Cancellation by Users

A reference to “You”, “Your” or “User” within this Cancellation Policy has the meaning provided in the general terms and conditions of use available at General Terms and Conditions of Use. 

This Cancellation Policy applies to all TIS National clients – whether fee paying or non-fee paying (non-fee paying clients include those under a funded account arrangement and the Free Interpreting Service [FIS] clients). All clients must agree to the terms and conditions of use and this Cancellation Policy when registering for a TIS National account.

The policy and procedures set out below apply when You cancel a booking.

Cancellations You make without sufficient notice will incur cancellation charges as set out below (“Cancellation Charges”). This allows TIS National to ensure the assigned interpreter does not suffer unreasonable financial loss if bookings are cancelled at short notice.

FIS clients should be aware that, while any Cancellation Charges are covered by the Department of Home Affairs (as the funding body), cancellations with insufficient notice should be avoided to minimise cost implications for the Australian Government.

Immediate phone interpreting jobs commence as soon as the interpreter is engaged. Cancellation after this point is not possible and standard service charges will apply.

Cancellation of bookings must be made in the following manner:

Pre-booked Phone, Video Remote or On-site jobs booked on TIS Online 

• Through your TIS Online account

On-site jobs not booked in TIS Online 

• In writing to tis@homeaffairs.gov.au, including the relevant job number 

In exceptional circumstances such as when You do not have access to email or Your TIS Online account and a booking is scheduled to start within 24 hours, You may cancel On-site, Pre-booked Phone or Video Remote bookings by phoning TIS National on 1300 655 082. However, subsequent notification in writing is still required. 

Sufficient notice 

When You cancel a booking, the required notice period for the provision of ‘sufficient notice’ varies depending on the type of job, as set out below:

¹_{Standard operating hours and days are 8.30am - 4pm Monday - Friday (Australian Eastern Standard/Daylight Time), excluding public holidays in Melbourne.}

Longer notice periods apply for Extended Travel On-site bookings and Deployments in recognition of the longer periods interpreters must block out when accepting these jobs and the higher administrative costs for TIS National.

When calculating whether You have provided sufficient notice of cancellation, the determining factor is the time that TIS National receives notification. Where notice of cancellation meets the required minimum notice period, this is considered sufficient notice and no Cancellation Charges will apply.

For Extended Travel assignments and Deployments involving travel, the scheduled start time is the time that the interpreter leaves their place of residence. This will affect calculation of sufficient notice and may also affect calculation of any applicable Cancellation Charges.

Some Deployments are arranged at very short notice and may be subject to rapidly changing requirements. Once the assigned interpreter accepts a deployment in writing, the booking is considered to be confirmed and sufficient notice provisions will apply to any subsequent cancellation or significant changes.

Cancellation Charges

Where You provide insufficient notice of cancellation, applicable Cancellation Charges vary depending on the type of job, as set out below:

¹_{'Relevant days' are the day of cancellation and the following two days, plus any days of interpreting or travel which have already occurred.}

Ancillary tasks

Occasionally, You may require an interpreter to complete additional, non-interpreting tasks before a job. If the assigned interpreter completes any such ancillary tasks before You cancel the booking, the interpreter will be paid for the ancillary task and You will be charged. This is the case even if You have provided sufficient notice of cancellation.

Amending bookings

For all bookings except Extended Travel assignments (ETA), You can request changes 24 hours or more before the scheduled start time. No Cancellation Charges will apply if the changes cannot be accommodated, as You have met sufficient notice requirements. 

Requests for changes to ETAs must be made via email to tis@homeaffairs.gov.au. For ETA change requests made 48 hours or more before the scheduled start time, no Cancellation Charges will apply if the changes cannot be accommodated as sufficient notice requirements have been met. 

Requests for changes to ETAs with less than 48 hours’ notice cannot be accommodated. However, requests for changes to other booking types with less than 24 hours’ notice can be accommodated in limited circumstances.

Requests for changes to On-site, Video Remote or Pre-booked Phone bookings made less than 24 hours before the booking start time can only be considered if they qualify as minor changes. Minor changes are those which do not affect interpreter allocation, such as:

• minor location changes 
• extensions of the scheduled booking time which the assigned interpreter is willing to accommodate
• language changes where the same interpreter also holds the highest available NAATI credential in the new language.

To request minor changes to a booking less than 24 hours before the scheduled start time, You are encouraged to contact the TIS National Service Delivery team via email at tis@homeaffairs.gov.au as early as possible. 

Acceptance of minor changes is at the assigned interpreter’s discretion and, if they are unable or unwilling to accommodate the change, normal charges will apply.

Significant changes without sufficient notice

Unless You provide sufficient notice, TIS National is not able to accommodate significant changes to On-site, Video Remote or Pre-booked Phone bookings. Changes to the following criteria are significant changes if they affect interpreter allocation:

• Requested language
• Job location
• Date or time of job
• Requested interpreter gender or NAATI credential level
• Additional requirements such as a Working with Children Check, NDIS Worker Screening Check or security clearance

If You request to change the mode of interpreting (for example, from On-site to Video Remote), this is always a significant change. TIS National may also determine that other requests constitute a significant change where they have an impact on the original interpreter allocation.

If You request a significant change without sufficient notice, TIS National will treat this as a cancellation without sufficient notice if You choose not to proceed with the job. Cancellation Charges will apply in these circumstances.

Cancellation provisions for TIS National interpreters

Cancellation fees payable to interpreters

If a User (client) or TIS National cancels a booking without ‘sufficient notice’ as defined at Sufficient notice above, the assigned interpreter is entitled to a cancellation fee. The applicable cancellation fee varies depending on the type of job, as set out below:

¹_{'Relevant days' are the day of cancellation and the following two days, plus any days of interpreting or travel which have already occurred.}

When calculating whether a User (client) has provided sufficient notice of cancellation, the determining factor is the time that TIS National receives notification, not the interpreter.

Rarely, there may be short delays in passing notification onto interpreters. In most cases such delays are not expected to be more than five minutes, but delays of up to one hour may occur for cancellations of Extended Travel On-site jobs, which must be processed manually. Accordingly, interpreters are not entitled to a cancellation fee as long as TIS National provides at least 47 hours’ notice of cancellation for Extended Travel On-site jobs.

If TIS National has made all reasonable efforts to notify the interpreter of a cancellation with sufficient notice but the interpreter cannot be contacted, the interpreter will be deemed to have been notified with sufficient notice and a cancellation fee will not be payable.

Interpreters should refer to the Cancellation Policy Procedural Instruction in the TIS Online interpreter portal for further details on how the Cancellation Policy applies to them.