Referral to a Course Assessment and Liaison Officer (CALO) 010-20100142

The CALOs are a national team who maintain an internal database of courses to assist with the assessment of study relating to Centrelink student payments and assist with Level 1 Helpdesk enquiries about courses.

CALO functions include:

• Assessing courses and institutions or providers that are not yet listed on the National Course Approvals (NCA) sub-site (not including masters)
• Record current and maintain historical information about providers and courses, including:
• course duration
• study load
• level of study

CALOs do not:

• assess aggregation
• calculate allowable time, or
• provide assistance with coding, including for combined courses

Investigate the approval of a course and/or education provider for student payments by accessing the National Course Approvals sub-site before:

• making a decision, or
• advising customers about approved courses and education providers

Note: do not send CALO referrals for masters courses. The approved masters courses spreadsheet is updated regularly and without delay. Some specific course information is available on the Masters Courses tab on a provider's NCA page, but if the course is not on the approved masters spreadsheet, the course is not approved.

There is a provider page within the National Course Approvals sub-site if an assessment for the private provider has been completed. If there is no page for a private provider, create a CALO referral. See the Process page for details.

The absence of a provider page for a private provider is not an indication the education provider or their courses are unapproved. Where a course delivered by a private provider has been assessed, details are found on the Assessed Courses tab of the provider's page.

If a course at an assessed private provider is not listed:

• go to the Institution Information tab
• select the Education authority link and review the provider's page (courses may appear under any of the tabs on this page)

If the course is:

• listed, create a CALO referral
• not listed, contact the customer to clarify their enrolment circumstance and request proof of enrolment before creating a CALO referral

Vocational Education and Training (VET) diploma level (or higher) courses can only be approved if both the education provider and the course are VET Student Loan (VSL) approved. If a customer advises they are studying a diploma or higher level course, check the provider's NCA page.

If:

• VSL Approved Provider: is No on the Institution Information tab, or
• No Diploma or Higher level courses starting from 1/1/2018 are approved with this provider (or similar) displays on the Assessed Courses tab

Do not send a CALO referral, even if the course is listed on their Education authority link.

Notes:

• This does not apply to ABSTUDY courses approved as Indigenous Special Courses (ISC) or Tertiary Access Payment (TAP). Diploma level or higher courses do not need to be VSL approved to be approved for ABSTUDY Indigenous Special Courses (ISC) or Tertiary Access Payment (TAP). If the course has not been assessed as an ISC but would meet the criteria of an ISC send a CALO referral
• If a current ABSTUDY customer is undertaking an approved course that becomes non-approved for ABSTUDY purposes, the customer can continue to receive their payment until they finish the course, provided there is no break in entitlement

Private providers may deliver or outsource delivery of courses to other education providers under a partnering agreement. Known partnering agreements are found on the relevant provider page. Service Officers must make sure partnering arrangements are considered when assessing qualification.

All TAFEs have a provider page within the National Course Approvals sub-site.

A spreadsheet detailing approved and non-approved courses is on the Assessed Courses tab of each TAFE's provider page. Refer to the following sub-headings:

• List of Vocational Education and Training (VET) Courses
• Approved undergraduate and postgraduate (Higher Education) courses, and
• Approved courses with structure explanation

All Universities have a provider page within the National Course Approvals sub-site.

Australian universities are self-accrediting:

• for ABSTUDY, all university courses are considered approved, including masters and doctorates with the exception of ABSTUDY excluded courses which are assessed on a case by case basis
• for Youth Allowance (YA), Austudy and Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) customers:
• doctorate level courses are not approved
• approved masters are located on the Approved Masters Courses list
• all other courses are considered approved, except those specifically listed on National Course Approvals as unapproved

Combined courses or those with anomalies are in Assessed Courses tab on the provider's NCA page, Approved Higher Education (HED) courses with structure explanations section.

Higher education courses can only be approved if both the education provider and the course are Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) approved. If a customer advises they are studying a higher education course, check the provider's NCA page. If HELP Approved Provider: is No on the Institution Information tab, do not send a CALO referral, even if the course is listed on their Education authority link.

To determine if a course can be approved, create a CALO referral in Process Direct after completing relevant checks if:

• an education provider does not have a provider page, or
• there is no assessment for a course that is available on an education provider's Education authority link

The CALO will:

• assess the referral
• where needed, request course details and/or other information from the education provider
• annotate the Notes section of the CALO referral in Process Direct, and
• finalise the referral

Diploma level or higher courses can only be approved if both the education provider and the course are VET Student Loan (VSL) approved. If a customer advises they are studying a Diploma or higher level course, check the Assessed Courses tab. If the message No Diploma or Higher level courses starting from 1/1/2018 are approved with this provider (or similar) displays, do not send a CALO referral even if the course is listed on their Education authority link.

CALO referrals in Process Direct can be initiated from within certain claim and Change of Circumstance (CoC) transactions. These are known as linked transactions. A linked transaction's status will change to:

• On Hold, when the CALO referral is created, and
• In Process, when the CALO referral is finalised

Only transactions that are processed in Process Direct can be a linked transaction. See the Resources page for a list of linked transactions.

To create a referral from a linked transaction, the work item status must be open. For example, In Process, In Progress or For Manual Action.

Create a standalone CALO referral to:

• answer a customer enquiry
• process an update that is not processed in Process Direct, or
• process an update that is not associated with a linked transaction

See the Resources page for a list of linked transactions.

If the customer meets the definition of at risk, flag the CALO referral as urgent. The referral will be prioritised for assessment. See the Process page for details.

Completed CALO referrals can be found under the Transactions tab in Process Direct by selecting ALL Transactions. Select the CALO referral and select Next to step through the completed referral to view details of the referral. CALO notes for completed referrals can be viewed in the Notes section of Process Direct by selecting the CALO referral and selecting the Display/Note icon.