Commonwealth Assistance Notices (CANS)

Owned by Jeannie Hagarty (Deactivated)
Last updated: Feb 18, 2020
3 min read

Objective

Once you have read this article you will be able to:

  • Produce and Send Commonwealth Assistance Notices (CANs) in bulk to students

  • Produce and Send Commonwealth Assistance Notices (CANs) individually to students

  • How to update records if issues arise

  • How to Convert upfront units to Fee-HELP / HECS-HELP

  • How to Convert Fee-HELP / HECS-HELP units to upfront

  • How to report units that the student has paid upfront for but normally uses Fee-HELP / HECS-HELP

Complexity: MEDIUM to HIGH

 

Assumptions

  • The user has an understanding of the Australian Tertiary Education System / VET Sector.

  • The user has an understanding of Census dates, Government reporting and the timelines associated.

  • The user has an understanding of Fee-HELP / HECS-HELP

Key terms and concepts

Commonwealth Assistance Notices or CANS are the reports that are sent to students after the census date inform the of the Units and associated fees that will be reported to the Government (Via HEIMS and TSCI / HEPCAT) on their behalf.

Providers are required to send CANs notices to students after the census date and within 28 days of the earliest date if sending a CAN for multiple census dates. Student are required to notify providers of any issues with 14 days of the CANS notice issue date.

 

Below is a flow chart of the CANs time lines and workflow.

 

Required fields to produce single CANs notices from the student Summary page.

Field Name

Brief overview

Field Name

Brief overview

Student Number

The student number of the person for who the CANs notice is to be produced

Course / Degree

The name of the Course / Degree that the student is enrolled into and that units of study belong to

Course Institution

The name of the home institution that the student belongs to

HEIMS Census Date From

The start date the units census date should fall between

HEIMS Census Date To

The end date the units census date should fall between

Unit Enrolment Status

The Unit enrolments status of the units to be reported

Implications

CANs notices are required to contain:

  • Students name;

  • The name of the higher education provider;

  • The student identification number as issued by the provider;

  • The student’s Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN);

  • The higher education award(s) in which student is enrolled in

  • The EFTSL for each unit

  • The Unit Name and Census date

  • The student cohort to which the person belongs;

  • The total EFTSL in which the student is enrolled;

  • The total amount of up-front payment;

  • The total amount of HECS-HELP discount; (if applicable)

  • The total amount of HECS-HELP debt; (if applicable)

  • The total amount of FEE-HELP assistance;

  • The total amount of the FEE-HELP loan fee; and

  • The total amount of FEE-HELP debt.

  • whether the student is required to make a student contribution or pay tuition fees or is an exempt student

  • The student contribution amount;

  • The tuition fee amount;

  • The amount of up-front payment;

  • The amount of HECS-HELP discount



Workflow

  1. Click on the Student tab in the side menu

  2. Click on the Search option in the side menu

  3. Enter at least one of the following options in to the relevant search box: 

    • Student No, 

    • Preferred Name, 

    • Given Name, 

    • Family Name / Surname, 

    • Previous Last Name

  4. Click on the Search Student button.

  5. This will show a list of students that meet these criteria

  6. To filter the list of students, in the search box  above the list of students, start typing the student's first or given name. 

  7. When you see the record for the student you are looking for, click on the student number for that student, highlighted in blue in the left column of that row.

  8. The student's record has now been loaded into the Student Summary page.

  9. Click on the Action menu in the Summary Section. The Action menu will open.

  10. Click on Print CAN option in the Action menu

  11. Select the Course from the drop down menu

  12. Select the Course Institution

  13. Select the Census date for the CAN

  14. Select the Unit statuses for the CAN

  15. Click on the Save and Print Report button



  1. Click on Report tab in the side menu

  2. Click on Letters option in the side menu

  3. Scroll down to the Commonwealth Assistance Notice report

  4. .Click on Get Report  button

  5. Select the Course from the drop down menu

  6. Select the Course Institution

  7. Select the Census date for the CAN

  8. Select the Unit statuses for the CAN

  9. Click on the Save and Print Report button

Further reading

 



External resources