Request for Government Assistance forms/electronic Commonwealth Assistance Forms (eCAF)
Published 21/01/2014 04.15 PM
Updated 14/02/2024 12.27 PM
Which Request for Government Assistance form do I need to complete and how do I submit it?
You do not need to complete a Request for Government Assistance form if you are:
- in a non-award course (single subject and/or a course that does not lead to a degree)
- an international student
The form you need to complete will depend on your course place type and your eligibility:
- for a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) complete the Request for HECS-HELP, even if you pay 'up front'.
- for a Fee-Paying place where you are:
- an Australian citizen, or
- a holder of a permanent humanitarian visa, or
- a holder of a New Zealand Special Category visa, complete the Request for FEE-HELP, even if you intend to pay 'up front'.
- for your Student Service and Amenities Fee (SSAF) we recommend you complete the Request for SA-HELP, even if you intend to pay 'up front'.
- if you have been approved for overseas study and wish to access an OS-HELP loan, complete the Request for OS-HELP
Before you begin, you will need to:
- access to your La Trobe student email (please wait at least one hour after accepting your offer to access this, you will need this at step 2)
- locate your Tax File Number (TFN)*
- verify your Unique Student Identifier (USI)
- An Australian Semester/Term addess and Home adress in StudentOnLine. Check the Details tile in StudentOnLine to confirm this is up to date.
- New Zealand Special Category Visa (SCV) holders will also require an International Movement Record. You must submit this to La Trobe University for assessment of your eligibility to access a HELP loan.
*If you do not have a TFN, apply for one as soon as possible and provide your Australia Post application receipt number when filling out your Request for Government Assistance form in StudentOnLine. When you receive your TFN, complete the TFN received form. You will receive final instructions via email to complete step 2 of your HELP loan application/s.
You will need to submit at least two forms: your Request for Commonwealth Assistance through StudentOnLine and an electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF) via the Australian Government eCAF portal.
You must have an Australian Semester/Term and Home address. Offshore students are not eligible for a CSP. You can update your address in StudentOnLine by going to the Details tile, finding your Semester/Term and Home address in Contacts and clicking edit.
If you wish to update or correct your name, date of birth, or gender, complete the Amendment to personal details form. You must wait for the amendment to be processed before you can submit your Request for Government Assistance.
Follow these steps to complete and submit your form:
1. Fill out and submit your Request for Government Assistance form in StudentOnLine. You can access a Request for Government Assistance form from the Forms or My Tasks tile. Required forms (e.g. HECS-HELP) are displayed as mandatory in My Tasks. To complete another Request for Government Assistance form i.e. SA-HELP, you can access Request for Government Assistance forms from the My Study tile under Manage My Course then choose Government Assistance.
Your request will automatically be sent to the Australian Government and your form status will display as ‘SENT TO GOVERNMENT SYSTEM’.
2. Check your La Trobe student email. You will receive an email from the Department of Education, Skills and Employment to your La Trobe student email address within an hour. This email will contain a passkey and a link to the Australian Government eCAF portal. You will receive a separate passkey for each loan type you request. For example, if you request both HECS-HELP and SA-HELP, you’ll receive a separate passkey for each request.
If you still do not receive your email within 24 hours please do not submit another Request for Government Assistance form (remember to also check your junk email folder).
If you do not receive your email after this time, please submit the passkey reset form in StudentOnLine to have your passkey re-issued.
3. Log in to the Australian Government eCAF portal using your passkey (22 characters with a combination of numbers and lower case and upper case letters) and date of birth to complete the eCAF submission process.
You will be required to watch a short information video and answer some questions before you begin completing your Government eCAF.
Ensure you carefully check all your answers and pre-populated information is correct before submitting your Australian Government eCAF. Please note, your course name will appear differently in the government system. Once you have submitted the government eCAF you will receive an email with a PDF copy of your eCAF for your records.
Ensure you carefully check all your answers and pre-populated information is correct before submitting your Australian Government eCAF. Please note, your course name will appear differently in the government system. Once you have submitted the government eCAF you will receive an email with a PDF copy of your eCAF for your records.
The email will be sent to you from ‘eCAFsystem@education.gov.au’. If you can’t see the confirmation email, check your junk mail or spam folder.
4. Log in to StudentOnLine and check your eCAF status is APPROVED. Please note, this may take up to 24 hours.
This process is demonstrated in our eCAFs video tutorial.