What is the Annual Registration Charge?

The Annual Registration Charge (ARC) is an annual charge payable by all providers registered or suspended on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS).  It comprises a base fee plus a per enrolment component based on the total number of enrolments of overseas students on student visas in each course provided by your organisation in the previous calendar year.

 

The ESOS Act requires that you pay the ARC by the last business day of February of the year. For 2008, this will be Friday, 29th February 2008.

Calculation and payment of the ARC is done through the eBusiness component of the Department’s Australian Education International website (referred to as AEI on-line).  You will need to sign-in to this site in order to enter required information and process your ARC payment.

Once you have signed in, AEI on-line will display enrolment figures for your organisation for 2007 based on data stored within PRISMS.  The raw and consolidated enrolment data on which these figures are based can be viewed by accessing the following reports within PRISMS:

• ARC Raw CoE Data Export
• ARC ESOS Calculation By Student Export

Additional information about the reports, including an explanation of how they were produced and how they are to be used, can be found by accessing links within the information panel displayed in PRISMS when the reports are accessed.  The Help icon on this page also provides additional ARC information, including a link to Frequently Asked Questions.

If you do not agree with the PRISMS enrolment data presented you can opt to use your own in-house records, however, please be aware of the following

• DEEWR will be reviewing the ARC calculations for each provider and you may be contacted to explain any significant differences between your in-house and PRISMS enrolment figures.  You will therefore need to keep a record that clearly shows all of your 2007 overseas student enrolments.
• This is the last year that you will be able to use your own in-house enrolments records for the purpose of calculating the ARC.  From 2009 onwards, all ARC amounts owed will be calculated based only on enrolment data stored within PRISMS. 

Further details regarding changes to the 2009 ARC collection process will be provided throughout 2008, commencing after completion of the 2008 ARC collection.

Definitions

The following definitions will be used to determine overseas student enrolments for the purpose of calculating ARC amounts payable.

Overseas Student

For ARC purposes, an overseas student is defined as any overseas person who studies in Australia under a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa with the exception of:

• AusAID students;
• Exchange students in secondary schools (tertiary exchange students should be included);
• Overseas students approved by the Minister for Defence to undertake a course of study or training under a scholarship scheme or training programme approved by the Minister for Defence;
• Overseas students approved under another scholarship scheme, or an exchange scheme, sponsored by the Australian Government to undertake a course of study or training in Australia; and
• Dependants of primary student visa holders.

Enrolments for any of the above 5 student types are referred to as non-ESOS and are identified within PRISMS based on visa information received from DIAC.  Once identified, non-ESOS CoEs are cancelled and excluded from the ARC exports and the ARC calculation.   If you become aware that an existing student belongs to one of the 5 groups described above or moves onto a non student visa (such as a permanent resident visa), you can use PRISMS to report that the student no longer holds a student visa (SCV 17).  This will result in the CoE (or part of the CoE) being identified as non-ESOS and excluded from the ARC calculation. 

If you have questions regarding the ESOS status of a student/CoE or how to report ESOS status changes please contact the ARC Hotline on 1300 793 993 after 2 January 2008.

1 (or full) enrolment

• An overseas student who is enrolled and commences study in a course of 26 weeks or more duration at any time during the year will be counted as one enrolment.

0.5 (or half) enrolment

• An overseas student who is enrolled and commences study in a course of less than 26 weeks duration at any time during the year will be counted as 0.5 of an enrolment.

Proposed Course Start Date

• The date on which the student was proposed to commence study at your organisation. However, if the start date of the proposed period of study is prior to 1 January 2007, the date to be used for the proposed course start date for the purpose of calculating the ARC will be 1 January 2007. 

Proposed Course End Date

• The date on which the enrolment was proposed to end when the student was first issued with their confirmation of enrolment.  However, if the proposed end date of the period of study is after 31 December 2007 (for example, 15 February 2008), the date to be used for the proposed course end date for the purpose of calculating the ARC will be 31 December 2007.  

Enrolment duration

• The difference between the proposed course start and proposed course end dates in weeks.

Multiple enrolments in the same course

• If a student has more than one CoE (i.e. enrolment) in the same course, the CoEs can be merged. The relevant dates to be used to determine if the 2007 enrolment is a full or half enrolment are the earliest commencement date or 1 January 2007 (whichever is the latest) and the proposed end date corresponding to the most recently created CoE, or 31 December 2007 (whichever is the earliest). 
  
  Note: The PRISMS “ARC Enrolments by Student by Course” Export determines this for you automatically.

Courses that span 2 or more years

An overseas student enrolled in a course that spans 2 or more years is counted as being enrolled in each of those years.  The proposed course start date and proposed course end date to be used to calculate the enrolment duration are defined above.

 

Using the above definitions, PRISMS will automatically determine which CoEs for your organisation are in-scope for the 2008 ARC calculation (i.e. those that indicate that a student undertook a period of study at your organisation during 2007).  The proposed study duration and enrolment type (either full or half) is then determined.  This information is available for you to view (either in raw data format or rolled up to represent enrolments per student per course) via the ARC exports within the reporting module of PRISMS.  

These PRISMS based enrolment figures, along with the corresponding ARC amount payable, will be displayed within AEI on-line for you to review.  You can accept these figures and pay the corresponding ARC amount, or opt to enter your own enrolment data based on your own in-house records.  If you choose to enter your own data AEI on-line will re-calculate your ARC amount payable based on these figures.

 

Overview

DEEWR will be sending an “ARC Notice” email to the Principal Executive Officer and any registered e-business contacts for your organisation in mid-January 2008. This email will contain a link to ARC payment screens within AEI-Online that are specific for your organisation. It will also contain instructions for verifying/entering required enrolment data and finalising payment of the ARC.

Payment Step	Screen(s)
1.       Sign-in to AEI-Online	In order to complete your ARC payment you will need to sign-in to AEI as either an existing or new user.  This is so that we have a record of who made the payment for your organisation.  If you have accessed AEI before all you need to do is enter your email address and password.  If you can’t remember your password you can opt to have a new one sent to you.  If you are a new user you will need to register with AEI on-line, after which you will be able to logon.
2.       Check your organisation details	The organisation screen will be used to confirm that we have the correct details for your organisation and to ensure that your ARC payment is correctly linked to your organisation.  You will be required to review the information relating to your organisation before progressing to the next screen.
3.       Check your enrolment figures and ARC amount payable	The enrolment screen will display PRISMS-based enrolment information showing the number of students that studied at your organisation during 2007, along with the corresponding ARC amount owing.  You will have the choice of either accepting these figures and creating your ARC invoice based on these or entering your own in-house enrolment figures and re-calculating your ARC amount owed.  Please also be aware that 2008 will be the last year in which you will be able to enter your own enrolment data for the purposes of determining your ARC.  From 2009 onwards all ARC calculations will be based on PRISMS enrolment data.  If you do choose to input your own in-house data this year you will need to keep copies of your enrolment records that clearly show how your figures have been derived.
4.       Confirm enrolment figures and create your ARC Invoice	The confirmation screen will display your final enrolment figures and associated ARC amount payable.  Continuing on from this screen will result in your ARC invoice being created and the payment screens being displayed.
5.       Make your ARC Payment	The payment screens displayed will depend on the payment type you select, options include:- Credit Card – either on-line or off-line Direct Debit (EFT) Cheque or Money Order Note – while you must use AEI-Online to record your payment details, you have the choice of making your payment either on-line or off-line.  It is important that you decide on the method of payment for your organisation BEFORE you commence the payment process.

For 2008 the ARC calculation will be based on the 2008 charges of a $334.00 base fee and $29.00 per full enrolment.

Please note:

• Even if you had no overseas students in 2007 you will still need to record this information in AEI-Online and generate an invoice. However, only the 2008 ARC base fee of $334 will be payable.
• The ARC is not subject to GST.

Payment Options

On-line Payments

You will be able to make your payment online by credit card using VISA or MasterCard only. To ensure the security of online transactions, credit card details are encrypted and processed through a secure payment gateway provided by Verisign.

Online payment is the Department’s preferred payment method.

Off-line payments

If you are paying offline, you will have the option of paying by:

• Credit card
• Cheque or money order; or
• Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) or direct deposit.

Instructions for making payments are provided when you enter AEI-Online.

Paying for multiple registrations
(Note – this option is only available if paying offline)

If you are responsible for multiple CRICOS registrations, you will be sent a separate email for each registration in mid-January 2008. If you are making a single payment for several registrations, you will need to:

• Access AEI-Online separately for each registration using the link provided in each email;
• Record the enrolment details and process the payment for each registration separately;
• Print the invoice for each registration; and
• Attach all the invoices to the payment for forwarding to the Department at the address given on the invoice.

Receipts

Please note that receipts will not be issued unless requested. If you are paying online, you can print a copy of the receipt when you have completed your payment. If you are paying offline, please print the invoice and annotate as a record of your payment.

 

 

 

A late payment penalty will apply to all payments received after the due date of 29 February 2008. The late payment penalty is imposed by section 172 of the ESOS Act, and will be automatically calculated when you make your payment.
It is calculated using the following formula:

Late payment penalty = [ARC payable x 20% x (no. of days after 29/02/2008)] divided by 365,

 

 

An audit of 2008 payments will be conducted. You may find it useful to retain a copy of your calculations for audit purposes.

 

 

Further Information 

 

 

 

Q: Will DEEWR be auditing providers’ enrolment figures?

A: Yes, DEEWR will be undertaking an audit of the 2008 ARC process.

Q: I didn’t have any overseas students in 2007, do I still need to pay the ARC?

A: All providers registered or suspended on CRICOS on 1 January 2008 must pay the ARC. If you had no overseas students in 2007, you will pay the base fee of $334.00 only.

Q: Why is DEEWR requiring that enrolments in courses that are  26 weeks or more count for twice as much as enrolments in courses that are less than 26 weeks?

A: Section 5(4) of the ESOS (Registration Charges) Act 1997 specifies that a course of at least 26 weeks duration counts as one enrolment and a course of less than 26 weeks duration counts as 0.5 of an enrolment.

Q: What if a student is enrolled in a course for only a few days?

A: The ESOS (Registration Charges) Act 1997 specifies that an enrolment should be counted if an overseas student is enrolled in a course at any time during the year. The period of study may have only been a few days, however the relevant information is whether the proposed period of study as recorded on the CoE was for more or less than 26 weeks.

Q: What if a student changes courses?

A: If an overseas student changed course in 2007, each course that they actually undertook study in will be counted as an enrolment with the proposed length of enrolment for each course being used to determine whether 0.5 or 1 enrolment is recorded for each course.

Q: What if a student re-enrols in the same course?

A: If an overseas student re-enrolled in the same course (that is, with the same CRICOS course code) in 2007, a single enrolment will be counted. The total proposed length of all the student’s enrolments in that course will determine whether 0.5 or 1 enrolment should be recorded. The relevant dates to be used to determine if the enrolment is a full or half enrolment are the earliest proposed course start date or 1 January 2007 (whichever is the latest) and the proposed course end date corresponding to the most recently created CoE, or 31 December 2007 (whichever is the earliest).

Note: The PRISMS ARC Calculation by Student Export does this for you automatically.