Procedure: Management of students under the age of 17 years

Purpose

To detail the procedures governing the admission, learning, support and protection of students under the age of 17 years.

Prior to being accepted for admission to the University students under the age of 17 years at the commencement of their program agree to a Student Learning Agreement that is in force until the student is 17 years of age, except for domestic students who have applied for the ANU Extension program and are admitted into the Diploma of Studies and who are enrolled only in ANU Extension EXTN-coded courses. The Student Learning Agreement is an agreement between the Associate Dean Education, on behalf of the Academic College, the student, and the parent or guardian (the Parties). The Student Learning Agreement details:

the courses available to the student while they are under the age of 17 years;
the student’s responsibilities;
the name and contact details of the Academic College’s Pastoral Lead who is responsible for coordinating the support of the student as recorded in the Learning Agreement;
parental responsibilities;
University services available to the student; and
consent to release personal information.

The development, implementation and record maintenance of the Student Learning Agreement are the responsibility of the Academic College.
A new Student Learning Agreement is agreed to by the Parties where the courses available to the student change prior to the student turning 17 years of age.
Any medical treatment or counselling services provided by the University requires informed consent for students under 17 years of age and by their parent or guardian if medical and counselling practitioners believe that the student does not understand the benefits, nature and risk of receiving or not receiving the proposed service. Sound and reasoned judgement is made as to whether a student is capable of making an informed choice and whether they understand the limits of confidentiality. Where a student has given informed consent, their consent is required to disclose information to a parent, guardian or third party unless there is an imminent risk to the safety and wellbeing of the student or others.

Students under 17 years of age at the commencement of their studies are not offered places in University accommodation.
Students who are 17 years of age at the commencement of their studies are offered student accommodation that provides a safe and supportive environment in accordance with accommodation application and admission procedures.
An accommodation services Reasonable Adjustment Plan will be agreed and signed before the offer of accommodation is accepted by the student. This Reasonable Adjustment Plan specifies the responsibilities and obligations of each of the parties involved in supporting the student to live safely in on campus accommodation, including relevant staff in ANU residences, the student and their parent or guardian. This Reasonable Adjustment Plan will be developed in line with the expectation that residents who are 17 years old in ANU on campus accommodation can and will comply with the requirements of living in an adult environment as outlined in the Occupancy Agreement, Residential Handbook and ANU policies and procedures.

Information	Printable version (PDF)
Title	Underage student management (under review)
Document Type	Procedure
Document Number	ANUP_017208
Version
Purpose	To detail the procedures governing the admission, learning, support and protection of students under the age of 17 years.
Audience	Students, Prospective Students, Staff
Category	Academic
Topic/ SubTopic	Students

Effective Date	29 Nov 2022
Next Review Date	29 Nov 2027

Responsible Officer:	Registrar, Student Administration
Approved By:	Academic Board
Contact Area	Division of Student Administration and Academic Services
Authority:	Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018
Delegations	0
Information generated and received by ANU staff in the course of conducting business on behalf of ANU is a record and should be captured by an authorised recordkeeping system. To learn more about University records and recordkeeping practice at ANU, see ANU recordkeeping and Policy: Records and archives management.