Under subclause 24(1) of Schedule 1A of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA), approved VET providers are required to provide student data to DEEWR containing student demographic and enrolment information. Compliance with the reporting requirements is a condition of continued approval as a VET provider under HESA. Approved VET providers will need to install and submit student data through the software program called the Higher Education Provider Client Assistance Tool (HEPCAT).
This section provides specifications for the elements for which data are to be included in one or more of the files provided to DEEWR by VET Providers in the collection year.
The specifications for each elements are shown in these sections.
Element by File
Element by Name
Element by Number
Elements listed by file for all collections 
(256.5 KB) - This document provides all Data Collections by file type and element with useful links to each file structure.
VET Data Collections file naming convention pdf 
(28.2 KB) rtf 
(97.9 KB)
A Ministerial Notice issued on 8 December 2008 sets out the requirements for the VET Student Data Collection.
2009 Timing matrix pdf (15.3 KB) xls (27.5 KB)
2009 Scope documents pdf (exe/zip 337.7KB) rtf (exe/zip 12.7MB)
2009 Structure documents pdf (exe/zip 279.9KB) rtf (exe/zip 12.6MB)
2009 Data elements documents
- pdf (619.4 KB) rtf (exe/zip 1.5MB) - (elements merged to one document)
- pdf (exe/zip 608KB) rtf (exe/zip 337KB)- (elements available individually)
The VET FEE-HELP IT System (VITS) is a web based IT application developed specifically for VET FEE-HELP purposes. A downloadable user manual is available to assist users to navigate and use VITS.
VITS is used to:
- seek approval as a VET provider (to offer VET FEE-HELP to students);
- submit credit transfer arrangements for eligible courses for approval;
- view student Commonwealth assistance information relating to FEE-HELP balances and allocate Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Numbers (CHESSNs);
- provide schedules of tuition fee information;
- enter, view and revise RTO payment estimate information; and
- submit ongoing VET provider compliance information.
Please refer to VITS for further information.
Further information on HEPCAT is available at http://www.heimshelp.deewr.gov.au/7_HEPCAT_Support/ 