eCAF (Electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form)

This page contains instructions on how to apply for eCAF credentials and update the password stored within Paradigm

Overview

Higher Education providers with Fee-HELP status may wish to use Paradigm to automatically send and retrieve Electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF) information from the relevant government systems. This is a convenient way to provide enrolment information to the Education Department for students who have expressed an interest in accessing a HELP loan / VET Student Loan. The eCAF system facilitates access to HELP loans / VET Student loans, removing the requirement for paper CAFs or maintenance of in-house eCAFs.

An active eCAF API credential is required for Paradigm to successfully integrate with the government eCAF system. This credential must be stored within Paradigm for the integration to function. Each provider will need to apply for and be granted an eCAF credential by the relevant government body before attempting to use the Paradigm eCAF integration.

It is important to recognise that the eCAF credential is not related to a HEIMS Web Service credential. Even if the username is the same, the two systems are distinct and not connected. The only point of similarity between the eCAF and HEIMS Web Service systems is that they are supported by the same government help desk.

Password Requirements

Password required fields:

Field name	Brief Overview
eCAF Username:	The username provided by the government
eCAF Password:	New Password that meets the password policy outlined below
eCAF Password (repeat):	Type the password a second time to ensure no data entry error has occurred
ECAF Last Updated	The date that the eCAF password was last updated

The password requirements are as follows:

• A minimum of 8 characters

• At least one numeric character

• At least one special character

• At least one uppercase character

• The password must be different to the previous 10 passwords used

Workflows

(1) Obtain an eCAF Credential

1. Complete the Government eCAF API system access request form as found here: Government eCAF API system access request form
2. Any questions about this form should be directed to the HEIMS Helpdesk team via [e-mail]

(2) Set/Update the eCAF Password via the Interface

1. Contact the HEIMS helpdesk via [e-mail] to request a new password.

2. The HEIMS helpdesk will provide you with a temporary password.

3. Log into https://ecaf.education.gov.au/provider and enter your eCAF API username and the temporary password.

4. The eCAF site will request that you create a new password.

5. Once the new password has been accepted by the eCAF portal, click on the System tab on the side menu

6. Click on ECAF Login on the side menu

7. Enter the new password that you just created

8. Confirm that the password is identical by re-entering it.

9. Click the SET button

10. Confirm that the new password has been successfully updated, by testing that you are able to fetch an eCAF status using the workflow "Test if an eCAF Credential is Active" below

(3) Reset an Existing eCAF Password

1. Contact HEIMS Helpdesk via [e-mail] to request a new password.

2. The HEIMS Helpdesk will provide you with a temporary password.

3. Use your eCAF API username and the temporary password to login to https://ecaf.education.gov.au/provider.

4. The eCAF site will request that you create a new password. Make a note of this new permanent password.

5. Log into Paradigm

6. Navigate to the SYSTEM menu, and select the ECAF Login option

7. Enter the new permanent password that you just created for the eCaf portal site.

8. Confirm the password by entering it a second time

9. Click the blue SET button

10. Load a student record and attempt to perform a fetch eCAF action using the next workflow. This will confirm whether the new password has been successfully updated and that your credential is active.

(4) Test if an eCAF Credential is Active

NOTE:

A student who has applied for an eCAF must have at least one Unit enrolment, and the census date for that unit enrolment must be in the future (the census date must be tomorrow or later, and cannot be today).

1. Load a Student record

2. On the Student summary screen, click the Actions button in the Course enrolment section

3. Click the ‘Edit Course Enrolment’ option

4. Click on the Actions button against the currently enrolled course, and select ‘Online eCAF submission’

5. This will open a new eCAF edit page that draws information from student details, course enrolment and unit enrolment records.

6. Make sure that the eCAF Type and Citizenship fields are completed in the course enrolment HEIMS section.

7. Check that the HEIMS Census Date has been set

8. When all fields have been set correctly, click on the Request eCAF button.

9. The system sends data to the government, which will then send an email to your student

10. You can return to this page and click on the Fetch eCAF status button from time to time, to check the eCAF Student Status shown at the top of the screen

11. The eCAF Remote ID number is the unique identification number from the eCAF system

More workflows that focus on the Student (processes) are found on this page: Student eCAF

HELP Booklet Sent with eCAF Communication Event Setup

In response to the following compliance notes from the government:

Requirement for provider communication to students

Forming part of the eCAF submission process is the requirement that students must declare that they have read and understood the associated HELP information booklet, which details their obligations regarding their request for Commonwealth assistance.

In relation to the interim arrangements outlined above, the department requests that higher education providers ensure that all students who submit a 2022 eCAF for courses commencing in 2023 are provided with a copy of the associated 2023 HELP booklet, which will be available on the Study Assist website in mid-November 2022: http://www.studyassist.gov.au/need-more-information/help-publications . Providing your 2023 students with the correct HELP booklets will ensure that all students are aware of their obligations under the HELP loan scheme.

When an admin user sends an eCAF request to the government, Paradigm also now sends a communication event to the student if they have a valid email address. The email will only be sent if the associated Data Resource that is to be used as the communication event template has the status of Published.

Refer to the instructions below to activate the data resource:

1. Go to Providers > Search Content

2. Set the "Status" field in the "Data Resource Search" window to "In Progress"

3. Load the resource "Please read FEE-HELP Booklet" (Unless it is the only data resource with a status of "In Progress", in which case paradigm will load it for you)

4. Edit the "Data Content" (Please note, you have "email_first_name", "email_last_name" and "student_number" to work with, no course enrolment details.) Check our available email merge fields here.

5. Change the "Status" field from "In Progress" to "Published"

6. Click SAVE DATA RESOURCE.

SUCCESS:

The next time a staff user submits an eCAF enrolment to the Government system, the government will then send emails to the student to fill it out. A communication event will be created in Paradigm using the template, and it will be sent to both the billing and residential email addresses of the student.

Additional Notes:

• When you want to stop Paradigm function from sending the Fee-Help Booklet emails, follow the steps above, and change the status from "Published" to any other status value. This will disable the Paradigm email function from sending the Fee-Help booklet to students.

• Only the student details fields specified above are available for inclusion in this template. No other student details fields are available.

• You can manually attach files to the outgoing communication event if you wish, but we suggest that you instead choose to include links to the documents you wish to send in the email to your students.