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About the VSL Program
The VET Student Loan (VSL) program is an Australian Government assistance loan that helps eligible VET students, who wish to study for a diploma qualification (or higher) to pay their tuition fees.
VET Student Loans are only applied to your course tuition fees. You are still required to pay your materials and auxiliary fees by the due date.
As part of your application, you will undertake a Pre-Training Review which will assist The College in identifying equivalent units of competency that you may have completed previously. The College will grant you a credit transfer for equivalent units you have previously completed. You will not be charged fees for units where you have been granted a credit transfer.
Note that a VET student loan gives rise to a HELP debt that continues to be a debt due to the Commonwealth until it is repaid.
Loans and Loan Cap
The Commonwealth Government establishes a maximum loans amount for each approved course of study. The loan may not be sufficient to cover the total tuition fee for a course. We will send you a VET Student Loan Notice with the course tuition fees covered by the loan, with any additional or gap fees to pay.
If you are enrolled in a course whereby course tuition fees exceed the course’s loan cap, you may need to pay an upfront contribution throughout your study, to cover the amount additional to the VSL course cap.
If you have changed course provider but not your course and wish to continue to use a VET Student Loan for the same course, you will need to complete another eCAF with us to apply for the remainder of the loan.
VET Student Loans Application Process
If you would like to apply for a VET Student Loan to settle your course tuition fees, there are a series of steps for you to undertake.
- Check your VSL eligibility by completing the VET Student Loans Eligibility tool
- Complete a VET Student Loan (VSL) request form
- Provide your personal and supporting documentation confirming your academic suitability* and citizenship or residency status**.
- Submit your completed VET Student Loan Request Form and supporting documentation to rto@westernsydney.edu.au or in person at our Sydney Olympic Park campus.
- We will notify the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations to send you an electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF) invitation email if your application is successful. The eCAF invitation email will contain a passkey which you will use in the next step of your VSL application process.
- After you receive your eCAF email containing your passkey, please login to the eCAF system and provide your tax file number (TFN) or Certificate of Application for a TFN by the relevant VET census date that applies to you.
VSL Eligibility Criteria and Documentary Evidence
To be eligible to receive a VET Student Loan, applying students must:
- be studying an approved course
- meet academic suitability requirements
- meet the citizenship or residency requirements
- provide a parent or guardian consent form if under the age of 18
- have not exceeded the VETSL debt (VET Student Loan debt) limit
- have not exceeded the course cap
- meet the Tax File Number (TFN) requirements, noting that the information you provide us must exactly match the details held at the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
- have a valid Unique Student Identifier (USI)
- confirm your engagement and progression to continue to access the loan throughout your course.
The College RTO Admissions Policy and Procedure
All student applicants are required to review the RTO Admissions Policy and Procedure, in the completion of their application, irrespective of their requirement for a loan to defer fees.
Documentary Evidence and Academic Suitability
You must complete the VET Student Loan Request Form and provide all supporting documentation to meet the academic suitability and citizenship/residency requirements so we can assess your eligibility.
The following documents are required to apply for a VET Student Loan:
- VET Student Loan (VSL) request form
- evidence of meeting the academic suitability requirements
- evidence of meeting the citizenship/residency requirements.
The following documents are accepted as evidence of academic suitability:
- Australian Year 12 Certificate (HSC or interstate equivalent) as per the official certificate issued by the relevant Education and Assessment authority of the State or Territory.
- Evidence of successful completion of a Certificate IV or higher (completed in English).
- Competency assessed as a minimum Exit Level 3 in LLN Robot an approved Language, Literacy and Numeracy (LLN) assessment for both English and Maths mapped against the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF).
You will be required to complete a short language, literacy, and numeracy assessment as part of your course application. An hour is required to complete this activity which assists in enrolling you into a suitable course. The outcome of this assessment will be available to you upon completion of LLN Robot assessment and may also be provided to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.
Citizenship or Residency Status
Australian citizens, qualifying New Zealand citizens, and permanent humanitarian visa holders who are residing in Australia are eligible to apply for a VET Student Loan. You must provide evidence of your citizenship or residency status.
- Current Australian passport (expired passports are not accepted)
- Australian full birth certificate*
- Australian citizenship certificate.
Please note that if you were born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986 and both your parents are listed on your birth certificate as been born overseas, then you will be required to provide one of the following additional documents to prove your citizenship:
- One of your parents Australian Citizenship Certificates (granted prior to your date of birth)
- your own Australian Citizenship Certificate which includes you being listed as a dependent child on one of your parents Australian Citizenship Certificates (if both your parents were permanent residents at the time of your birth).
For more information on how to prove your citizenship and other documentation that can be accepted to confirm your Australian citizenship, please refer to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.
If you're an eligible NZ citizen with an NZ Special Category Visa you'll need to provide evidence that you have been living in Australia and you meet all the following long-term residency requirements:
- Began to be usually resident in Australia at least 10 years ago
- Was a child under the age of 18 with no spouse or de facto partner when you first began to be usually resident in Australia
- Have been in Australia for at least a total of eight out of the past 10 years (from when you apply for the loan), and a total of 18 months out of the last two years (from when you apply for the loan).
The College accepts an international movement record as proof that you meet the above criteria, which is provided by the Department of Home Affairs. Processing time vary so please apply for a movement record 1 month before course commencement.
Once you receive your movement record you need to submit this document along with your VSL application to rto@westernsydney.edu.au
If your residency status is as a permanent humanitarian visa holder, you will be required to submit the following documentation as part of your application.
- Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) letter
- A verified copy of your passport detailing your visa status
- A verified copy of your ImmiCard
How to apply & submit your documentation
You can submit the VET Student Loan Request Form and supporting documentation in person at our Sydney Olympic Park campus or by email:
- click the ‘Email us’ icon here
- in the subject header type 'VET Student Loan Application'
- attach the loan request form and supporting documentation using the 'attach’ function.
If you are under 18 years of age, your parent or guardian needs to also complete a VET Student Loans (VSL) Parental Consent Form.
This form must be provided to us in addition to the VET Student Loan Request Form and your supporting documentation to meet the academic suitability and citizenship/residency requirements. If you have been assessed by Centrelink as meeting the requirements of receiving the independent Youth Allowance. In this case, you need to provide your Centrelink Income Statement.
If you decide to pay for your course fees with a VET Student Loan, you will need to have a Tax File Number (TFN) in advance. Your TFN must be valid and your personal details with The College must match those held by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Please ensure you submit a valid TFN to avoid complications with your enrolment.
The Unique Student Identifier (USI) is your individual education number, which records all your higher education or training, at any university, TAFE or other nationally registered training organisation in Australia.
The online record of your Australian training achievements is in the form of a USI Transcript. It is also used to connect your student loan information to your personal details. Applying for a USI is fast and and you keep the same USI for life. You can log in and check or update your details at any time.
USI Identification Requirements
You need one form of identification to create a USI with acceptable identification including as follows:
- Australian passport
- non-Australian passport (with Australian visa)
- Australian birth certificate
- Australian driver’s licence
- Medicare card
- certificate of registration by descent
- Centrelink concession card
- citizenship certificate
- Immi Card
You'll have to regularly confirm your engagement and progression in your course, by completing a progression form. You may be requested to do this more than once throughout your course.
The College will send you an email to notify you that the Commonwealth Government will be sending you a 'progressing with your VET Student Loan’ invitation email. Please complete the email and return it within 14 days to avoid complications with your continuing study.
You can keep track of your debt by verifying the Commonwealth Assistance Notice that we provide you with or you may access this information on these MYHELPBALANCE or MYGOV government websites. Through these sites you are able to track;
- all of your current VETSL debt outstanding
- any indexation or increases that has been applied to your debt
- repayments that you have made
VET Student Loan – Policies and Procedures (The College)
- VSL - Student entry process’ and procedures, including the approved LLN tool usage
- VSL - Student withdrawal process’ and procedures
- VSL - Student grievance procedures (complaints)
- VSL - Student re-credit procedures
- VSL - Student review procedure (included in complaints)
- VSL - Privacy and information handling procedures
