Underage Students

At Hawthorn-Melbourne, we have special structures in place to protect the welfare of students who are under 18 years of age. These are extra to our commitment to caring for every Hawthorn-Melbourne student with our range of advice services and academic resources.

Student visa holders

All student visa holders who are under 18 must have appropriate accommodation and carer support. This might be with relatives or organised by Hawthorn-Melbourne.

If you or your child are under 18 and hold a student visa, you have four accommodation and welfare options:

  • Option 1: You can live with your parent/s or legal custodian or suitable relative as approved by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA).
  • Option 2: You can live in a Hawthorn-Melbourne homestay (students aged 14 - 18 years only).
  • Option 3: You can live with a homestay family nominated by your parent/s (students aged 14 - 18 years only).

If you are a parent of a student under 18, you must let us know your preferred accommodation and welfare arrangement when confirming the enrolment. 

The options are explained in more detail below.

Option 1: You can live with your parent/s or legal custodian.

A parent, legal guardian or suitable relative can apply for a Student Guardian visa. You will need to submit the Nomination of a student guardian form 157N when applying for the student visa. 

For this option, Hawthorn-Melbourne does not need to issue a Confirmation of Appropriate Accommodation and Welfare (CAAW) letter.

Option 2: Nominate Hawthorn-Melbourne as the carer

If you do not have a suitable relative to care for your child in Melbourne, you can nominate Hawthorn-Melbourne as the official guardian. This option is only available to students aged 14 - 18 years. 

For this option, Hawthorn-Melbourne will place your child with one of our registered host families. We will issue a Confirmation of Appropriate Accommodation and Welfare (CAAW) letter. You must present the letter to the DHA when you apply for the student visa.

The CAAW will start 7 days before your child is scheduled to start their course at Hawthorn-Melbourne. It will end 7 days after the enrolment end date or on your child’s 18th birthday, depending which comes first. The DHA will issue your child’s visa according to the CAAW dates.

If your child is planning to study at another institution after Hawthorn-Melbourne, you may need multiple CAAW letters. There cannot be a gap in the CAAW dates.

Option 3: Nominate Hawthorn-Melbourne as the carer with the request that the student lives with a friend or family member in Melbourne

If you choose this option, Hawthorn-Melbourne will initiate the process to register your friend or family member as a homestay host. This option is only available to students aged 14 - 18 years. 

The friend/family member must meet our host family requirements. That is, they must:

  • be a permanent resident or citizen of Australia over 21 years of age
  • have a good level of English
  • allow us to visit the family home prior to the student moving in
  • provide the student with a suitable room and furnishings 
  • communicate with us about the welfare and academic progress of the student
  • present Police Checks and Working With Children Checks to us for each person in the home over the age of 18 years.

The process of applying for Police Checks and Working With Children Checks can take some time. We recommend your friend or family member starts this process early.

They can contact our accommodation office for a Host Registration Pack to be emailed to them.

There is some extra work involved in this option, and an additional Host Registration Fee is payable.

If the friend/family member meets our requirements, we will issue a Confirmation of Appropriate Accommodation and Welfare (CAAW) letter. You must present the letter to the DHA when you apply for the student visa.

The CAAW will start 7 days before your child is scheduled to start their course at Hawthorn-Melbourne. It will end 7 days after the enrolment end date or on your child’s 18th birthday, depending which comes first. The DHA will issue your child’s visa according to the CAAW dates.

If your child is planning to study at another institution after Hawthorn-Melbourne, you may need multiple CAAW letters. There cannot be a gap in the CAAW dates.

If your friend or family member does not meet the requirements above, we will place your child with one of our registered host families. All our hosts for students under 18 must meet the requirements above, so you can be confident your child’s welfare will be looked after.

Other visa holders

Some students come to Hawthorn-Melbourne with different visas, including visitor visas, tourist visas and temporary resident visas. If a student under 18 is travelling on a visa other than a student visa, we cannot provide homestay accommodation or meet them at the airport.

If your child does not have a student visa, you will need to provide us with:

  • the name, address and contact details of the student's guardian while they are in Melbourne, whether they are a family member or friend
  • the name and address of the student’s accommodation while they are in Melbourne, which may or may not be the same as the guardian.

Please provide these details as part of the Hawthorn-Melbourne application process.

If you do not have family or friends in Melbourne to care for your child, there are independent, experienced companies that provide these services. These include:

Guardianship Services

Homestay Placement

More information

You can contact our accommodation office for a Host Registration Pack, or if you have any questions about registering to host a young friend or family member planning to study at Hawthorn-Melbourne.

For more information on our services for students under 18, please contact the Hawthorn-Melbourne accommodation office.

 accommodation@hawthornenglish.edu.au
+61 3 9815 4033