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New Zealand Special Category Visa Holders Pathway to Australian Citizenship
The Higher Education Support Act 2003 was amended to allow students who are former New Zealand Special Category Visa (SCV) holders eligibility to the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP).
From 29 June 2023, New Zealand citizens who formerly held a SCV, and have transitioned to a permanent resident visa on the pathway to Australian citizenship, will retain access to HELP, if they meet the long-term residency requirements.
This amendment allows these students to continue, or return to their course of study, without the burden of upfront payment of tuition fees while they wait for their Australian citizenship to be granted.
This complements the new direct pathway to Australian citizenship for New Zealand citizens, announced in April 2023, which allows New Zealand citizens who have been living in Australia for four years or more to apply directly for Australian citizenship.
The Government electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF) system is now updated to include the new eligibility for former New Zealand SCV holders who met the long-term residency requirements and have transitioned to a permanent resident visa. An email has also been sent to providers via their eCAF contact to advise that the updated Government eCAF is available in the eCAF system.
The non-Australian citizens page on the Study Assist website has been updated to reflect this change to eligibility. HELP Booklets that accompany the eCAF, are also in the process of being updated and will be available shortly on the HELP Publications page of the Study Assist website.
OS-HELP Guidelines – Sunsetting on 1 October 2023
The current OS-HELP Guidelines 2013 will sunset on 1 October 2023. The Department of Education is in the process of reviewing and remaking the OS-HELP Guidelines.
Unique Student Identifier (USI) Exemption Instrument
From 1 January 2023 all higher education students have been required to have a USI in order to be eligible for the conferral of their degree.
A USI is also required, from 1 January 2023, for all students, commencing and continuing, to be eligible for Commonwealth assistance through HELP or a Commonwealth supported place (CSP).
In December 2022, the Hon Jason Clare MP, Minister for Education, provided an exemption from the USI requirements for some offshore international students through a legislative instrument. This exemption excludes international students who commenced their studies before 1 January 2023 from the USI requirements when they have either:
- Completed all requirements of their degree offshore.
- Completed all the requirements of their degree before 1 January 2023, but did not have their award conferred before this date, and have since left Australia.
The Minister has now amended this instrument so that international students who completed part of their course in Australia, but are currently offshore, and who did not complete the requirements of their course prior to 1 January 2023, are now also exempt from the USI requirements. Students who fall into this category do not need to seek an individual exemption from the Student Identifiers Registrar.
Providers should keep in mind that international students studying onshore who have not yet received Australian identity documents must not be required to provide a USI or exemption as a condition of enrolment. All administration staff at higher education providers and Tertiary Admission Centres must be aware that a USI must not be a mandatory requirement at enrolment for international students. Once onshore, international students should be encouraged to acquire a USI as soon as possible. These students must not be advised to apply for an individual exemption. Advising students to seek an exemption where they would be later able to obtain a USI is not best practice and is discouraged.
Students who are not covered by the legislated exemptions, but cannot or do not wish to obtain a USI, may still seek individual exemptions through the Student Identifiers Registrar. However, this will prevent them from accessing a CSP or HELP.
Australian Universities Accord – interim report released
The Australian Universities Accord Panel has released an Interim Report exploring possible ideas for the reform of Australia’s higher education system.
The Accord Interim Report outlines a vision for the future of higher education. It seeks to build a broad platform for change across the entire spectrum of higher education in ways that will benefit all Australians. To do this, the Interim Report presents areas for further consideration ahead of the Final Report.
In addition, the Interim Report proposes five immediate priority actions to address the fundamental challenges currently facing the Australian higher education system. The Minister has announced the Australian Government’s support for the five priority actions.
Following the release of the Interim Report, the Panel invites interested stakeholders to provide feedback and insights through a submissions process. Further details are available at the Consultation on the Accord Interim Report.
Cessation of the Low Completion Rate (LCR) requirements
The Government has accepted the Accord Panel's priority action 2 regarding ceasing the 50 per cent pass rule and requiring increased intervention, support and reporting on student progress, these will require amendment to the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA).
The Bill has been introduced in Parliament and is subject to the passage of legislation. The removal of the 50 per cent completion rate requirement will be effective from the first census date after the legislation receives Royal Assent, usually 7-10 working days after passing Parliament.
On the date that the completion rate requirement removal becomes effective, any students who would have been assessed as having a LCR will no longer be identified as such and will be eligible for a CSP and CSP, provided all other criteria are met. However, HELP loans and CSPs cannot be retrospectively reinstated for any unit/s which the student may have paid for upfront, and the census dates have passed.
The completion rate requirement will be replaced by a requirement for higher education providers to have and comply with a support for students policy. The content of the policy will be specified in the Higher Education Provider Guidelines with a discussion paper expected to be released in the week commencing 7 August 2023.
The Department will communicate with the sector about the removal of the 50 per cent completion rate requirement once the legislation has passed.
University Study Hubs
On 18 July 2023, in response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report, the Minister announced $66.9 million to double the number of University Study Hubs across the country, including expanding the concept to outer metropolitan/peri-urban locations. Under this measure, up to 20 new Regional University Study Hubs (formerly Regional University Centres) and up to 14 new Suburban University Study Hubs (Suburban Hubs) will be established.
The Department is currently working through details for implementation of the new Hubs, with further information to be available in due course. A Discussion Paper will be released seeking stakeholder views on the design and implementation of the new Suburban Hubs program. We will advise institutions when the Discussion Paper is available.
Startup Year HELP Loan
Following the passage of legislation on 28 June 2023, the HESA has been amended to implement the Startup Year program. The program will provide income contingent loans to up to 2,000 final year undergraduate students, current postgraduate students and recent graduates to support their participation in accelerator courses. Students selected for STARTUP-HELP places will also be eligible for income support, where they meet other eligibility requirements. Only providers registered by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) as Australian Universities or University Colleges will be eligible to bid for and receive allocations of STARTUP-HELP places, which will not be CSPs.
Startup Year courses must lead to the award of a qualification accredited by the higher education provider. The courses do not need to meet a specific level within the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) and may be non-AQF qualifications. The Startup Year program aims to support participation by groups currently underrepresented in the startup ecosystem (such as First Nations Australians, people with disability and women), and as far as practicable, at least 25 per cent of students accessing a STARTUP-HELP place will be enrolled in a regional university.
As part of the Startup Year program rollout, a pilot year will commence in February 2024 for up to 1,000 STARTUP-HELP places. The Department will appoint a Startup Year Working Group, comprised of representatives from the university, business, and government sectors, to monitor the implementation and operation of Startup Year during the pilot.
An expression of interest (EOI) process will be conducted in the coming months for providers interested in participating in the pilot, and a webinar will be held once the EOI application process has commenced.
Further information is available on the Startup Year page and in the draft guidelines and draft provider handbook which have been tabled in Parliament.
Providers with queries about the Startup Year program can contact the Department at Startup.Year@education.gov.au.
Upcoming Consultations on Increased Higher Education Disability Support Program (HE DSP) Funding
As part of the 2023-24 Budget, the Government is investing an additional $4.3 million per annum in targeted HE DSP funding to universities to support students with disability to access and participate in higher education.
To support implementation of this Budget measure, the Department will conduct consultations from July 2023 with the higher education sector, including universities, peak bodies, and students with disability on opportunities to leverage the increased DSP funding.
This will include opportunities to increase awareness of universities’ obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005 as well as provide disability-specific capacity building support to universities and improve transparency of available supports to students with disability.
For further information, please contact disability@education.gov.au.
Rural and Regional Enterprise Scholarships (RRES) Program
Applications for Round 6 of the RRES program have now closed. Round 6 is the final round of RRES.
Existing scholarship recipients will continue to receive funds as per their Scholarship Agreement, provided they continue to meet eligibility criteria. For any questions regarding their scholarship, these students can contact the scholarship support organisation, the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre, on 1800 290 979 or at scholarships@qtac.edu.au.
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring all students, regardless of where they live, can access the education they need and acknowledges the financial barriers faced by regional and remote students. A range of initiatives have been implemented to address financial barriers faced by regional and remote students accessing tertiary study, such as the Tertiary Access Payment, Regional University Study Hubs (formerly Regional University Centres), and the Destination Australia program.
There are further financial supports available to assist regional and remote students through Services Australia such as the Relocation Scholarship, a once-a-year payment to eligible ABSTUDY and Youth Allowance recipients who have relocated from a regional or remote area for higher education.
Students may also wish to explore StudyAssist which provides information about Government assistance for financing tertiary study.
Microcredentials Pilot in Higher Education
On 11 June 2023, the Minister announced funding for new microcredential courses approved as part of the Microcredentials Pilot in Higher Education (the Pilot).
Updates to the Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI) are now live for creating these new microcredential courses. TCSI will allow higher education providers approved for Pilot funding to create the new microcredential courses via a new Course of Study code ‘52’.
TCSI updates also include conditions on data entry for:
- course EFTSL (Equivalent Full Time Student Load). – minimum of 0.25 and maximum 0.49.
- specific Fields of Education
- caps on student places – applies only to students supported by FEE-HELP.
- completion dates.
Caps on FEE-HELP student places is applied at the provider level not for each microcredential course. This gives providers delivering more than one approved microcredential course flexibility to enrol to meet student demand.
Course data and student enrolment numbers for the microcredential need to be completed within 14 days after the census date/s. This will enable the Department to make course delivery payments to providers.
The Department will be seeking provider assistance to engage students at the point of enrolment to complete a survey. Students will help build greater understanding of the value of microcredentials and inform an evaluation of the Pilot in 2026.
Grandfathering Provisions and TCSI Reporting
Changes will be made to TCSI to ensure that providers report a Maximum student contribution code (E392) that can determine a student’s grandfathered status for all relevant unit enrolments. This includes removal of the current ‘0’ code for contribution exempt students and the addition of an RTV to detect where no grandfathered code has been reported for relevant units. The removal of the ‘0’ code will allow for the correct Commonwealth Grants Scheme contribution amount to be determined.
These changes are being made to better identify higher education students subject to grandfathering arrangements. It will also simplify the identification of contribution exempt students who will be identified via the existing ‘260’ code under E490 (Student Status Code).
Reporting requirements are not changing for full-fee units including FEE-HELP and international unit enrolments (where Maximum student contribution code (E392) is reported as null/blank).
Changes are planned to be made ahead of student enrolments and provider enrolment data reporting for the 2024 academic year.
Student Learning Entitlement (SLE) Update and Enhancements to Student Learning Entitlement Management System (SLEMS)
The SLE Policy is ongoing. The SLEMS is in place and tracks students’ SLE consumption by USI.
Providers are reminded to keep students informed of the policy and to ensure that students’ USIs are reported in TCSI to allow for the tracking of students’ SLE amounts.
The Department will be developing enhancements to the SLEMS solution in the 2023/24 Financial Year. Currently, the SLEMS solution allows providers to view a student’s SLE amount in the myHELPbalance portal, and provides notifications when they report enrolment data for a student with an SLE amount of less than 1 EFTSL. Part of the SLE enhancements will include the creation of a TCSI analytics report for providers outlining the SLE amount for students currently enrolled with them. Additional provider notifications are also being explored to alert providers when they are reporting enrolment data, where students are getting close to using up their entitlement.
HELP IT System (HITS) Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)
MFA was introduced to the HITS log in process on 30 June 2023. MFA means that HITS access will require username and password entry on the HITS log in page and then a one-time verification code sent to the verified Phone Number. MFA is a cyber security measure to help ensure provider data remains secure. Taking the extra step beyond a password improves protection of this information from potential hackers.
2021 HELP Reconciliation Outcomes
The 2021 HELP reconciliation has now been completed and outcomes are approved by the Secretary’s delegate under section 164-10 of HESA for all Higher Education Providers (HEPs) for each program.
This reconciliation has only been conducted using the 2021 verified TCSI data and does not include adjustments to the 2005-2020 period. Payment adjustments to the 2005 to 2020 HELP reconciliations have been delayed, as a further reconciliation against 2022 HELP liability data is due to be conducted shortly.
The 2021 outcomes will either be adjusted with the ongoing Unipay payments or recovered via raising an invoice. Specific outcomes for each HEP will be communicated via email.
Enhancements to eCAF and Study Assist website
Study Assist
The Department will be upgrading the Study Assist website in the 2023/24 financial year including: a re-design with user experience/user interface testing; implementation of an automated power virtual assistant (chatbot); and revitalisation of the HELP eligibility tool. This major re-development of the website presents a unique opportunity to design a resource that will best inform and support students and providers.
The Department is aware that many provider websites utilise links to this website and is actively in discussion with developers to ensure the seamless re-direction of links. Updates will be provided as the Department progresses this work, and in the event that there may be impacts for provider website links.
The Department would also welcome providers views in relation to current content and navigation. Any suggestions for improvement can be emailed to HEenquiries@education.gov.au.
eCAF IT upgrades
The Department will be developing enhancements to the eCAF system in the 2023/24 financial year. Some of these enhancements include: allowing the system to support 2 active forms at once; introducing an admin error form; and including academic assessment fields in all eCAFs to align with legislation. The Department will communicate any changes to the eCAF, that will affect the API, as soon as available in the training environment.
If you would like to stay informed of all technical updates to the eCAF system, please email us at HEenquiries@education.gov.au and request access to our developers google group.
Delayed HELP Loans and Student Communications
The Department is communicating with around 14,000 affected students regarding their delayed HELP loans that may not be visible on their ATO accounts. Over the last couple of months, the Department has been working with the ATO to verify affected individual’s contact details.
A call centre was established on 19 May 2023 and has been contacting highly impacted individuals and individuals at risk of vulnerability by phone to outline the issue and to explain that historical indexation will be waived. To date, the call centre has completed calls with 1,762 affected individuals and commenced bulk communication via post, email and SMS.
Funding Clusters
The Department is working towards releasing the 2024 funding clusters and indexed rates and understands providers’ interest in next year’s clusters and rates. Information will be available on the Department’s website in due course.
Tuition Protection Service (TPS)
The TPS has commenced collecting data from the HITS, the TCSI system and the Department for providers liable for paying the 2023 HELP and Up-front tuition protection levies. A Request for Information relating to Up-front tuition fees received by higher education providers will be sent out later in the year.
Information collected will include financial data, late payment information and contact details. Providers are reminded that audited financial statements for the 2022 financial year must be uploaded into HITS as required under the HESA.
Providers are strongly encouraged to check and update all contact information in HITS to ensure your organisation receives all correspondence relating to the 2023 HELP and/or Up-front levies. All correspondence will be sent through HITS to the person identified with the contact type of CEO/VC, and copied to any other contacts with a contact type of CFO, SAO, and Primary Contact.
Please note, the TPS collects three domestic tuition protection levies (the HELP tuition protection levy, the Up-front Payments tuition protection levy, and the VSL tuition protection levy), which are calculated and collected separately. Therefore, you will receive separate correspondence for each levy you are liable for paying.
If you have any questions regarding the HELP or Up-front levies, please email the TPS Operations team at operations@tps.gov.au.
TCSI Update
For further information on TCSI and upcoming webinars and newsletters please consult TCSI News Centre.