Eligible students may now access the Commonwealth government’s VET Student Loans (VSL) scheme. This helps you to finance all, or part of, your tuition fees towards an eligible course (see below).

To be eligible, you must be –

an Australian citizen; or

To qualify as an Australian citizen, you will need to provide a:

If you do not have a current Australian passport, you will need to provide other documentation listed here to confirm your Australian citizenship.

To be a qualifying New Zealand citizen, you must:

  • hold a Special Category visa, and
  • have been a resident in Australia for at least 10 years, and
  • have been a dependent child when you were first usually resident in Australia, and
  • have been in Australia for periods totalling eight years during the previous 10 years, and
  • have been in Australia for periods totalling 18 months during the previous two years.

Most New Zealand citizens who arrive in Australia are holders of a Special Category visa. This visa allows its holder to visit, live and work in Australia indefinitely.

You will need to provide us with a certified copy of your current New Zealand passport containing your Special Category visa as well as proof of meeting the above requirements.

You will need to provide us with a certified copy of your current passport which includes your Permanent Humanitarian visa status. TalentMed will then confirm your visa status via the Visa Entitlement Verification Online system.

AND

  • have a HELP balance greater than $0 (i.e. you have not used your entire HELP Loan limit); AND

  • meet the academic suitability requirements (see Selection and Enrolment Procedure); AND

  • meet all of the enrolment and loan application requirements as follows:

  • confirm your ongoing engagement and progression (see below) to continue to access your loan throughout your course.

Once approved, you can either loan the full tuition amount for your course (depending on your HELP balance) or you can part-pay and loan the rest. Please note, a VET Student Loan gives rise to a VETSL debt which continues to be a debt due to the Commonwealth until it is repaid.

Enrolment Process

1. Check eligibility

by undertaking the VSL eligibility test.

2. Read Policies & Procedures

including the VSL information book.

3. Organise documents

including your certified ID, Unique Student Identifier (USI) and Tax File Number (TFN).

4. Submit enrolment form

online here. Please allow approximately 2 business days to process your application.

5. Submit Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF)

an invitation will be sent via email, at least 2 business days after submitting your enrolment form.

How do I get started?

Be sure to check your eligibility, read the Policies and Procedures and have your documents ready, including your certified ID, Unique Student Identifier (USI) and Tax File Number (TFN). Once you’re ready, you can enrol online via https://talentmed.edu.au/enrol-now or contact a Course Adviser today on 03 9937 1599.

After you have completed your enrolment form and selected to apply for a VET Student Loan, we will then assess your eligibility against TalentMed’s Selection and Enrolment criteria. If your application is assessed as eligible, you will receive an invitation via email from ecafsystem@education.gov.au, where you can submit your formal request for a VET Student Loan through the electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF) system.

Make sure to check your spam/junk email folders if you cannot see the email in your inbox. Once you have submitted your eCAF, you will receive an email confirming your loan approval.

If you have any difficulties submitting your eCAF, please see the eCAF fact sheet or call us on 03 9937 1599.

To be eligible, you must be able to provide the following documents if you are an –

  • an Australian citizen
  • a qualifying New Zealand citizen
    • hold a Special Category visa, and
    • have been a resident in Australia for at least 10 years, and
    • have been a dependent child when you were first usually resident in Australia, and
    • have been in Australia for periods totalling eight years during the previous 10 years, and
    • have been in Australia for periods totalling 18 months during the previous two years.
  • a Permanent Humanitarian Visa holder

In addition, be sure to have your Unique Student Identifier (USI) and Tax File Number (TFN) ready to submit. If you cannot remember your TFN, please call the ATO on 13 28 61. If you do not have a TFN, you will need to apply for one by completing the Tax File Number – application or enquiry for individuals (NAT1432) form available from the ATO. TFN applications can take up to 28 days for the ATO to process, so it is important that you apply for one as early as possible.

Currently, HTL57715 – Diploma of Practice Management is the only TalentMed course approved for VET Student Loans. The course tuition fee can be covered entirely under VET Student Loans (provided you have a sufficient HELP balance) as it falls within the VSL course cap.

However, if you would like to help with adding 11288NAT Diploma of Healthcare Documentation to the VET Student Loans Funded Courses List, please download your support letter template listed below and return it to enrol@talentmed.edu.au.

You can borrow up to your total HELP limit to pay for your tuition fees.

You can check your HELP debt and any existing HELP debt by using either myHELPbalance or myGov.

Your myGov account will show you how much you owe and any repayments you have made. If you don’t have a myGov account, you can set one up following the instructions on the ATO website or you can call the ATO on 13 28 61.

myHELPbalance will show you how much you have borrowed (e.g. how much debt you have incurred).

You will need your Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN) to login to myHELPbalance. A CHESSN is a unique identifying number you will have for your whole student life. You can find this on your Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN), given to you by your university or higher education provider.

A VET Student Loan will remain a personal debt until it is repaid to the Commonwealth. There is no interest charged on your HELP debt, however the loan is indexed each year in accordance with the Higher Education Support Act 2003.

You start repaying your loan, through your tax, once you start earning over a certain income. You may find that repaying your HELP debt may reduce your take-home pay until the debt is repaid. You may also find that financial institutions will take into account your HELP debt when assessing your borrowing capacity. For this reason, some students may choose to seek independent financial advice prior to applying for a VET Student Loan. In addition to tuition fees, the Government charges a loan fee of 20% which is added to the total debt. The loan fee does not count towards your HELP limit.

Any previous study you have undertaken, and any other financial debts you may have incurred will not affect your eligibility to access a VET Student Loans. As long as you meet the relevant eligibility criteria (see above) and you have not exceeded your HELP limit to cover your tuition fees, you will be able to access VET Student Loans.

Your tuition fees will be reasonably apportioned across three sequential fee periods and each fee period will contain at least one census day.

TalentMed will provide you with a Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN) each time you incur a debt.

You can verify this information via

MyHELPbalance

myHELPbalance will help you keep track of how much you have borrowed under the various HELP loans from 2005 onwards.

Please note, there is a time lag between the census day and when your information on myHELPbalance is updated.

MyGov

MyGov allows you to get more information about your VETSL debt (VET Student Loan debt) online.

It will show:

  • all of your current VETSL debt
    any indexation (increase) that has been applied to your debt
    any repayments that you have made, so you can see how much you have left owing.

A census day is the last day on which you can complete and submit an eCAF in order to access a VET Student Loan for that part of your course. It’s a good idea to complete and submit your eCAF as soon as possible to avoid missing out. (Note: you must wait at least two business days after your enrolment to submit your eCAF – this is to make sure that you’ve had time to fully understand your loan obligations).

The census day is also the last day on which you can withdraw from part of a course without incurring tuition fees. You must withdraw your enrolment in writing according to TalentMed published processes before 11:59 P.M. on the census day or you will still incur a VET Student Loan debt for that fee period.

VET Student Loans approved courses must have at least three census days spread across at least three fee periods (such as terms/blocks/semesters). This is to ensure you only incur a debt proportionate to your study content and duration.

As TalentMed offers rolling intakes, your census days will be set up according to your commencement date. Each census day is calculated at 20% of the way through each corresponding unit of study. For TalentMed’s Diploma of Practice Management, each unit of study is 4 months in duration. Therefore, your census day for each corresponding unit of study will be approximately 24.3 days from the commencement of each unit of study. However, you will receive a Fee Notice from TalentMed outlining your exact census day at least 14 days prior to your next census day. For more information and to view a sample of the census days, please see TalentMed’s Statement of Tuition Fees.

To continue accessing your VSL, you’ll have to confirm your continued engagement and progression in your course by completing a progression form. Depending on the duration of your course, you may be requested to do this more than once throughout your course.

TalentMed will notify you that the Government will be sending you a ‘Your VET Student Loan – response required’ invitation email to complete your Progress Form. The Progression Form is simple, quick and easy to complete. You will need to answer some brief questions and complete a short survey to confirm you are an active and legitimate student enrolled in the course.

You must complete your Progression Form via the eCAF system within 14 days in order to continue accessing VET Student Loans. Therefore, is it crucial that you notify TalentMed of any change of contact details as soon as possible to avoid losing your VET Student Loan.

For any questions relating to

  • enrolments
  • tuition fees
  • census days
  • eligibility criteria for VET Student Loans
  • applying for a VET Student Loan
  • the correct withdrawal procedure
  • re-credit under special circumstances
  • grievance procedures for student complaints.

Please contact us via 03 9937 1599 or email support@talentmed.edu.au.

For anything else, please visit the Government’s VET Student Loans website, download the VET Student Loans booklet and review the Key Student Information (policies) available on our website. You may also wish to seek independent financial advice before applying for a loan.

Document Link
TalentMed Student Handbook View
Selection and Enrolment Procedure View
Student Income Support View
Statement of Tuition Fees View
VET Student Loans website View
VET Student Loans Eligibility Test View
VET Student Loans Information Book View
Statement of VET Tuition Assurance View
Fair Treatment and Equal Opportunity View
Complaints and Appeals Policy & Procedure View
Fees, Charges & Refund Policy & Procedure View
Student Review Policy & Procedure View
Online Service Standards View
Website Disclaimer View
Student Information Policy & Procedure View
Privacy and Personal Information Policy & Procedure View

Ready to take the next step?

Apply for a VET Student Loan today.