Session 3: Payments, variations and recent changes

This presentation was delivered in Canberra on 29 January 2020. The VSL Induction Day is aimed at newly approved VSL providers, and staff that are new to existing VSL approved providers.

While every effort to ensure this presentation provides advice consistent with the VET Student Loans Act 2016 (the Act) and the VET Student Loans Rules 2016 (the Rules), if there is any discrepancy between the presentation and the legislation, the Act and the Rules take precedence.

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Data submissions must be verified with a Statutory Declaration made by the CEO or CFO.A recent change applicable to all 2020 data reporting is that listed providers (as defined by the Act) are now only required to submit data Statutory Declarations by 7 July and 7 January for the preceding six months of reported data.

For all non-listed providers, the submission of Statutory Declarations with every monthly data submission continues to apply.

An updated fact sheet, a guide on how to fill in the statutory declaration, and the 2020 statutory declaration template are available under ‘Resources’ on the Department’s ‘Information for VSL approved providers’ webpage.

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A civil penalty of 60 penalty units may apply where a provider fails to comply with a formal notice of request for information from the Secretary of the Department [s53(4) Act].

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On the first day of each month, approved providers can access their monthly provider payment summary report. (Note: from March 2020, this report will be made available to providers a few weeks earlier. E.g. in mid-March for payment in April.

The provider payment report is available in HITS under the ‘Reports’ menu. This report has four tabs; the recently added fourth tab provides reasons for payment exclusion. Explanations of these reasons are provided in the ‘Data Provision and Statutory Declarations for 2020 Monthly Census Dates’ on the ‘Information for VSL approved providers’ page.

The monthly provider payment summary report provides a listing of unit of study records paid for that month, as well as notifying providers of loan amounts that have not been paid due to ‘eligibility errors’ identified in the records. That is, payments that have not been made due to ‘error’ having been identified in student liability data.

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Specific types of users: Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Provider Financial Officer (PFO) and Senior Authorising Officer (SAO), will be able to select and view all monthly payment reports in HITS.

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VSL payment error codesPayments will be excluded if claims do not meet the Rules or there are inconsistencies in data reported in the eCAF and HEIMS. Refer to the payment report for error codes. Attachment A of ‘Data Provision and Statutory Declarations for 2020 Monthly Census Dates’ fact sheet sets out error codes, provides an explanation for the error and suggests how providers can fix the error.

It is the provider’s responsibility to check HITS for the provider payment summary report each month. Each month, when providers report data for payment, they are required to review this report and revise or remove data where an error code has been identified in HEIMS, or to otherwise address the error code.

OverpaymentIn limited circumstance, due to providers adjusting student data in HEIMS, the payment amount for a census period can result in an ‘overpayment’. These overpayments can be recovered. Refer to s22(2) and s22(5) of the Act.

Where the Department identifies an overpayment, the recovery will be made through either offsetting against a payment due or by raising an invoice. Invoices will carry 21-day payment terms. Invoices are loaded into HITS following the payment run. The Department will also email the invoices separately.

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Be aware of potential issues with entering student identification number and course of study codes. – Due to the way Excel format cells that contain large numbers, if the Student ID (or Course of Study code) is entirely numeric and is more than 11 digits, Excel will display (and save) the cell in scientific notation. To prevent this happening, put a hash (‘#’) symbol in front of the number.

The non-payment error in the payment reports no matching eCAF/Opt-in is generally because either the Student ID or course code do not match in the eCAF and HEIMS data reported.

HEPCAT – http://heimshelp.education.gov.au/sites/heimshelp/support/revisions/pages/vet-student-enrolment.aspx#tab7

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The annual charge prescribed under the VET Student Loans (Charges) Regulations 2017. It applies to all approved VET Student Loans providers as per the Regulations.

The annual charge is invoiced in arrears (i.e. after 30 June) and applies to the prior financial year.

The full charge is applied regardless of how many days of the financial year a provider was approved to offer VSL. The invoice carries 30-day payment terms and non-payment of the annual charge may affect the ongoing ability of a provider to enrol future students.

The amount of the annual charge for a financial year will depend on the size of the provider as shown on the screen. Provider size is determined by the summation of all verified student enrolments of the previous financial year as reported by that provider for payment purposes.

Refer to the ‘VET Student Loans Application Fee and Annual Charge’ fact sheet on the ‘Information for VSL approved providers’ webpage.

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Under section 116 of the Rules, all providers must lodge annual forecast information.

The information lodged is used to determine provider fee limits for the following calendar year, and assess ongoing performance. Providers are required to provide forecast data relating to courses and students.

Providers are also required to supply the following information about their organisation:• Details of which courses it wishes to offer VET Student Loans for in the coming year• The number of students and level of funding anticipated for the coming calendar year;• Evidence of its links to industry and other bodies as required under section 35 of the Rules –

relating to workplace relevance:• Disclosure of any third party training delivery arrangements;• Financial information, including a detailed revenue breakdown; and• Results of student satisfaction as outlined in subsection 34(2) – relating to student

satisfaction. Subsection 34(2) says 'The provider must assess student satisfaction in relation to each of its courses at least annually.' Providers should outline the process, and provide results of assessment(s).

The information provided does not need to be lengthy. It should be relevant, and demonstrate that the requirements have been met.

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Providers may apply to increase or decrease their existing Provider Fee Limits at any time during the year.

An application to vary existing fee limits must be submitted as a VSL Condition Variation request.

Refer to the ‘Guide to Condition Variations and Third Party Arrangements for approved providers’ on the ‘Information for VSL approved providers’ webpage.

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Each application for an additional course must be submitted as a VSL Condition Variation request.

Providers may apply to offer VSL loans for additional courses on the existing Determination at any time.

Each application for an additional course must be submitted as a VSL Condition Variation request.

Refer to the Guide to Condition Variations and Third Party Arrangements for approved providers’ on the ‘Information for VSL approved providers’ webpage.

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Under section 15 of the Act, only:• an approved VSL provider; or • a body registered by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA); or• a body specifically approved in writing by the Delegate; may deliver any part of the training

for the course.

To be approved in writing, the VSL Provider must submit a VSL Third Party arrangement application. These approvals run for a period of years and are specific to third parties named by the provider in its application. Refer to the ‘Guide to Condition Variations and Third Party Arrangements for approved providers’ on the ‘Information for VSL approved providers’ webpage.

If providers propose to have parts or components of the unit or course delivered by another party (contractor or another organisation or entity), prior approval must be requested. Refer to the procedure outlined in Section 4.6 of the Provider Manual.

The Department maintains a register of providers with Third Party approval and requires disclosure as a part of the Annual Forecast process. Where a third party arrangement has been approved by the Department, providers must ensure that the relationship between the third party is available in an easy and accessible way on their website.

Third party providers are assessed against the same provider suitability requirements that apply to all providers seeking to become an approved VSL provider. It is important that all VSL information is available to students as if they were studying at the approved course provider with whom the student has enrolled.

All contact with the Department, including requests for publications, must be made by the approved course provider and not the third party or partner. The approved VSL provider is responsible for all requirements, including quality of delivery and compliance with the legislation including compliance with marketing etc – noting that third parties may not use the VSL logo – refer section 4.10 of the Provider Manual, and the VET Student Loans Style Guide).

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Under section 113 of the VET Student Loans Rules 2016 all approved providers (other than a listed course provider) must provide audited general purpose financial statements within three months after the end of the financial year.

• The due date will depend on your organisation’s annual financial reporting period e.g. 30 June will have to lodge by 1 October and 31 December will have to lodge by 1 April of each year during your approval.

• You lodge this information by uploading the financial statements in HITS and completing the Financial Performance report.

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The new Tuition Protection arrangements for students accessing VSL, FEE-HELP or HECS-HELP loans at private education or training providers commenced on 1 January 2020.

The new arrangements apply to all non-exempt VSL providers and will ensure that domestic students who access Australian Government loans to fund their study are supported to continue their education and training if their provider ceases delivering their course or closes entirely (defaults).

All providers, unless exempt, will be required to pay the annual TPS levy. All providers are also required to provide information to the TPS Director if requested when:• the provider defaults on a course or range of courses; or• if the TPS Director has identified the provider as a potential alternative provider when

another provider defaults.

The TPS Director will be conducting a national roadshow in February-March 2020 to discuss the new tuition protection arrangements.

Exempt providersAll TAFEs, other Government-owned providers and ‘Table A’ universities are exempt from the new Tuition Protection arrangements, with the exception of obligations relating to providing information about replacement courses and obligations of replacement providers [s66A Act].

Please refer to the information available on the Department’s Tuition Protection Service website. The Department will provide further updates throughout 2020.

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Some recently implemented changes that providers should be aware of include:

From 1 July 2019• VSL amounts incurred by students are now known as their VETSL debt. Where a student was

studying a VSL course with census days before and after this date, they will see both HELP debt and VETSL debt amounts on their student account information provided by the ATO.

• Providers were required to change student notices to reflect this terminology by 1 September 2019 to avoid non-compliance.

From 1 January 2020• The ‘FEE-HELP limit’ was replaced with the new combined ‘HELP loan limit’, which includes

all FEE-HELP, VET Student Loans, VET FEE-HELP and HECS-HELP. • The FEE-HELP Balance was replaced with the new renewable ‘HELP Balance’, which includes

the amount of VET Student Loans, VET FEE-HELP, FEE-HELP and HECS-HELP students have left to use before reaching the HELP loan limit.

• A person's HELP balance is now renewable. This means that any repayments made towards a student’s HELP debt (from the 2019-20 FY onwards) can be re-borrowed up to the HELP loan limit.

• The myUniAssist portal has now been replaced with the myHELPbalance portal. A re-direct will be in place for two months to ensure users that try to access myUniAssist become aware of the change.

• A new term ‘Special admissions test’ was added to the VSL Rules. See its definition at section 4 of the Rules, section 4.8.10 of the Provider Manual, and Appendix G of the Provider Manual.

• The HELP loan limit was increased for students studying eligible aviation courses. Please refer to the FEE-HELP Guidelines on the Federal Register of Legislation.

• The passage of the Education Legislation Amendment (2019 Measures No. 1) Bill 2019 made changes to the VET Student Loans Act 2016 to allow the Department to share program information with other agencies, including the Department of Human Services (now Services Australia). This amendment is essential for the upcoming TCSI data reporting changes.

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• The Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) comes into effect from 1 February 2020. Re-branding and relocating of online resources is underway. The Department will keep providers up-to-date as resources are updated. Please review your organisation’s materials and update any relevant information as necessary.

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END Session 3

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