Overview

Objective

Upon Completion of this KB the User will understand how to submit an electronic Commonwealth assistance form (eCAF) request to the Government via Paradigm on behalf of a student.

Assumptions

The Student has already been accepted into a Course and has been enrolled into units with a Census date in the future
The Student has declared their intention to defer course fees to the Government
eCAF type determined from HEIMS e490 field on the course enrolment record
The system will use the minimum (closest) unit enrolment census date that has not yet elapsed

Implications

The eCAF (Electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form) supersedes the need to have students complete paper based forms for both FEE-HELP and HECS-HELP. Previously other eCAF methods were accepted by HEIMS but these are being phased out. Providers are therefore required to submit eCAF information either directly into the HEIMS eCAF portal or via the Paradigm eCAF integration.

The order of processing an application is important when using the Government's Online eCAF portal. If a student isn’t enrolled into unit(s) a census date isn’t allocated and the system won’t allow transmission of the details for the student invitation.The institutions application process might need to be updated or altered in order to allow for the required information to be gathered prior to the eCAF submission.

Student applies to study course, indicated that they wish to apply for Fee-HELP /HECS-HELP and provides evidence of Academic suitability - ATAR score, transcripts, SOA, or other documentation to prove eligibility. (These are required by the Government and providers are required to keep these documents as evidence of acceptance suitability)
Student is accepted then enrolled into units / subjects.
The provider then submits details to HEIMS that the student should be sent an invitation to complete an eCAF .
The student is then sent an email with an Encrypted PASS-KEY to complete the required information including a valid Tax File Number (TFN)

Key terms and concepts

The list below demonstrates the key fields that need to be filled for

Field Name	Description	Sample Data
ECAF	Electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form, More commonly known as Fee-Help Form or HECS-HELP form
FEE-HELP	Fee-Help is a loan Scheme that assists eligible students to pay all or part of their tuition fees. This loan is subject to 25% Government loading	For more information on Fee-Help click here
HECS-HELP	HECS-HELP is a loan scheme to help Commonwealth Supported students to pay their student contribution amounts through and loan or upfront discounts. This loan has no Government loading
API	Application Programming Interface. Part of a server that receives and requests and sends responses. Here it is a programmed link between Paradigm and the HEIMS / Government E-CAF System	Login details received from the Government to link Paradigm to the E-CAF portal
HEIMS Census date	The date after which a student incurs a debt for the unit(s) of study in which they have been enrolled This date can not be set less than 20% of the duration of the teaching period as outlined in the HESA and AIP
HITS provider code	Each provider is given a Unique 4 digit identifying code that is used in HEPCAT / HITS, this data is stored in the provider tab in Paradigm.
Element Numbers	Unique identifiers of required data / questions asked by the Government in order to provide accurate data on Students, Courses, units and providers. These are used with in Paradigm and HEPCAT to help in ensuring data integrity across all providers. A full list can be viewed	A full list of these can be viewed here. Each Element number refers to a data field within Paradigm. However not every field has an elements. These fields contain non-reportable data.
HEIMS Course code	E307 - The code assigned by the provider to uniquely identify a course of Study. This code is used in HEPCAT reporting
CHESSN Number	A commonwealth Higher Education student number (CHESSN) is a 10 digit number provided by the Australian Government to all students who are in receipt of either HECS-HELP or FEE-HELP. It is a unique number that remains with the student regardless of if they change institutions. This means that HELP debts can be tracked to ensure that the student does not exceed their allocation.

Workflow

Application process flowchart

Please note: A Student must be enrolled into a unit of study with a Census date in the future before an eCAF can be submitted to the Government. Students must return the completed form Prior to the census date to be a valid form / enrolment.

To Submit an eCAF for completion

Load a Student record
Click the Action button on the right hand side next to the course that the student is applying for a HELP loan.
Select the Edit Course enrolment option
Once the record has loaded press the action button on the right hand side of the course of study that the student is applying for a HELP loan.
Select the “Online eCAF submission” option
All of the previously completed fields will load into the options on the screen. If anything has been missed or is incorrect go back and correct it prior to proceeding any further. Ensure that the eCAF Academic suitability has been selected and that the relevant documentation is held in the students file as it is a requirement for entry criteria transparency.
Click the Request eCAF button.
The student is then sent an email invitation with an encrypted Passkey to complete the the HELP form.
Students will require their Passkey, and valid TFN to complete the form.

To Retrieve an eCAF

Load a student record
Click on the Action button on the right hand side next to the course that the student is applying for a HELP loan.
Select the Edit Course enrolment option
Once the record has loaded press the action button on the right hand side of the course of study that the student is applying for a HELP loan.
Select the Online eCAF submission option
Press the Fetch eCAF Status button.

If the student has not yet completed the form a green bar will appear

If the student has completed the form a green bar will appear with an eCAF Remote ID number

Enabling the Paradigm eCAF integration

Paradigm has the capability of submitting an electronic eCAF on behalf of a student. This functionality requires a specific type of access to the eCAF website called "API System Access". Providers wishing to implement a direct integration between Paradigm and the government eCAF site must complete the following form:

https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/government-ecaf-api-system-access-request-form

Note that the completed form should be emailed to HEenquiries@education.gov.au

Once the request is approved, you will receive from the government a set of testing credentials and a series of steps that you must complete before receiving live system access.

Please forward a copy of the login details to the Silverband support team via email (support@silverband.com.au) or by raising a ticket directly in our Helpdesk site. Our support team will confirm when the account details have been added to your site and will ensure that your instance of Paradigm is directed to use the test eCAF system. Once you receive this advice, you should then proceed through the remaining steps to demonstrate that your site is in a compliant configuration state.

After successfully completing all of the steps you will receive a final set of access credentials from the government. These should be forwarded to the Silverband support team as per the instructions above. We will then ensure your site is directed to use the live eCAF system and ready to be used in a production capacity.

Resetting an eCAF API password

In the event that you forget the eCAF API password then you must request assistance from the HEIMS Helpdesk (https://heimshelp.education.gov.au/support/contact). The password you receive from the HEIMS Helpdesk is temporary and must be changed before it can be used within Paradigm. Please visit https://ecaf.education.gov.au/provider and enter the API username and the temporary password. The eCAF site will then request you to enter a new password. This new password must then be confirmed with the Silverband support team to ensure that the Paradigm to government eCAF integration is fully operational.

ECAF