition;
  4. conduct him or herself civilly and respectfully at all times when interacting with AFS’ staff, teachers and other students, whether in person or in in telephone calls, emails, instant chats or any other media .  
  5. not, under any circumstances, use abusive language or harass staff, teachers and other students.  AFS reserves the right to determine, at its sole discretion, what constitutes abusive language and harassment, and where that has occurred; and may, partially or completely, deny service to the infringing Student;
  6. not copy content directly from the E-Tuition Materials.  A breach of this  provision will mean that the Student will be in serious breach of these Term, in which case:
  7. the Student’s enrolment in the session of E-Tuition will be cancelled immediately and the Student will not be entitled to a refund;
  8. AFS may, in its sole discretion, refuse re-enrolment of the Student to any other Course.

13. PRIVACY

13.1 AFS will only use a Student’s ‘personal information’ (as that term is defined in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)) :

  1. to provide the Student with the learning services contemplated by the Course.   in accordance with AFS’ Privacy Statement which may be viewed at: https://www.afsydney.com.au/privacy/.

13.2 AFS will use its best efforts to keep any personal information of a Student secure and to ensure that any of its employees or agents who have access to information about the Student do not make any unauthorised use, modification, reproduction or disclosure of that information.

13.3 AFS will only disclose a Student’s information:

  1. to the extent specifically required by law; or
  2. for the purposes of the Student’s enrolment in a Course (including disclosing information in connection with any query or claim).

13.4 Information provided by the Student is considered confidential and will not be divulged to any third party, nor will it be sold.

14. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

14.1 To the extent permitted by law, AFS hereby excludes any liability to the Student in contract, tort, statute or in any other way for any injury, damage or loss of any kind whatsoever (including, without limitation, any liability for direct, indirect, special or consequential loss or damage), sustained by the Student or any other person, or for any costs, charges or expenses incurred by the Student, arising from or in connection with the Student’s E-Tuition enrolment and any act or omission of AFS.

14.2 To the extent permitted by law, the Student indemnifies and keeps indemnified AFS for any loss and damage suffered by AFS by or as a consequence of this enrolment to E-Tuition.

14.3 The Student acknowledges that, although it will endeavour to do its best, AFS does not warrant that the Student’s improvement in French as a result of E-Tuition.

15. NOTICES

15.1 Service of Notices

A notice or other communication required or permitted to be given by one party to another must be in writing and:

  1. left or sent by pre-paid mail to:
  1. the address of the addressee specified in this Agreement;
  2. the registered office of any party to be served which is a company; or

b. sent by email to the email address of the addressee.

15.2 Addresses for Service

The address and email address of each party for the purpose of service of notices is the address and email address specified in this Agreement.

15.3 Timing

A notice or other communication is taken to have been given (unless otherwise proved):

  1. if delivered personally, at the time of delivery;
  2. if mailed, on the third Business Day after posting; or
  3. if sent by email upon production of a delivery confirmation report received by the sender which records the time the email was delivered unless the sender received a delivery failure notification.

15.4 Change of Address for Service

A party may change its address for service by giving notice of that change in writing to the other parties.

16. MISCELLANEOUS

16.1 Severability

  1. If any clause or part of a clause of this Agreement is invalid, illegal, unlawful or otherwise being incapable of enforcement, that clause or part of a clause will be deemed to be severed from this Agreement and of no force and effect but all other clauses and parts of clauses of this document will nevertheless prevail and remain in full force and effect and be valid and fully enforceable.
  2. No clause or part of a clause of this Agreement will be construed to be dependent upon any other clause or part of a clause unless so expressed.

16.2 Governing Law and Jurisdiction

  1. This Agreement is governed by the laws of New South Wales.
  2. Each party irrevocably submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales.

16.3 Force Majeure

Neither party shall be liable for any delay in meeting or for any failure to meet its obligations under this Agreement due to any cause outside its reasonable control. If a party is prevented from meeting its obligations under this Agreement due to circumstances beyond its control, it shall notify the other party of the circumstances and the other party shall grant a reasonable extension of time for the performance of the obligations.

16.4 Further Assurance

Each party will from time to time do all things (including executing all documents) necessary or desirable to give full effect to this Agreement.

16.5 Amendments

No provision of this Agreement may be varied except in writing signed by both parties.

16.7 Whole Agreement

This Agreement embodies the whole agreement between the parties relating to the subject matter of this Agreement and supersedes any and all oral and written negotiations and communications by or on behalf of any of them.

16.7 Rights Not Affected by Failure to Enforce

The failure of either party at any time to enforce any of the provisions of this document or any rights in respect hereto or to exercise any election herein provided will not be a waiver of such provisions, rights or elections or affect the validity of this document.

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