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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.

Important Considerations

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


Requirements

Required Fields

System


Operationally Viable



Workflow

Application process flowchart



To Submit an eCAF  for completion

  1. Load a Student record
  2. Click the Action button on the right hand side next to the course that the student is applying for a HELP loan.
  3. Select the “Edit Course enrolment” option
  4. 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.
  5. Select the “Online eCAF  submission” option
  6. 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.
  7. Press the “Request eCAF” button.
  8. The student is then sent an email invitation with an encrypted Passkey to complete the the HELP form.
  9. Students will require their Passkey,  and valid TFN to complete the form.

To Retrieve an e-CAF

  1. Load a student record
  2. Press the Action button on the right hand side next to the course that the student is applying for a HELP loan.
  3. Select the “Edit Course enrolment” option
  4. 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.
  5. Select the “Online eCAF submission” option

  6. 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


Further reading

This section of the KB contains links to any further related information that would be helpful for the purpose  understanding this topic.

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.


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