With the old HEPCAT and CART systems, there was no push for continual or consistent digital transformation across the education sector.

Australia’s Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI) regulations of 2018 require universities to report on all student enrollment details including applications, fees, personal information and entitlements within seven days of receipt.

The new regulations are aimed at helping education providers to reduce duplication, improve data availability and resolve system deficiencies with a simpler and more intuitive data reporting system. Students can also benefit, as the new system simplifies paperwork in monetary claims; enhances payment accuracy and also helps maintain student payments for a smoother education journey.

TCSI replaces the Higher Education Provider Client Assistance Tool (HEPCAT) for all education providers and the Centrelink Academic Reassessment Transformation (CART) for universities. This has resulted in one higher-education marketplace to digitally rework its IT infrastructure to comply with the TCSI.

According to Dan Cliffe, Project Manager, Open Universities Australia (OUA): “In the past, student-data reporting was done following the release of Census information, whereas now it is required to be done in near-real time to provide an accurate picture around student loans and to ensure they do not exceed their limits.” 

OUA has been using PeopleSoft applications since 2017, and has had to rework the tax, legal and regulatory compliance framework in compliance with the TCSI with its existing vendor, Rimini Street, Inc., whose Group Vice President and Regional General Manager (Oceania), Daniel Benad said: “Institutions of Higher Education have to adapt to changing enrolment models and these new compliance requirements in Australia have meant more real-time data and transparency in reporting to meet these government obligations. Our tax, legal and regulatory team worked in collaboration with OUA to build and deliver this solution on time to meet these government regulations.”

According to Benad, in 2020 the firm saw a 40% year-over-year increase in tax, legal and regulatory changes globally, involving over 88,000 individual changes across more than 50 countries, requiring rework of enterprise software to maintain compliance.