Student handbook

Student Code of Conduct

As a participant in one of our training programmes, you have rights and responsibilities governed by State and Federal legislation

Participant responsibilities and rights

All students, throughout their training and involvement with Qualify, are expected to:

  • Treat all people with fairness and respect and do not do anything that could offend, embarrass or threaten others
  • Not harass, victimise, discriminate against or disrupt others
  • Treat all others and their property with respect
  • Respect the opinions and backgrounds of others
  • Follow all safety policies and procedures as directed by staff
  • Report any perceived safety risks as they become known
  • Not to bring into any premises being used for training purposes, any articles or items that may threaten the safety of self or others
  • Records kept private and secure according to our privacy policy
  • Provide relevant and accurate information to Qualify in a timely manner
  • Approach their course with due personal commitment and integrity
  • Complete all assessment tasks, learning activities and assignments honestly and without plagiarism
  • Hand in all assessment tasks, assignments and other evidence of their work with a completed and signed cover sheet
  • Make regular contact with their Trainer/Assessor
  • Notify Qualify if any difficulties arise as part of their involvement in the program
  • Notify Qualify if they are unable to attend a visit or training session for any reason as soon as possible that they are aware of their non-attendance
  • Refrain from smoking at training venues and on the premises of Qualify
  • Make payments for their training within agreed timeframes
  • Provide feedback to Qualify the client services, training, assessment and support services they receive

Occupational Health and Safety

All students must protect their own health and safety and to avoid adversely affecting the health and safety of any other person. They must not wilfully or recklessly interfere or misuse anything provided by Qualify in the interests of health, safety or welfare.

All student must ensure that they are not, by the consumption of drugs or alcohol, in such a state as to endanger your own health and safety or the health and safety of another person.

Qualify recognises the importance of providing a safe and healthy environment for participants, contractors and visitors during their participation in work and training activities with the organisation. We strive for excellence in workplace health and safety and is committed to providing an environment which is free from risks and conducive to the productivity and efficiency needs of its participants and others.

Compliance with Legislation

Qualify meets the requirements of the OH&S Act 2004 and complies with all other relevant legislation, codes of practice, advisory and best practice standards as well as organisational policies and procedures.

Respect for others

You will be expected to treat Qualify team members and fellow participants with respect and observe any particular conditions which may appear in this information booklet or be raised during the course by a Qualify team member.

Inappropriate language and actions will not be tolerated.

In keeping with equal opportunity and discrimination laws, no derogatory or prejudicial comments are acceptable with reference to a person’s culture, disability, gender, disability, sexuality, religion or age.

Harassment and intimidation of staff or fellow participants will not be tolerated.

Treat facilities and equipment with due care and respect.

Arrive on time to start all sessions. This includes after lunch and coffee breaks.

Behaviour

Participants are expected to participate in all training activities and carry out any tasks within reason that may be requested by your trainer/assessor. You should complete these tasks to the best of your ability and in a timely manner. Repeated failure to complete set tasks or attend scheduled training may result in suspension of your training. Your trainer will then discuss an action plan with you to address the performance issue and provide you with opportunities to recommence training.

Consumption or being under the influence of, alcohol or illicit substances during training hours is unacceptable and will result in training being terminated or you being asked to leave the premises. Continued abuse of this nature may result in your removal from the traineeship or training program.

Your behaviour must not disrupt or threaten others. Abusive behaviour or physical violence can result in instant withdrawal from the program. You should behave in a way that reflects workplace/classroom standards at all times. Participants should be punctual to all training sessions.

If you are late you may be marked as not having attended a training session and this may affect your overall result.

Dress and hygiene

Neat, comfortable clothing is generally considered appropriate.

Since you will be working in close proximity with others, care with your personal hygiene (clothing, hair, deodorant etc) is required.

Disciplinary Procedures

Where your behaviour is affecting the learning process, you will be asked to leave and be given a written warning. Re-entry to the training program will need to be negotiated with the trainer.

Any misconduct (below) will result in a meeting followed by a written warning.

Any further incidents will result in termination from the course without refund.

Serious misconduct will result in immediate termination from your course. No refund will be given in this instance.

Misconduct

Misconduct includes but is not limited to;

  • Theft
  • Fraud
  • Violence/ assault
  • Discrimination, harassment, intimidation or victimisation on all EEO and non EEO grounds
  • Serious negligence including OH&S non compliance
  • Breaches of policy on staff/service users relationships
  • Serious breach of confidentiality
  • Refusing to carry out lawful and reasonable instructions
  • Wilful disobedience
  • Being affected by alcohol or drugs (both illegal and prescription) in that their faculties are
    so impaired that they are unfit to participate in activities.

Cheating

Participant Integrity and Honesty

Qualify is committed to upholding standards of participant integrity and honesty in regards to the assessment of their work and places value in the declarations of authenticity made by participants.

Plagiarism, cheating and collusion in any form are unacceptable and will be treated seriously by Qualify.

Plagiarism: “the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own”

Collusion: secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy in order to deceive others

Plagiarism and collusion are both forms of cheating (to act dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage) and will be referred to as cheating in this procedure. Some examples of cheating include:

  • Not acknowledging reference materials used (ask you trainer for more information about appropriate referencing);
  • Collaborating on assignments where this is not a requirement of the assessment;
  • Copying all or part of assignments from another participant;
  • Soliciting assistance from any source;
  • Submitting the same work for multiple courses;
  • Submitting the work of others or a version of work of others from previous courses
  • Stealing work from trainer/assessor, computer, other participants etc

Participants are expected to act with integrity at all times and only submit work that is their own, or that has been appropriately referenced and includes acknowledgements of all texts and resource materials utilised in the development of the work. The RTO has put in place a number of mechanisms in order to reduce occurrences and likelihood of plagiarism, cheating and collusion amongst participants including:

  • Participant declaration of authenticity of work submitted
  • Clear assessment guidelines;
  • Multiple assessment methods for each unit;
  • Participants are reminded to ensure they appropriately acknowledge all reference materials used to prepare an assessment task;

Online participants have their own individual secure login for online work. If cheating is suspected, RTO staff must source evidence to support the claim. This can involve:

  • Review previous work of the participant;
  • Comparisons with other participants work where collusion is suspected;
  • Discussions with the participants involved;
  • Review of previous incidences of cheating (if any) and the disciplinary action taken.

If the claim is substantiated, the assessment result will be recorded as ‘Not Yet Competent’ and you will be advised of disciplinary procedures to be taken if required. If you are unhappy with the result you can lodge an appeal using the appeals procedure.

Relevant Legislation

A range of legislation is applicable to QUALIFY staff and students. Information on relevant legislation can be found as follows:

OH&S

  • www.worksafe.vic.gov.au

Equal Opportunity

  • www.hreoc.gov.au

VET Act

  • www.skills.vic.gov.au

VRQA Act

  • www.vrqa.vic.gov.au

Privacy

  • www.privacy.vic.gov.au

ASQA

  • www.asqa.gov.au

Other legislation

  • www.liv.asn.au
  • www.austlii.edu.au

It is the responsibility of all staff to ensure the requirements of relevant legislation are met by Qualify at all times. Please use the websites indicated or contact the Senior RTO Manager if you require further information.