The below information is available to students on the ACT website but is provided here to assist registrars and their teams in learning the new process, so they will be better able to advise and assist students. The guide for students is available at: https://myportal.actheology.edu.au/FileDownload/8044df55-03d6-470a-8245-305eaa420c81/apply-for-fee-help-online.
ACT students can apply for FEE-HELP funding by filling out an Electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF). From February 2019 all eligible ACT students can apply for FEE-HELP by logging in to the Department of Education’s online portal at: https://ecaf.education.gov.au/home.
Students should follow the following steps:
APPLYING FOR FEE-HELP
Step 1: After your enrolment has been processed, if you are eligible, you will receive an email from the Department of Education and Training with instructions about how to log in and fill out the eCAF on the government’s ePortal at: https://ecaf.education.gov.au/home.
The email will be sent from ecafsystem@education.gov.au, with “New FEE-HELP (NU) loan application” in the subject line.
Note: You must have your tax file number ready before attempting to complete your eCAF
Step 2: Follow the link from the email sent to you by the government (https://ecaf.education.gov.au/home) to the government eCAF portal and enter the passkey sent to you in the email. If you find that you are unable to login with the passkey and your date of birth, it is likely that your date of birth needs to be corrected in the ACT and college system, Paradigm. Please contact the ACT’s Academic Services team to rectify this.
Step 4: Follow the on-screen prompts and check the details carefully to ensure they are correct before submitting the form.
Step 5: The system will work to verify your tax file number (TFN) and details against those held by the Australian Tax Office (ATO). It normally takes a minute and we strongly recommend that you wait until this finished before you click “next”. If your TFN is not verified, you will need to check that your TFN and personal details are all correct and match those recorded by the ATO.
What if I did a paper FEE-HELP form for this course in the past?
Due to a large change in ACT course structures, all continuing ACT students have been transferred into a 2020 version of their course. If you completed a paper FEE-HELP form for this course in the past, you will still need to fill out a new government portal eCAF for the 2020 version of your course before your first course enrolment census date in 2020. Please contact your college immediately if you have no access to the internet.
What if I did an eCAF in Paradigm or through the government portal for this course?
Due to a large change in ACT course structures, all continuing ACT students have been transferred into a 2020 version of their course. If you completed an eCAF in Paradigm, or in the government portal for this this course during 2019, you will still need to fill out a new government portal eCAF for the 2020 version of this course before your first course enrolment census date in 2020.
If the student encounters any problems filling out their eCAF, please advise them to contact the ACT Academic Services team.