Background

CPD Home provides Australian registered medical specialists, international medical graduates, PGY2+ trainees and non-vocationally registered medical practitioners a CPD Program of Learning. CPD Home aims to provide a program that address a wide range of learning opportunities to meet the continuing professional development needs of its subscribers to.

CPD Home is committed to supporting its subscribers:

• undertake meaningful professional development
• meet their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements under the Medical Board of Australia (MBA) Registration Standard: Continuing Professional Development (the Standard)
• easily demonstrate that they have done so should they be audited by the MBA.

Purpose

To outline the circumstances in which fees are payable for CPD Home subscription, learning activities, and procedural matters, such as a decision, review or appeal and our refund policy.

Objective

To provide information and clarity to CPD Home subscribers in relation to fees and refunds.

Scope

This policy applies to all CPD Home subscribers.

Definitions

Please refer to the Glossary for definition(s) of terms that apply to this policy.

Policy

CPD Home subscribers are required to pay a yearly subscription (of the full amount) to access CPD Home services.

Subscribers who have opted for a discounted subscription will be required to provide evidence of eligibility when requested by CPD Home within the required timeframe. Failure to provide evidence or agreement to reconciliation may result in immediate cancellation of the CPD Home subscription.

Fees and Charges

Annual subscription fee

AMA/ASA members receive a discount on the annual subscription fee of CPD Home. Please contact your local AMA or ASA office to learn more.

Subscriptions will be automatically renewed in the last quarter of each year between 1 October and 31 December for the following CPD year. Please see ‘Annual subscription renewal’ for details.

 Annual subscription renewal

A CPD Home subscription is an ongoing recurring service. By default, CPD Home subscription payments are also auto-renewing and auto-charged unless otherwise confirmed in writing.

Prior to renewals commencing, subscribers will be contacted by email and:

• given instructions on how to renew prior to the subscription auto-renew date nominated by CPD Home including being:
  • invited to complete the subscription renewal form
  • asked to check their profile information is up to date, including payment details when completing the renewal form
• advised in advance of the subscription auto-renew date when payments will be deducted should they choose not to complete the renewal form
• reminded to notify CPD Home in writing up to three business days before the subscription auto-renew date if they do not wish to renew their subscription for the following CPD year.

The renewal process will be completed online before 31 December for the following CPD year.

In the case that an auto-renewal payment is unsuccessful, and a subscriber does not notify CPD Home of any changes or cancellations, the subscription will auto-renew, carry over into the following year and be marked as overdue. Subscribers will automatically move to a monthly payment plan, and fees will be deducted each month until the subscriber notifies CPD Home of changes. Subscribers will be notified by email when this occurs.

Monthly payment plan

Subscribers transition to a monthly payment plan, either by defaulting on an auto-renewal payment, by notifying CPD Home in writing, or by updating their Profile and selecting the monthly payment plan option. The subscription term remains for the calendar year. However, payments will be made in monthly instalments, with no discounts applied. Fees will be deducted automatically each month until CPD Home is notified of any changes.

The amount paid each month will be prorated in equal instalments to total the annual fee for the selected plan.

Certified Learning Provider fees

Accredited CPD activities offered by Certified Learning Providers (CLP) that are listed in the CPD Home Catalogue may incur a pay-per-use fee. The pricing of CPD activities is solely determined by the CLP.

Upon log in to CPD Home, the CPD activity web tile in the Catalogue and information page will reflect relevant pricing. Where a fee is payable, this will be clearly indicated on the Catalogue CPD activity information page. Where a discount is applicable this will also be clearly indicated on the Catalogue CPD activity information page.

Procedural matters

Subscribers who are directly affected and dissatisfied with a CPD Home decision where there are grounds on which to contest the decision, can make an application for the decision to be reconsidered, reviewed, or appealed. See our Reconsideration, Review and Appeals Policy.

The Procedural Matters Fee Schedule (inc. GST) is as follows.

Refunds

Subscription

Subject to the cooling-off period (see our Joining and Cancellation Policy) subscribers before signing up to CPD Home or paying their annual subscription renewal fee need to be aware that there are no refunds for a CPD Home subscription.

Should a subscriber choose to move to another CPD home, any subscription fee paid after the cooling-off period to CPD Home will be forfeited. However, CPD Home, for no additional charge, will prepare learner records saved to their subscriber portal for transfer to their alternate CPD home.

Subscriptions that have moved to a monthly payment plan will not be refunded and can only be cancelled or moved to an annual payment plan. Importantly, if a subscriber opted to pay a monthly subscription and ceases their subscription after the cooling off period but before the year’s end, the subscription fee owed for the remainder of the year will be charged in full.

CPD activities

Once a paid CPD activity has commenced, there is no refund, regardless of whether the activity was completed or not.

Application for Review or Appeal

Should an application not be progressed, any fees paid will be refunded in full. Should an appeal be successful, the fee paid will be refunded in full.

Financial Hardship

Should a subscriber be experiencing financial hardship, they can apply for recognition of financial hardship. The matter will be considered on a case-by-case basis. See Financial Hardship Policy.

Where granted, subscription payments may be split into six monthly instalments, or fees for procedural matters may be waived.

Fee review

CPD Home will review their fees annually and may increase them in line with market rates. Fees for the following CPD year will be promoted on the website from 1 July the preceding year.

Action

Subscriptions to CPD Home are payable (subject to CPD Home’s 14-day cooling-off period) on sign up and before 1 January every year after that the subscriber remains with CPD Home.

A subscriber experiencing financial hardship has up to 30 days before their subscription is due to apply for recognition of financial hardship using the online Application for Recognition of Financial Hardship form available from the CPD Home website.

Subscribers, whether or not they have been granted recognition of financial hardship, who are in arrears at 60 days of any due date for payment, and who have not contacted CPD Home for an extension, risk being declared non-subscribers and having their record deleted as per our Data Management Policy.

Where a fee for a procedural matter is refunded, CPD Home will contact the subscriber to arrange payment of the refund via electronic funds transfer.

Compliance

Management will oversee the implementation and administration of this policy.

Related Documents / Legislation

The following documents are related to this policy.

1. CPD Home Reconsideration, Review and Appeals Policy
2. CPD Home Financial Hardship Policy
3. CPD Home Data Management Policy
4. CPD Home Participation and Compliance Policy

Version Tracking

Appendices

1. Glossary

Appendix 1

Glossary