FEE CONCESSION APPLICATION As a Catholic school, Sacred Heart College is committed to living the Mercy Education values of justice and compassion, and as such parents or guardians may apply for fee concessions. Fee concessions are determined on the basis of a just and equitable formula reflecting financial hardship. Any application for fee concession is considered based on financial circumstances, encompassing both income and assets of the family concerned, their responsibility as full fee- paying parents/guardians, and the efforts they make to meet their commitments. Process Families wishing to apply for concessional fees must submit this form by 29 March 2018, or at the earliest time when financial assistance is identified as being required. The earlier this is submitted, the sooner an appropriate adjusted contribution amount can be established (if approved by Sacred Heart College). Parents/guardians who have consistently met their obligations under a payment arrangement are more likely to receive a favourable outcome when their applications are assessed in November 2018. Parents/guardians requesting concessional fees must provide evidence as detailed in this application. Upon submission, Accounts Receivable will check your Fee Concession Application and will contact you if additional information is required, or to discuss the situation further. Applicants may then be contacted to arrange a time for an interview to discuss their application with the Finance Manager on the telephone, or in person if required. In order to make this process as simple as possible, applicants are required to honestly list, at Section 4, an amount they they can afford to pay and how frequently. STEP 1 Complete the Fee Concession Application form by no later than 1 March 2018 and attach all the required documentation to support your application, paying particular attention to Section 4, and submit the application. STEP 2 The Finance Team will review the application and request any additional information that may be required. You may then be contacted to arrange a telephone or in-person interview with the Finance Manager to more closely investigate your situation and agree on the amount and quantity of your repayments. Should your application be successful, you will be offered a Payment Arrangement, specifying an adjusted amount and frequency of payment. Should your application be unsuccessful, you will be required to pay your fees in full, and recovery action may be taken in accordance with our overdue account procedure. STEP 3 In November 2018, your Fee Concession Application will be considered to determine what amount, if any, will be deducted from your outstanding balance as a Fee Concession. This amount will be determined by the Finance Team and will depend on if you have met your agreed repayment schedule throughout the year.
STEP 4 In December 2018, you will be informed of the outcome of your application. Any remaining fees that have not been deducted will be transferred to your 2019 Fee Statement, or will be referred to a debt recovery agency on the decision of the Leader of Business Operations. Rationale The application process is aimed at determining a just and equitable fee that is within the family s ability to pay. The College will not consider your personal financial choices when assessing your application. No allowance is made for repayments or expenses on items such as holiday houses, luxury cars, investment properties, pools etc. Similarly, holidays, excessive housing costs, and the cost of students extracurricular activities will not be considered when assessing a family s financial hardship. If a family s priorities include these expenses, the financial burden of that decision remains with the family and will not be subsidised by the College. All Fee Concession Applications will be considered in conjunction with data relating to your payment history and frequency to determine if you have honoured your agreement in full and on time. Applications will be looked on more favourably if these commitments have been honoured. If family financial circumstances change, either positively or negatively, the College must be informed in writing by emailing areceivable@shcgeelong.catholic.edu.au. If concessions are required beyond the current year, new applications must be submitted each school year. The College has at its disposal investigative resources to monitor publically-available information relating to the financial activity of parents. These resources will also be used when considering Fee Concession Applications. Other Conditions The submission of a Fee Concession Application and subsequently entering into a Payment Arrangement may preclude a student s involvement and participation in separately-levied optional, extracurricular activities and camps, including language camps, athletics competitions, and other non-curriculum, non-compulsory excursions and trips. If an applicant s financial circumstances improve and they no longer require a concession, they must inform the Finance Team. Please note that if an applicant s financial circumstances do improve and they do begin to pay their fees in full, their daughter may still be ineligible to participate in the above-mentioned extracurricular activities until such time as previous fee discounts have been re-paid to the College in full. 2
Overdue Accounts Procedure for those under a Payment Arrangement If parents/guardians fail to meet their agreed Payment Arrangement, the onus is on them to contact the College to agree on a suitable way forward. Where a family does not contact the College and then defaults on their negotiated Payment Arrangement, the following steps will be taken. 1. A phone call will be made and if the College is unable to make contact with the family on this call, a message will be left (if possible) and an email will be sent requesting the payment be caught up immediately or contact be made with the College to discuss the matter further. 2. If no response is received, or if the Finance Team is not satisfied for the reason of nonpayment or there is a pattern of regular non-payment, their Fee Concession Application may be made void when assessed in November 2018 and their case sent to our debt collection agency, Midstate Credit Collect. From this point, any contact will be through the debt collection agency and NOT with the College. 3. If there is still not satisfaction via the debt collection agency, the matter may be escalated to legal action. These procedures are in place to ensure justice, compassion and equity to all families within the Sacred Heart College Community, and also to ensure only those with an honest and demonstrable need for financial assistance are granted fee concessions. 3
FEE CONCESSION APPLICATION Family Name: Family Number: Students Enrolled at Sacred Heart College: Name Year Level Checklist I/We have for all carers: o Completed and Signed this Application o Attached the most recent Notice of Assessment o Attached Payslips for the last 2 pay periods o Attached 2 most recent Centrelink payment advice slips or statements o Attached Evidence of mortgage repayment or rental agreement showing cost o Attached Copy of Health Care Card o Attached any other information in support of this Application I/We acknowledge that the information I/we have provided on the following pages is provided to enable the College to fully consider my/our application for a variation to the normal fee conditions. I/we certify that the information provided by me/us is true and correct and nothing has been omitted which would lead the College to make an incorrect assessment. We also agree to a meeting with the Business Manager as required. Signature of Parent/Carer 1 _ Date Signature of Parent/Carer 2 _ Date Privacy Statement Sacred Heart College Geelong acknowledges that some of the information you are asked to provide in this Application for Concessional Fees or subsequent additional information that may be sought could be of a personal or sensitive nature. The information is used only to assess this application. Identifying information is not provided to any other organisation except debt collection agencies, the College s legal advisors, or similar organisations where debt collection recovery action is instigated by the College. The College is not aware of any law that requires you to provide this information, however should you fail to provide full and accurate information the College may not consider your application. You have the right to access any personal information that the College holds about you, subject to the exceptions in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). You may also request the correction of information that is inaccurate. 4
SECTION 1 Parent/Carer 1 Details (place a tick in the relevant box) FULL NAME OF PARENT/CARER 1: MARITAL STATUS: o single o married/de facto o separated o divorced o widowed ADDRESS: PHONE NUMBERS: mobile: home: work: RESIDENTIAL STATUS: o renting o paying off home (mortgage) o own home Where applicable, insert weekly mortgage or rent payments in item 11 on page 6. EMPLOYMENT STATUS: o employed o self-employed o home duties o unemployed (government support) o other (please describe) IF EMPLOYED: Occupation: Employer: Date Started: Status: o full time o part time o casual o contract for a term (termination date) If you have more than one employer, please include full details of each Please write your average weekly gross income in item 1 on page 6 and attach copies of 2 recent payslips & most recent Notice of Assessment IF SELF EMPLOYED: What is your occupation? Please write your average weekly gross income in item 1 on page 6 & attach copy of most recent Notice of Assessment IF RECEIVING GOVERNMENT SUPPORT (CENTRELINK PAYMENTS): How long have you been receiving Government Support? What type/s of benefit do you receive? Attach copies of 2 most recent Centrelink payment advice slips Do you have a current Health Care Card? o Yes o No (If yes please provide a copy and proceed to Parent/Carer 2 Details. If Parent/Carer 2 is not applicable, proceed to Section 4 on page 8. Health Care Card Holders are not required to complete Sections 2 & 3 however if you require a budget template then you are encouraged to utilise these sections) DO YOU RECEIVE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING: o Child maintenance/support o Interest or dividends from investments o Rental receipts from any property o Other income (please describe) Include the weekly equivalent of the income above in items 3 & 4 on Page 6 5
HAVE YOU RECEIVED ANY LUMP SUM PAYMENTS IN THE LAST 2 YEARS? This can be as a result of termination of employment, redundancy, compensation, legal action, inheritance or superannuation o Yes o No If yes please state the nature of the payment, the amount, and the date received: DO YOU HAVE ANY SALARY SACRIFICE OR FRINGE BENEFIT ARRANGEMENTS WITH YOUR EMPLOYER? This includes any motor vehicle or equipment provisions, payment of expenses or additional superannuation contributions o Yes o No If yes please provide details: Include the weekly equivalent of the net amount in item 5 on page 6 FULL NAME OF PARENT/CARER 2: Parent/Carer 2 Details (place a tick in the relevant box) MARITAL STATUS: o single o married/de facto o separated o divorced o widowed ADDRESS: PHONE NUMBERS: mobile: home: work: RESIDENTIAL STATUS: o renting o paying off home (mortgage) o own home Where applicable, insert weekly mortgage or rent payments in item 11 on page 6. EMPLOYMENT STATUS: o employed o self-employed o home duties o unemployed (government support) o other (please describe) IF EMPLOYED: Occupation: Employer: Date Started: Status: o full time o part time o casual o contract for a term (termination date) If you have more than one employer, please include full details of each Please write your average weekly gross income in item 1 on page 6 and attach copies of 2 recent payslips & most recent Notice of Assessment IF SELF EMPLOYED: What is your occupation? Please write your average weekly gross income in item 1 on page 6 & attach copy of most recent Notice of Assessment IF RECEIVING GOVERNMENT SUPPORT (CENTRELINK PAYMENTS): 6
How long have you been receiving Government Support? What type/s of benefit do you receive? Attach copies of 2 most recent Centrelink payment advice slips Do you have a current Health Care Card? o Yes o No (If yes please provide a copy and proceed to Section 4 on page 8. Health Care Card Holders are not required to complete Sections 2 & 3 however if you require a budget template then you are encouraged to utilise these worksheets) DO YOU RECEIVE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING: o Child maintenance/support o Interest or dividends from investments o Rental receipts from any property o Other income (please describe) Include the weekly equivalent of the income above in items 3 & 4 on Page 6 HAVE YOU RECEIVED ANY LUMP SUM PAYMENTS IN THE LAST 2 YEARS? This can be as a result of termination of employment, redundancy, compensation, legal action, inheritance or superannuation o Yes o No If yes please state the nature of the payment, the amount, and the date received: DO YOU HAVE ANY SALARY SACRIFICE OR FRINGE BENEFIT ARRANGEMENTS WITH YOUR EMPLOYER? This includes any motor vehicle or equipment provisions, payment of expenses or additional superannuation contributions o Yes o No If yes please provide details: Include the weekly equivalent of the net amount in item 5 on page 6 7
SECTION 2 Other Information Number of Persons Living in the family home of the student Number Parents/Adult carers (who provided information on pages 2, 3 & 4) Other adults (eg. grandparents, siblings who are employed or receive Government support) Dependent children Children s Fortnightly Centrelink (Youth Allowance) Amount 1. Child s Name Age: 2. Child s Name Age: 3. Child s Name Age: Siblings enrolled at other school s (other than Sacred Heart College) Please provide name, school, and yearly fees Yearly Fees 1. Child s Name: School: 2. Child s Name: School: 3. Child s Name: School: 4. Child s Name:_ School: 8
SECTION 3 Financial Information (Please note documentation as described on Pages 2, 3 & 4 must be supplied to support figures) Income Per Week Carer 1 () Carer 2 1. Average weekly earnings (net of tax) 2. Government Support 3. Child Support/Maintenance 4. Investment Income 5. Value of any Fringe Benefits 6. Government support received by students 16yrs or over TOTAL INCOME (A) Expenditure Per Week (If carers have joint responsibility use one column only) 7. Food 8. School Fees (other than Sacred Heart) 9. Entertainment/Activities (include any sports, lessons etc) 10. Clothing 11. Mortgage/Rent 12. Rates 13. Motor Vehicle (weekly equivalent for fuel, repairs, tyres, registration, insurance) 14. Electricity, Gas 15. Telephone/Internet 16. Insurance (Home and contents, life, etc) 17. Health Insurance 18. Medical Expenses 19. Personal Loans, Hire purchase 20. Credit Cards and Store Accounts 21. Other Commitments TOTAL EXPENSES (B) SURPLUS / (DEFICIT) (A-B) 9
Assets and Liabilities Include the total value of all items you own (assets) and what you owe (liabilities) Carer 1 Carer 2 Assets Family Residence Current Value Other Properties Current Value Motor Vehicle/s Bank Accounts Investments (please describe) Other Assets (eg. boat, caravan, etc) TOTAL ASSETS Liabilities Mortgage Current Balance Carer 1 Carer 2 Motor Vehicle Loan/s Personal Loans Other Loans (please describe) Credit Card / Store Accounts Balance Other Liabilities (please describe) TOTAL LIABILITIES 10
SECTION 4 This section must be completed for your application to be considered Please provide reasons behind the need for financial assistance and whether you see this as a short term, or on-going issue. Please provide a proposal for how much you can afford to pay. Please note that a value must be entered for this application to be considered: Instalments of o Weekly o Fortnightly o Monthly Total between now and November 2018: _ Finance Manager/Leader of Business Operations Approval Approval for Instalments of, paid o Weekly o Fortnightly o Monthly Total approved between now and November 2018: _ Signature: Date: 11