What the law regulates is the registered education provider, which must have a written agreement with each agent it uses and must monitor what that agent does. Most agents who place international students are paid a commission by the provider, not by the student — lawful, and disclosed to the regulator, but it means the adviser's financial interest and yours are not always the same thing.
How it works, stage by stage
What happens, in the order it usually happens, and where the risks sit.
Work out what you actually need
The word consultant covers several different jobs. A placement agent gets an international student enrolled with a provider and paid a visa-ready offer. A school selection or scholarship adviser helps a family choose a school and prepare an application. A career or pathway counsellor works on what a student should do next, with no particular institution in mind. Decide which of these you want before you start calling people, because the three are paid in completely different ways.
Ask who pays the adviser. This is the most important question
There are two models and you need to know which one you are in. In the commission model, common for international student placement, the education provider pays the agent a commission when you enrol. In the fee-for-service model, you pay the adviser directly and no provider pays them anything. Some practices do both. Ask the question plainly, in writing, and ask which providers they hold agreements with, because that is the list of places they are paid to send you.
Understand the commission conflict
A commission-paid agent is not doing anything improper. The arrangement is lawful, the provider must have a written agreement with the agent, and the provider must record the agent and its commission information with the government. But the agent earns nothing if you enrol somewhere they have no agreement with, and earns nothing if you decide not to study at all. That incentive does not always point to the best course for you. The practical defence is to ask for the shortlist of options they considered and rejected, and to check at least one option outside their agreement list yourself.
Course and provider selection
Check the provider and the course, not the brochure. Any provider enrolling international students on a student visa must be registered on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students, and the specific course must be registered too. The register is public and free to search. If an adviser cannot tell you the provider's registration code and the course code, that is a reason to slow down.
Applications, offers and the genuine student test
An agent usually lodges the application and handles the paperwork. The provider then decides whether to make an offer. For a student visa, the Department of Home Affairs also applies its own test of whether you are a genuine student, and the provider must form a view about this as well. Your application should describe your own circumstances accurately. An adviser who offers to write or improve your personal statement for you is putting your visa at risk, not helping it.
Visa and migration advice is a regulated activity, and most education consultants cannot give it
Immigration assistance in Australia is restricted by law. Only a registered migration agent, or an Australian legal practitioner, may give it. An education consultant who is neither of those may pass on published information, but must not advise you on your visa application or prepare it for you. Many practices employ or partner with a registered migration agent. Ask who will actually handle the visa work, and check that person on the migration agent register yourself before you pay anything.
Fees, agreements and refunds
Get the whole arrangement in writing before you pay. The written agreement should say what the adviser will do, what you pay them, what the provider pays them, and what happens to your money if the application fails or you change your mind. Your tuition agreement with the provider is a separate document with its own refund terms. Read both. Do not rely on anything an adviser has only said out loud.
If it goes wrong
Start with the provider's own internal complaints and appeals process, which registered providers must have. If that does not resolve it and you are an international student at a private provider, the Commonwealth Ombudsman acts as the Overseas Students Ombudsman. Students of public universities and domestic students generally go to the relevant state or territory ombudsman instead. You can also report agent conduct to the provider, which is required to act on it, and to the provider's regulator.
Questions to ask before you engage anyone
Ask these in writing. A straight answer to all seven is a good sign in itself.
- Who pays you, and how much? It is the question that explains everything else. If a provider pays the commission, the adviser has a financial interest in where you enrol. If you pay the fee, they do not. Neither is wrong, but you should know which one applies before you take advice.
- Which providers do you hold written agreements with? Registered providers must have a written agreement with every agent they use. That list is effectively the menu you are being shown. Options outside it will not be offered to you, however suitable they are.
- Are you a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner? Only those two groups may lawfully give immigration assistance. If the answer is no, the adviser cannot advise you on your visa, and you need to find out who will.
- What is the provider's CRICOS code and the course code? It lets you check the provider and the exact course on the public register yourself, in a minute, instead of taking anyone's word for it.
- What do I pay you, and what happens to it if the application fails? Adviser fees and provider tuition refunds are separate things with separate terms. Both should be written down before money changes hands.
- Will you write any part of my application for me? Your application and your statement must be your own and must be accurate. An adviser who offers to improve the facts is creating a problem that lands on you, not on them.
- If I have a complaint about you, who do I take it to? There is no regulator that supervises agents directly, so the answer is the provider's internal complaints process first, then the relevant ombudsman. An adviser who knows this and says so is a better sign than one who promises it will never happen.