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National Student Ombudsman
On 1 February 2025, the National Student Ombudsman (NSO) came into operation as the primary independent and impartial body to receive escalated complaints from prospective, current or former students (domestic or international; undergraduate or postgraduate) studying at any TEQSA registered higher education provider.
Information relating to student grievances and complaints on the Study Assist website has been updated. Providers should ensure that their policies and websites reflect the role of the NSO.
The NSO’s jurisdiction extends to complaints from current, former and prospective students enrolled in a higher education course of study at a TEQSA registered higher education provider, about the actions and decisions of that provider. This includes public and private Higher Education Providers, and complaints about refunds of fees.
The NSO cannot handle complaints that relate to Vocational Education and Training (VET), matters of academic judgement or employment matters.
The NSO have created a ‘NSO Launch Kit’ which is a useful resource for higher education providers, particularly complaint handlers, to refer to when developing content for their student and staff communications.
Find further information about the National Student Ombudsman
Commonwealth Prac Payment Program
The Commonwealth Prac Payments (CPP) will commence 1 July 2025.
It will provide a payment of $331.65 per week (benchmarked to the single Austudy rate) to eligible Bachelor and Masters of nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work students doing their mandatory placements.
The payment will be available to eligible students who are either on Australian Government income support or those students who need to work 15 hours or more per week on average during their normal university studies to support themselves. To be eligible, students must not earn more than $1,500 per week, before tax, including payments received from other government incentives or state and territory schemes.
Find further information on the Commonwealth Prac Payment Program
Support for Students Policy – First Compliance Report
All higher education providers approved under the Higher Education Support Act (2003) (HESA) must have and comply with a Support for Students Policy, which outlines the academic and non-academic supports available to assist students to progress, and complete, their studies.
HESA approved higher education providers need to submit an annual report describing how they have complied with their Support for Students Policy.
The first annual compliance report was due 1 March 2025.
Questions can be sent to the Support for Student Policy mailbox at supportforstudents@education.gov.au
Tertiary Access Payment (TAP): Changes to Eligibility from 1 Jan 2025
The Tertiary Access Payment (TAP) is a non-indexed, means-tested payment to high school (or equivalent) graduates from regional or remote areas who relocate for full-time, higher-level tertiary education at a provider located at least 90 minutes by public transport from their family home.
The TAP eligibility requirement to ‘commence tertiary studies within 12 months of completing Year 12’ has changed.
All other criteria remain in place, including the student being up to 22 years of age at the time of starting the course.
Students who have taken a gap year and started their eligible study in 2025 will be able to apply from mid-June 2025 (back dated to 1 January 2025).
Regional and Suburban University Study Hubs
University Study Hubs are available in locations across Australia to support tertiary students. Hubs are not education providers themselves. They offer infrastructure including computer facilities, internet and study spaces, and staff to deliver academic skills, administrative and wellbeing support for students to access and complete their studies in their local community. A student who is enrolled at any Australian tertiary provider, including VET and Higher Education, can access the facilities and support available at the Hubs.
In total, there are 71 Hubs operating or being established across Australia. 47 Hubs are currently open and supporting students.
Universities are strongly encouraged to build partnerships with University Study Hubs. University partnerships are a key element of the programs, and various partnership models show success and mutual benefits. For universities, these partnerships provide an opportunity to improve support for existing students, as well as grow enrolments, to support increased participation and success in higher education for students from equity groups.
Providers are encouraged to make students in proximal locations aware of the Hubs. Students and providers can find Hub locations and learn more about Regional University Study Hubs, Regional University Study Hubs Network and Suburban University Study Hubs.
Upcoming Domestic Levy Consultations
The TPS Advisory Board provided its draft levy settings advice to the TPS Director at the February 2025 Board meeting and will consider feedback before providing its final levy settings advice to the TPS Director at the May 2025 Board meeting.
Tertiary Protection Services (TPS) will be consulting with leviable providers on the 2025 HELP Tuition Protection Levy draft settings throughout March and April 2025. A combination of online and in-person consultation sessions to give an opportunity to provide feedback on draft levy settings before they are finalised.
Further information and registration links are available on the TPS announcements page.
Any questions can be sent to operations@tps.gov.au
USI Verification in TCSI
A student’s name must be entered in the Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI) or Student Management Systems (SMS) exactly as it appears on their USI record.
If a student’s name is recorded differently, it will create a discrepancy in TCSI and the USI will not verify. As such, the student may not be able to enrol, view their results or graduate. Notifications can be retrieved using B2G APIs or via the TCSI Analytics portal.
Discrepancies do not just include typographical “errors”. For example, students may enrol with a provider using a different name to the name on their USI account, creating a discrepancy when the provider reports in TCSI. This can happen for a variety of reasons:
- The student’s middle name/s appears in a different field in their USI account
- The student married and changed their surname since creating their USI
- The student enrolled using their preferred/English name instead
- Name changes since creating their USI for other reasons (e.g. change in gender identity)
What providers can do when there is a discrepancy
Providers should confirm with the student how their name is entered on their USI account. Students can log in to their USI account and email their USI details directly from the website to their provider. Or, students can print off a record to give to their provider as confirmation of their name. Providers will then be able to report the matching details in TCSI or SMS.
Where a student needs to change their name on their USI account (e.g. new married name), they can update their details through the USI Student Portal. They will need to provide a valid form of identification to verify their new name, then the provider can ensure that details in TCSI or SMS matches what is on the USI record.
USI Character limit issue
Where a student’s name exceeds the character limits when applying for a USI, a student may need to supply an alternate form of identification illustrating a shortened name to finalise their application. Please direct the student to contact the Office of the Student Identifiers Registrar (OSIR) on 1300 857 536 to arrange a solution (note: there is no email contact option for students).
Once a USI is created, the student should provide their USI and name format to the provider for enrolment and verification purposes, by emailing their USI details directly.
The USI Office have offered to facilitate a webinar to present FAQs, and hints & tips to further assist providers resolve verification issues. If you are interested in a webinar, please email the USI Office Stakeholders team at stakeholders@usi.gov.au.
Digital ID
The Digital ID Act 2024 (the Digital ID Act) establishes a voluntary accreditation scheme for Digital ID providers, with civil penalties for non-compliance. Accredited providers can display a trustmark to show that their services will handle personal information securely and responsibly.
With a Digital ID, people can confirm who they are online without needing to share information such as copies of their ID documents. This helps to reduce the amount of data that is shared, stored and at risk of being stolen.
The Digital ID Act also enables the Australian Government Digital ID System (AGDIS) to expand over time. By December 2026, private sector services will be able to apply to join the AGDIS and make use of participating providers, including myID (formerly known as myGovID).
It is possible for Digital ID to confirm citizenship status, dependent on the digital ID provider. For example, a particular provider may confirm that an Australian passport has been verified.
Racism Study Survey
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) will undertake a ground breaking study (Respect at Uni) into the prevalence, nature, and impact of racism at universities (including dual sector). All forms of racism will be addressed in this project. The antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism currently being seen on campuses, and systemic racist practices against First Nations student and staff will be considered.
The AHRC delivered an interim report for its Respect at Uni project. Key Findings from the Interim Report are available on the Australian Human Rights Commission website.
The Study is supported by three streams of work:
- National Online Prevalence Survey – looking at the prevalence and impact of racism experienced by students and staff in Australian universities (including those with dual-sector operations).
- Literature review - the Literature Review will investigate practical evidence-based solutions. The final report of the Literature Review will include detailed recommendations to supplement other data from the Study. Other Commission projects, such as the National Anti-Racism Framework, provide a successful model for this approach.
- Fieldwork – the collection of qualitative data through focus groups and consultations with key stakeholder groups
The Race Discrimination Commissioner, with support from the AHRC, will conduct the National Online Prevalence Survey in Semester 1, 2025.
The AHRC held information sessions with Vice-Chancellors on 5 and 10 March 2025, and staff and students are encouraged to participate in the survey. The AHRC have confirmed that the survey will be anonymous.
Staff and students can register their interest in taking part in the study by emailing universityracismstudy@humanrights.gov.au
TCSI Update
The recent TCSI webinar on 26 February 2025 covered the following topics:
- The upcoming change to the way gender is reported into TCSI to align with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
- Providers have until 17 April 2025 to sign off their data as accurate for the 2024 calendar year. This will be the data that will be used for publications and payments.
There will be further TCSI webinars between now and this important deadline of 17 April 2025.
Previous webinars are recorded and available on TCSI News page.
2025 HELP Booklets and Fact Sheets
The interim 2025 booklets were made available in September 2024 to ensure that providers who were enrolling students for 2025 census dates had a copy of the relevant booklet to accompany the eCAF.
Visit the StudyAssist website to view the final 2025 HELP booklets.
The design of the 2025 booklets and fact sheets aligns with the design of StudyAssist and have used some of the website’s design features such as: feature content boxes to highlight examples or key messages; step by step process maps; links to the animated videos on HELP related topics; and bookmarked glossary terms.
Administrative Information for Providers (AIP)
The AIP is essentially a ‘how to’ guide for providers and stakeholders. It is designed as additional guidance for the Higher Education Support Act 2003. A review of the resource was completed in January 2025. Visit the Department's website to view the Administrative Information for Providers.
The sections relating to special circumstances and the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) (Chapter 43; Appendix G; Appendix H) have been re-published, after previously having a holding message on the page.
There is also a new option to download the AIP as Word or PDF, providing improved search functionality.
If you find any errors in the updates, please provide your details to HEenquiries@education.gov.au.
The equivalent of the HE AIP in the VET sector is the VET Student Loans Manual for Providers. Updates to this resource are communicated to VET and dual sector providers via email and the VSL newsletter.
eCAF Updates
2025 eCAFs
2025 eCAFs were released in September 2024, with additional text changes in December 2024. All changes must be replicated and complete in non-Government eCAFs by 1 March 2025. Based on feedback received, text tag template changes between calendar years is working well for both the department and providers.
Government eCAF Deletions
The current process of single deletions is onerous for both providers and the department. A new, streamlined process is being established where providers will be able to do either fortnightly or monthly batch ups of eCAF deletions. Templates and communications will be sent to relevant providers soon.
FEE-Free Uni-Ready (FFUR) eCAF
The FEE-FREE Uni Ready Government eCAF is currently in development. The interim measure of using the Government Smart PDF FFUR CAF will remain in place until the FFUR eCAF is available. To request a copy of the Government Smart PDF FFUR CAF, please contact HEenquiries@education.gov.au.
eCAF Stocktake
Analysis of the 2024 eCAF stocktake continues and all providers will be contacted once the process is finalised.