VET Student Loans

To be eligible for VET Student Loans, you must meet the citizenship and residency requirements:

Residency:

• be an Australian citizen; or

• a permanent Humanitarian visa holder, (resident in Australia for the duration of the units/s of study); or

• a qualifying New Zealand citizen who is a Special Category Visa (SCV) holder (this is not a permanent visa but allows its holder to visit, live, and work in Australia indefinitely) who meets the long-term residency requirements, which are:

  • have first entered Australia as a dependent minor aged under 18 years; and

  • at the time did not have a spouse or de facto partner; and

  • have been physically present in Australia for at least eight out of the past 10 years, and 18 months out of the past 2 years; and

• meet the other eligibility criteria for the loan (you are enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported course and you will be residing in Australia for the duration of your course).

Please note: to apply for a VET Student Loan, you must provide current and updated evidence for each of the above criteria prior to enrolment. VET student loans will not be approved for students who do not meet eligibility requirements.

Academic suitability:

You must be assessed by Signature Training staff as academically suited to undertake the approved course on the basis of either:

• providing your Australian year 12 Certificate; or

• providing your International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB); or

• providing evidence of successful completion of an Australian Qualifications Framework Certificate IV or higher qualification (where the language of instruction is English); OR at a level in a framework that preceded the AQF that is equivalent to level 4 or above in the AQF.

• displaying competence at Exit Level 3 in the Australian Core Skills Framework in both reading and numeracy through an approved Language, Literacy and Numeracy test. Signature Training uses the Safe Work Resources LLN Assessment Tool (LLN Robot). See Approved LLN Assessment Tools.

• In addition, Signature Training must reasonably believe that student is academically suited to undertake the course and the student must meet any other specified entry requirements.

Additional eligibility criteria:

To be eligible for VET Student Loans, you must:

• have a FEE-HELP balance that is more than $0

• plan to study the approved course primarily at a campus in Australia

• study with an approved provider

• have a Tax File Number or a Certificate of Application for a Tax File Number provided by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)

• have a Unique Student Identifier (USI)or are otherwise exempt

• submit the electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF) by the first census day and at least two business days after enrolling

• confirm engagement and progression online when requested to by the Government

• have read the VET Student Loans Information Booklet.

For more information on eligibility requirements, please visit the VET Student Loans website

If you are under the age of 18, a parent or guardian must co-sign the electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF) and Signature Training enrolment form.

You must also provide parental or guardian consent in writing via the Request for a VET Student Loan - Parental Consent - student under 18 years form and email it to vsl@signaturetraining.edu.au . The form is also available from Student Administration, by emailing vsl@signaturetraining.edu.au  and requesting a copy. This form must be submitted to Signature Training before you can apply for a loan.

Parental or guardian consent is not required if you have been assessed by Centrelink as an independent. You will need to provide evidence of this assessment in the form of your Centrelink Income Statement, which you can request by logging into MyGov and selecting your Centrelink online account. Email this statement to vsl@signaturetraining.edu.au .

Signature Training will need you to provide proof of citizenship before applying for a VET Student Loan to make sure you meet the citizenship and residency requirements.

The evidence required to demonstrate proof of citizenship depends on your date and place of birth.

Australian citizens

An Australian Passport is suitable evidence of Australian citizenship. If the applicant does not have an Australian Passport, the evidence required to demonstrate that an applicant is an Australian citizen may differ depending on whether the applicant was:

• born in Australia before 20 August 1986

• born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986

• born overseas.

Applicants born in Australia before 20 August 1986

If applicants do not have an Australian Passport, they will need to provide their full birth certificate issued by an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (RBDM).

An exception to this is where the applicant’s parents were in Australia as diplomats or consular officers at the time of the applicant’s birth. In these circumstances, the applicant will need to provide a citizenship certificate as evidence that they are an Australian citizen.

If the applicant does not have a citizenship certificate they will need to lodge Form 119 Application for evidence of Australian citizenship with certified copies of the required documents and the application fee with the Department of Home Affairs.

Applicants born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986 and one of their parents was an Australian citizen at the time of their birth

If applicants do not have an Australian Passport, and where one (or both) of the applicant’s parents was an Australian citizen at the time of their birth, the applicant should provide their full birth certificate issued by an Australian RBDM. They will also need to provide one of the following documents as evidence that one of their parents was an Australian citizen at the time of their birth:

• their parent’s Australian citizenship certificate (at least one of their parents was a citizen at the time of their birth, to meet this requirement) or;

• if their parent was born in Australia before 20 August 1986, their parent’s full birth certificate issued by an Australian RBDM or;

• if their parent was born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986, their parent’s full birth certificate issued by an Australian RBDM and their grandparent's Australian birth certificate issued by an Australian RBDM.

If the applicant cannot provide this they should apply for their own evidence of Australian citizenship by lodging Form 119 Application for evidence of Australian citizenship with certified copies of the required documents and the application fee with the Department of Home Affairs.

Applicants born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986 and one of their parents was a permanent resident of Australia at the time of their birth

If applicants do not have an Australian passport, and where one (or both) of the applicant’s parents was a permanent resident of Australia at the time of their birth, they will need to provide both of the following documents to prove their Australian citizenship:

• their full birth certificate issued by an Australian RBDM

• their Australian citizenship certificate.

They can apply for an Australian citizenship certificate by lodging Form 119 Application for evidence of Australian citizenship with certified copies of the required documents and the application fee with Department of Home Affairs.

The following documents are not acceptable as proof of a parent’s permanent residency for VET Student Loan applications:

• parent's foreign passport with a visa label

• Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) printout

• Visa Grant Notification Letter

• Certificate of Evidence of Resident Status (CERS)

• Certificate of Status for New Zealand Citizens in Australia (CSNZCA)

• ImmiCard

• Freedom of Information (FOI) letter from the Department of Home Affairs.

These documents only provide proof of a person’s visa status on the day they are issued / printed and are not sufficient proof of a parent’s resident status at the time the applicant was born.

Applicants born overseas and acquired Australian citizenship by application

As a guide, please refer to the relevant category below. 

Applicants will need to provide one of the following documents as evidence of their Australian citizenship:

• an Australian passport

• an Australian citizenship certificate

• a Citizenship by Descent extract

• an Adoption in accordance with the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption or bilateral arrangement extract.

If an applicant does not have one of the above citizenship documents they will need to apply for a replacement certificate by lodging Form 119 Application for evidence of Australian citizenship with certified copies of the required documents and the application fee with the Department of Home Affairs.

Permanent Humanitarian Visa holder

If you are a permanent humanitarian visa holder and are applying for a VET Student Loan, your application will be checked by the contact the Department of Home Affairs. 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants not registered at birth by the relevant State/Territory authority

Applicants in these circumstances without a current Australian Passport may submit a Statutory Declaration.

Please note: the Statutory Declaration has been pre-populated and must only be used by applicants to whom these circumstances apply. The Statutory Declaration must be witnessed by a person included in the List of Occupations or the List of Persons provided in the template on the Department's website mentioned above.

Statutory Declarations are not acceptable forms of proof of Australian citizenship for any applicants other than Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders whose birth was not registered by the relevant State/Territory authority.

Applicant or their parent was born in Papua New Guinea prior to 16 Sep 1975

The applicant should be referred to the Department of Home Affairs to obtain evidence of Australian citizenship by lodging Form 119 Application for evidence of Australian citizenship, if:

• evidence of citizenship was issued before 1 Jan 2009 and the applicant was born in PNG prior to 16 Sep 1975; or

• citizenship was acquired by descent before 1 Jan 2009 where the parent(s) was born in PNG before 16 Sep 1975.

A citizenship certificate can be accepted as evidence of Australian citizenship if it was issued on or after 1 Jan 2009 regardless of the acquisition date or date of birth.

The application process:

1. After reading the VET Student Loans Information Booklet , you must first enrol with Signature Training and indicate you wish to access a VET Student Loan.

2. Signature Training will then assess your eligibility. If you are assessed as eligible, Signature Training will enter your enrolment information into the electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF) system, including the nearest applicable census day.

3. You will then receive an email with log in details to sign into the eCAF system. Once you sign in, you will need to verify the pre-populated information and complete the mandatory fields, including providing your Tax File Number (TFN). You must then wait at least two full business days after you have enrolled in your studies before submitting the eCAF. This helps to make sure that you have sufficient time to consider the decision to take on a loan.

4. You must submit the eCAF on or before the first census day for which you would like the loan to apply.

5. Once you submit your eCAF, you will receive an email confirming your loan approval and providing you with a copy of your completed form. You should keep this form for your records.

6. If you do not complete the eCAF, or other permitted form, by the required date for your course, you will have to wait until the next semester or term to request a VET Student Loan for future study. Retrospective access to VET Student Loans is not allowed under any circumstances.

More information

Please read Section 3, Page 16 of the VET Student Loans Information Booklet for more information on applying or visit the VET Student Loans website.

In 2022 all Diploma level programs offered by Signature Training will attract a Loan Cap of $18,097. This loan cap will be the maximum amount you will pay toward your tuition fee and the only contribution you will make for the entire course, there are no gap fees associated with your study at Signature Training.

• You can borrow up to the HELP loan limit to pay your tuition fees. The HELP loan limit is the total amount available to you under VTSL. Any amount you borrow under VTSL will be added together until you reach the HELP loan limit. For 2022, the HELP loan limit is $121,844- for most students.

• You will have a HELP balance, which is the available amount of VTSL that you have left to use before you reach the HELP loan limit. Your HELP balance is renewable. This means that any compulsory or voluntary amounts that are repaid from the 2020-21 financial year onwards will be able to be re-borrowed, up to the HELP loan limit.

• There is no interest charged on VETSL debts.

• A 20 per cent loan fee applies to VET Student Loans for full fee paying/fee for service students. The loan fee does not count towards your HELP loan limit. You do not have to pay the loan fee upfront – it is added to your VETSL debt at the ATO. For more information about loan fees, read the VET Student Loans information booklet (Section 2 and Section 6).

If you enrol in an NSW Government Department of Education subsidised Diploma or Advanced Diploma under the Smart and Skilled program, you may be eligible to access an Australian Government loan to pay your student fees. To receive a VET Student Loan program for Smart and Skilled training, you need to meet both the Smart and Skilled eligibility criteria and the Australian Government VET Student Loans eligibility criteria. See Smart and Skilled Student Loans for Higher Level Courses.

Signature Training College provides regular entry points into our training programs throughout a training calendar year, this includes one program start date per month.

The course you are enrolled in will have important dates called Census Dates, which is the date by which your enrolment in the course or part of the course can be cancelled without incurring tuition fees for the course or part of the course. Although you request a loan for a course, you only become financially liable for the tuition fees on a ‘part of a course’ at the end of the census day. You do not incur a debt for the whole course at the beginning.

It is very important you know and understand your course Census Dates. We will send you a VET Student Loans Fee Notice at least 14 days before the census day so that you have all the information you need to make your study and payment decisions. If you are uncertain at any stage or have questions, please contact a member of the VSL administration staff using vsl@signaturetraining.edu.au or on (02) 8896 2036. 

You can also find more information on Census Dates in the VET Student Loans information booklet (Section 3).

• To continue accessing your VET Student Loan, you will need to demonstrate that you are progressing through your course.

• To do this, you must complete a Progression Form 2-3 times a year. This will involve a short survey.

• An invitation email from the Government will be sent to your email account with a link to the VET Student Loan Progression form. This will include instructions on how to complete the survey.

• You must complete the form within two weeks of receiving the email notification.

Non-completion of the Progression Form

If you don't complete and submit two consecutive surveys, you may be ineligible to continue accessing VET Student Loans. This means you will need to pay your tuition fees directly to Signature Training if you want to continue studying your course.

For more information, visit the Student Progression Fact Sheet.

Reminder notice

A reminder notice will be sent to students who have chosen the upfront payment option for their VET Student Loan tuition fees. This notice will be sent out two (2) weeks before the relevant census date. Students will be advised that they are required to pay their tuition fees no later than one working day before the census date.

Commonwealth Assistance Notice

The Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN) is sent via email to all students receiving a VET Student Loan. The CAN will include details about student enrolment such as: personal details, CHESSN number (being phased out in 2021), course and unit enrolment, deferred amount and/or upfront payment details, loan fees (if applicable) and total debt for units.

The CAN will be sent within 28 days from the relevant census date for each study period that the student is enrolled.

Students must check if the information in the CAN is correct. If you believe that the information on the CAN is incorrect, you must inform Signature Training in writing within 14 days. Verbal requests will not be considered. The request must specify the particular information thought to be incorrect and the reason why it is considered incorrect.

Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number

The Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN) is a unique identifier used by universities and the Australian Government to identify students that are receiving Commonwealth assistance. You can find your CHESSN on your Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN). The CHESSN is being phased out in 2021 and replaced by the USI. All new VSL students from January 2021 will not require a CHESSN.

For more information on CAN and CHESSN, please read Section 4 of the VET Student Loans information booklet.

Students may find they have to withdraw from their studies after the census date or have been unable to complete their studies because of special circumstances. Students in this situation may apply to have their VET Student Loans debt for the unit of study remitted (removed) and their VET Student Loans balance re-credited.

A student who completes a unit and receives a Not Yet Competent grade, is considered not to have successfully completed the unit and can therefore apply for a remission if special circumstances exist. A student who has successfully completed the unit of study cannot apply for a remission.

For special circumstances to apply, you must be able to demonstrate that the circumstances:

• were beyond your control

• did not make their full impact on you until on or after the census date(s) of the unit(s) in question

• made it impracticable for you to complete the requirements for the unit(s).

Special circumstance does not include:

• a lack of knowledge or understanding of the requirements for a VET Student Loan

• academic underperformance

• a person’s incapacity to repay a Student Loan debt, as repayments are income contingent, and the person may apply for a deferral of a compulsory repayment in certain circumstances.

Further information on special circumstances is available in Section 5.3 of the VET Student Loans information booklet.

How to apply for remission

To apply for a remission or re-credit of your VET Student Loans debt, you will need to complete the Application to Recredit a HELP Balance Form.

If your application is approved, your fees will be refunded in accordance with Signature Training’s student refund policy. 

Documentation

You will need to attach documentation to the form to support your application. If documentation is not attached, a letter will be sent to you requesting documentation within 28 days.

If supporting documentation is still not provided, you will be sent the decision notice of your application and your right to appeal.

Students have the right to a review of the decision if they are not satisfied with the outcome within 28 days from the day, they first received the outcome.

Cut off dates

An application for a re-credit or remission must be made within 12 months of withdrawing from the unit of study. If you have not withdrawn, the application must be made within 12 months of the end of the period in which the unit of study was, or was to be, undertaken.

'Tuition protection' refers to the protections and assistance available to support VSL students in the event their private education provider defaults. It has been put in place by the Government to protect and support students if an approved VET Student Loans provider ceases to deliver a course of study or closes.

A provider default occurs in relation to a VSL student when either a course, or part of a course:

• fails to start on the day on which it was scheduled to start; or

• ceases after commencement but before completion; and

• the student has not withdrawn.

All providers are required, through the VET Student Loans Act 2016, to have adequate tuition protection to cover their student load. Signature Training is part of the VSL Tuition Protection arrangements set out in the VET Student Loans Act 2016 and VET Student Loans Rules 2016. The VSL Tuition Protection arrangements impose obligations and requirements on providers.

Signature Training is required to contribute annually to the VSL Tuition Protection Levy, which collectively provides the Tuition Protection Scheme or mechanism to assist eligible students. For more information, please refer to Tuition Protection Service.

Signature Training is committed to protecting the privacy of all staff and students. Signature Training will act responsibly to collect, manage, use and disclose personal information in accordance with the Commonwealth Privacy Act of 1988 and abide by the Australian Privacy Principles outlined in Schedule 1 of the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012, when handling students' personal information. Signature Training is also required by law (under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (Cth) (NVETR Act)) to disclose the personal information we collect about you to the National VET Data Collection kept by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research Ltd (NCVER).

This is incorporated into our general Privacy Policy available on the website.

Signature Training is committed to providing a fair, safe and productive work and study environment where grievances are dealt with in a timely, impartial and confidential manner that adheres to the principles of procedural fairness and protects against victimisation.

For more information, please refer to our Complaints and Appeals Policy (Combined Grievance Procedure).

VET Student Loans Ombudsman

A VET Student Loans Ombudsman has been established within the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman to manage and investigate complaints regarding the VET Student Loans Program. The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman encourages students to raise complaints with Signature Training before contacting the Ombudsman.

For more information contact:

The RTO Manager

Signature Training

Suite 1, Level 1, 191 Church Street, Parramatta, NSW, 2150
vsl@signaturetraining.edu.au

Commonwealth Ombudsman
Website: VSL Ombudsman

Phone: 1300 362 072

Online Complaint Form