Introduction

The Provider Information Request (PIR) is a request for information under Section 28 of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (TEQSA Act). This document sets out the reporting requirements for the Provider Information Request (PIR) for implementation in 2022.

All data is reported in data packets, as described in this document. Each packet comprises of the data elements. Detailed specifications for each data element are available from the TCSI Support Data Element Dictionary (external link).

Data Packets

1. Course of Study Packet

2. Course Packet

3. Course on Campus Packet

4. Student Packet

5. Course Admission Packet

6. Unit Enrolment Packet

7. Full- Time Staff Packet

8. Casual Staff Actuals Packet

9. Casual Staff Estimates Packet

Note: The data packets must be reported in the above-mentioned sequence.

The preferred TCSI reporting submission method uses automated processes known as business-to-government (B2G) application programming interfaces (APIs) and authentication with PRODA (Provider Digital Access).

• PRODA is the authentication method for TCSI and facilitates secure access to government services online.

• APIs send data from a provider's student management system to the government with a minimum of manual processing and enable student management software to interact in near real-time.

For more information see Department of Education - Transforming the Collection of Student Information (external link).

Setup PRODA Integration

Before you can begin reporting data via API, you nee to have the PRODA B2B device created by logging into your PRODA account.

PRODA (Provider Digital Access) is the authentication method for TCSI and facilitates the secure access to government services online

PRODA- Provider Digital Access (external link)

Create an Individual PRODA account

To access available services using PRODA, you need to register as an individual to get your own account

Register your organisation in PRODA

To access an available service on behalf of an organisation, you must register your organisation in PRODA.

Register your organisation (external link)

Link your organisation to the TCSI service

This lets you and members added to your organisation in PRODA access TCSI services, including: TCSI Data Entry, TCSI Analytics, and myHELPbalances, as well as TCSI APIs. It may take up-to 24 hours before your organisation is linked to the TCSI service.

Adding service providers to your organisation in PRODA (external link)

Register and activate Software Instance/B2B Device

You can register a B2B Device for your organisation in PRODA. A B2B Device lets your organisation get authorised access to a service provider with a software developer product.

Managing B2B Devices in PRODA - PRODA (Provider Digital Access) - Services Australia (external link)

You can also refer to the link below to understand more about PRODA https://www.tcsisupport.gov.au/support/proda (external link)

Once you create a B2B device, you can log into the Meshed system and follow the steps below to integrate the TCSI and the Meshed systems.

To set up PRODA integration and manage TCSI reporting:

• On your Meshed platform, go to your Home page

• Click Feature Shortcuts button

• Click the quick icon for TCSI as shown below.

Open

1. To setup the B2B device in Meshed, click on Configure PRODA

2. You can now input the PRODA Device Name, PRODA Organisation ID, and PRODA OTP that you received while creating the B2B device when creating device.

3. Click Save and the “Activate” option will be highlighted to activate the device.
   
   

Open

Once done, you can click on “Get Token” to receive a response from the TCSI API service.

Notes:

• A TCSI Token Result in Green means the integration is working fine and the two platforms are successfully integrated.

• You will also receive an expiry date after the B2B device is successfully set up.

• You must reset your PRODA account before the expiry date to report the data to TCSI without any interruption.

Steps to reactivate the PRODA, once expired:

1. Log in to PRODA and go to your Organisation at: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/organisations/business/services/proda-provider-digital-access (external link)

2. Go to B2B devices and copy the existing device name

3. Remove your existing device

4. Create a new device with the same name

5. Update the device credentials at Meshed (Device name, Organisation ID, Device Activation Code (OTP)).

6. Once you save them, the "Activate" option will be highlighted and you can click here to activate the device again.

Data Recording in the Meshed System for Different Data Packets

Course of Study and Course Packets

The PIR course of study packet is used to report data on the courses of study offered by each provider

The course packet is used to report data on the courses offered by each provider. Each course packet must be linked to an established PIR course of study packet.

Important points to make the Course TCSI PIR reportable:

Mark the Course as TCSI Reportable.

Record the Course Effective From and Course Effective To Dates. The Course Effective From Date is Mandatory to be recorded for the course to be reported to TCSI.

Add the Additional Information for Higher Educational Course. This information is reported under the Course of Study packet.

Add TCSI Course Mapping.

Go to Courses >> TCSI Course Mapping >> Select the Relevant Course and click Assign Course.

This can be used to map courses with the same national code together for TCSI Reporting.

Notes:

• The courses that are marked as “TCSI Reportable” “Yes” will appear in the dropdown for you to select.

• If there is more than 1 course with the same National Code, follow the steps below to make the courses TCSI reportable;

1. Identify 1 course as the Parent or the primary course out of the courses with the same National Code.

2. Mark the Parent course as TCSI Reportable “Yes” and the Child or Secondary Courses as “TCSI Reportable” “No”.

3. Set the TCSI course mapping for these courses.

This way when you assign TCSI Course Mapping for these courses, you will see the parent course in the dropdown and the child courses appearing under it to be mapped together.

TCSI Course Mapping is crucial for reporting Course admissions in a course.

TCSI Course Mapping for courses with the same National Code

This is to be used when there are two or more courses in the system with different course codes but the same national code.

For example, two course have the Course Codes PIRTest and PIRTest2023 and the same National Code PIRTest.

Identify 1 course as the parent or the primary course

In this case, we are using “PIR Test Course” with the course code PIRTest as the parent course.

Mark the Parent course as TCSI Reportable “Yes”.

Course PIRTest will be marked as “TCSI Reportable” “Yes” and the other course PIRTest2023 will be marked as “TCSI Reportable” “No”.

Set the TCSI Course Mapping for these courses

Go to Course>>TCSI Course Mapping and Tick the checkbox “Same National Code Only”. Only the course (Parent Course) which was marked as “TCSI Reportable” will appear in the dropdown.

Select the courses and click “Assign Course” or the Green Tick Icon to set the mapping.

In the Course of Study packet, both courses will be available for you to report and the Course packet will have only 1 or the Parent Course.

However, the Course on Campus and Course admission packets will have records for both courses.

Reporting Course of Study and Course Packets

To report the data, go to TCSI tile on the homepage.

Reporting Course of Study Packet

Select the Submission Type as Course of Study PIR, select the relevant reporting period and click “View Data”.

You can then view a list of courses that you have marked as TCSI reportable with other relevant and required information recorded.

Click on

icon to check the information of the data packet before sending it to TCSI.

Click on

icon to report or send the data to TCSI.

When the data is successfully reported, TCSI response received is a UID for the record which is a unique identifier for each data record.

Click

icon to view the data that is sent to TCSI.

Click

to delete the data record sent to TCSI.

Notes:

• Once the data is reported, the Last Data Sync field is updated to the time the data is reported.

• The data for this packet can also be reported in Bulk by selecting the checkbox next to each record and clicking on Process Selected.

Reporting Course Packet

After the Course of Study (1st Packet) is reported to TCSI, Course packet can be reported. To report the Course packet, select the submission type as Course PIR , the relevant reporting period and click “View Data”

You can then view a list of courses which are linked to the first Course of Study packet.

Click on

icon to check the information of the data packet before sending it to TCSI.

Click on

icon to report or send the data to TCSI.

When the data is successfully reported, TCSI response received is a UID for the record which is a unique identifier for each data record.

Click

icon to view the data that is sent to TCSI.

Click

to delete the data record sent to TCSI.

Notes:

• Once the data is reported, the Last Data Sync field is updated to the time the data is reported.

• Where there is a Process Selected Button available for a data packet submission type, it can be used to report (post) or update the data in bulk for that packet.

• The Excel icon can be used to export the present dataset in Excel format.

Campus Packet

The PIR campus packet is used to report data on the campuses from which providers deliver their courses.

We report data in the Campus packet from the Manage Venue page in the system.

Important points to make the Campus (venue) TCSI PIR reportable:

Add Venue Effective From and Venue Effective To Dates. The Venue Effective From Date is Mandatory to be recorded for the course to be reported to TCSI.

Reporting Campus Packet

To report the data, go to TCSI tile on the homepage.

Select the Submission Type as Campus PIR, select the relevant reporting period and click “View Data”.

You can then view a list of campus or training locations that have the required information and venue effective dates recorded.

Click on

icon to check the information of the data packet before sending it to TCSI.

Click on

icon to report or send the data to TCSI.

Notes:

• Once the data is reported, the Last Data Sync field is updated to the time the data is reported.

• The Excel icon can be used to export the present dataset in Excel format.

When the data is successfully reported, TCSI response received is a UID for the record which is a unique identifier for each data record.

Click

icon to view the data that is sent to TCSI.

Click

to delete the data record sent to TCSI.

Course on Campus Packet

The PIR course on campus packet is used to report which courses are delivered from which campuses and to provide data on the features of the courses as delivered at each campus. Each PIR course on campus packet must be linked to an established PIR Campus packet and an established PIR course packet.

Once the course of study, course and the campus packets are reported to TCSI, the records for course on Campus packet will start to appear.

Reporting Course on Campus Packet

To report the data, go to TCSI tile on the homepage.

Select the Submission Type as Course on Campus PIR, select the relevant reporting period and click “View Data”.

You can then view a list of Course on Campus data available for you to report to TCSI.

Click on

icon to check the information of the data packet before sending it to TCSI.

Click on

icon to report or send the data to TCSI.

When the data is successfully reported, TCSI response received is a UID for the record which is a unique identifier for each data record.

Click

icon to view the data that is sent to TCSI.

Click

to delete the data record sent to TCSI.

Notes:

• Once the data is reported, the Last Data Sync field is updated to the time the data is reported.

• Where there is a Process Selected Button available for a data packet submission type, it can be used to report (post) or update the data in bulk for that packet.

• The Excel icon can be used to export the present dataset in Excel format.

   

Student Packet

The PIR student packet is used to report key identity, address and demographic data for students at the provider. Providers are required to report data for all domestic, overseas, onshore and offshore students enrolled in or undertaking a course of study leading to a higher education award of the organisation.

Important points to make the Student TCSI PIR reportable:

1. Data for the student packet comes from the student profile and TCSI student information.

2. Add the student TCSI Information to report the student TCSI PIR data. The data for the student packet is reported based on the student profile information and TCSI information recorded for the student.

To record the student TCSI information or make any updates:

Go to Student>> Search for the student>> Go to Student Profile>> Click on the TCSI

icon.

Click on Student Information>> Basic Information

Record the required information and click “Add” or “Update” at the bottom of the page to record the information.

Note- The student related TCSI information can be recorded at Application Step -3. The data recorded for Step-3 application stage is pre-populated in the Student TCSI information.

Reporting Student Packet

To report the data, go to TCSI tile on the homepage.

Select the Submission Type as Student PIR, and the Option as “Student Info”, select the relevant reporting period and click “View Data”.

You can then view a list of Student data available for you to report to TCSI.

Click on

icon to check the information of the data packet before sending it to TCSI.

Click on

icon to report or send the data to TCSI.

When the data is successfully reported, TCSI response received is a UID for the record which is a unique identifier for each data record.

Click

icon to view the data that is sent to TCSI.

Click

to delete the data record sent to TCSI.

Reporting Student Disability Info

To record disability information for the student, click on Student Information>> Disability Information

Any disability information recorded on the TCSI page here is also reflected on the student profile page and vice versa.

You can view the disabilities recorded for the student under the extension packet that will be reported as an with the student packet. You can view the disabilities for the student by changing the filter Option to “Student Disability Info”.

Disabilities recorded for the student before the student record is posted for the first time will be reported automatically along with the reporting of student packet itself. Once you submit the student packet, you will see the disability reported on their own automatically.

Any more disabilities recorded after thatmust be submitted by going to the reporting page and selecting the submission type as Student PIR and options as Student Disability Info.

Notes:

• Once the data is reported, the Last Data Sync field is updated to the time the data is reported.

• Where there is a Process Selected Button available for a data packet submission type, it can be used to report (post) or update the data in bulk for that packet.

• The Export Reported button can be used to export the TCSI response for the reported data in Excel format.

• The Excel icon can be used to export the present dataset in Excel format.

Course Admission Packet

The PIR course admission packet is used to report the admission of students into courses and provide data on aspects of the student's admission and engagement in the course. Each PIR course admission packet must be linked to an established PIR student packet and established course packet.

Important points to make the Course Admission TCSI PIR reportable:

TCSI Course Mapping for the course must be set

Record the student TCSI course information. The data for the student’s course admission is reported based on the information recorded for the student.

Go to Student>> Search for the student>> Go to Student Profile>> Click on the TCSI

icon. Click on Student Course Information

Select the correct course and add the course related TCSI information for the student.

Note:

The course related TCSI information can be recorded at Application Step -3. The data recorded for Step-3 application stage is pre-populated in the Student TCSI Course information. The information that is recorded during the application step-3 includes Highest Attainment Code and ATAR for the course.

Reporting Course Admission Packet

To report the data, go to TCSI tile on the homepage.

Select the Submission Type as Course Admission PIR, and the Option as “Course admission Info”, select the relevant reporting period and click “View Data”.

You can then view a list of Course admission data available for you to report to TCSI.

Click on

icon to check the information of the data packet before sending it to TCSI.

Click on

icon to report or send the data to TCSI.

When the data is successfully reported, TCSI response received is a UID for the record which is a unique identifier for each data record.

Click

icon to view the data that is sent to TCSI.

Click

to delete the data record sent to TCSI.

Reporting Course Prior Credits for a Course Admission

If there are any RPLs or Previous Course Credits for the student, they can be recorded as follows:

For 1 RPL or Credit- This can be recorded on the student course information page by ticking the checkbox Previous Study RPL or Credit Offered?

The RPL recorded here is reported along with the course admission record.

More than 1 RPL or additional RPLs- To record more than 1 RPLs or Credits for the student, go to the tab Additional Previous Study RPL or Credit Offered. Here you can record additional credits for the student for a course.

Any additional RPLs recorded on this page will need to be reported from the TCSI reporting page under the packet submission Course Admission with the option type as Course Prior Credits.

Click on

icon to check the information of the data packet before sending it to TCSI.

Click on

icon to report or send the data to TCSI.

When the data is successfully reported, TCSI response received is a UID for the record which is a unique identifier for each data record.

Click

icon to view the data that is sent to TCSI.

Click

to delete the data record sent to TCSI.

Notes:

• Any course admission which is reported to TCSI cannot be deleted without deleting the TCSI reported record. To delete the course enrolment for the student, you will need to delete the reported data first and then remove the course enrolment in Meshed system.

• Once the data is reported, the Last Data Sync field is updated to the time the data is reported.

• Where there is a Process Selected Button available for a data packet submission type, it can be used to report (post) or update the data in bulk for that packet.

• The Export Reported button can be used to export the TCSI response for the reported data in Excel format.

• The Excel icon can be used to export the present dataset in Excel format.

• The TCSI Course Mapping is mandatory for reporting data for Course Admissions.

Unit Enrolment Packet

The PIR unit enrolment packet is used to report a student’s enrolment in units of study.

Important points to make the Unit Enrolments TCSI PIR reportable:

Record the unit-related information like the Unit of study year long indicator (E622) and the Discipline Code information for the units as this gets reported under the unit enrolment packet.

To record the information, go to Course>>Subject>>Edit Subject Details>>Save

EFTSL for the units must also be specified as this is also required in the unit enrolment packet. To record the EFTSL for the units, go to Course>>Course Subject>>Search for the course from the dropdown list and click edit. Click Update details to update the information.

By default the system provides the value of 0.125000000 for the unit EFTSL.

Once the unit-related details are set, the following are important to make the unit enrolment reportable:

• Census Date: The census date for the unit must be recorded for the unit enrolment to be reported to TCSI.

• Other FEE-HELP information for the student: Record the other FEE-HELP information for the student’s unit enrolment.

To record the information related to student’s unit enrolments, go to Student>>Results>>Update Student Module/Subject Outcome

Note:

The system populates information like student status code and mode of attendance from student TCSI course information which is recorded under the TCSI icon. Other unit-related details like the fee information comes from the fee setup done for the course and the subject.

Reporting Unit Enrolment Packet

To report the data, go to TCSI tile on the homepage.

Select the Submission Type as Unit Enrolment PIR, and select the relevant reporting period and click “View Data”.

You can then view a list of Unit Enrolment data available for you to report to TCSI.

Click on

icon to check the information of the data packet before sending it to TCSI.

Click on

icon to report or send the data to TCSI.

When the data is successfully reported, TCSI response received is a UID for the record which is a unique identifier for each data record.

Click

icon to view the data that is sent to TCSI.

Click

to delete the data record sent to TCSI.

Note:

• Any unit enrolments which are reported to TCSI can not be deleted without deleting the TCSI reported record. To delete the unit enrolments for the student, you will need to delete the reported data first and then remove the unit enrolments in Meshed system.

• Once the data is reported, the Last Data Sync field is updated to the time the data is reported.

• Where there is a Process Selected Button available for a data packet submission type, it can be used to report (post) or update the data in bulk for that packet.

• The Export Reported button can be used to export the TCSI response for the reported data in Excel format.

• The Excel icon can be used to export the present dataset in Excel format.

Staff related Packets

Staff Full-Time

The full-time staff packet is used to report demographic characteristics and work classification data for each person who is an academic member of staff at a higher education provider. Each full-time staff packet contains:

• demographic data for the academic member of staff as at the last reference date

• the primary work classification data for the academic member of staff on the first reference date for the year in which a full-time staff packet was reported for that person.

Important points to make the Staff Full-Time Packet TCSI PIR reportable:

Record the staff TCSI course information. The data for the staff demographics and the is reported based on the information recorded for the student.

Go to Staff>> Search for the Staff>> Go to Staff Profile>> Click on the TCSI

icon to record the information.

Fill in the Staff TCSI information and click Add

Add the Staff Work Classification information:

Note:

At least 1 work classification must be recorded for the staff with work contract code 1 or 2.

Reporting Full-Time Staff Packet

To report the data, go to TCSI tile on the homepage.

Select the Submission Type as Staff - Full Time PIR, and select the relevant reporting period and click “View Data”.

You can then view a list of staff data available for you to report to TCSI.

Click on

icon to check the information of the data packet before sending it to TCSI.

Click on

icon to report or send the data to TCSI.

When the data is successfully reported, TCSI response received is a UID for the record which is a unique identifier for each data record.

Click

icon to view the data that is sent to TCSI.

Click

to delete the data record sent to TCSI.

For the Full Time Staff record, 1 work classification is reported with the staff packet itself. To view the work classification for the staff, select Submission type as Staff-Full Time and Options as Work Classification.

Notes:

• Once the data is reported, the Last Data Sync field is updated to the time the data is reported.

• Where there is a Process Selected Button available for a data packet submission type, it can be used to report (post) or update the data in bulk for that packet.

   

• The Excel icon can be used to export the present dataset in Excel format.

Reporting more than 1 work classification for the member of the staff

Go to Staff>>Staff Profile>>Click on TCSI icon>>Add New Work Classification

Fill in the details for the new work classification and click Save Work Classification.

The new work classification will appear in the TCSI reporting page under the Staff-Full Time Work classification:

Reporting the new work classification will appear as a reported record.

Click on

icon to check the information of the data packet before sending it to TCSI.

Click on

icon to report or send the data to TCSI.

Click

icon to view the data that is sent to TCSI.

Click

to delete the data record sent to TCSI.

Staff – Casual Actual and Estimates Packets

The casual staff estimates packet is used to report an estimate of the staffing resources that are likely to be engaged on a contract basis by a provider throughout the year. Data for academic casual staff estimates are collected at the institutional level.

Each casual staff actuals packet must have a unique combination of the values for:

• reporting year (E415: Reporting Year) (external link)

• work sector code (E511: Work sector code) (external link)

• organisational unit code (E510: Organisational unit code) (external link)

• function code (E412: Function code) (external link)

• current duties classification group code (E509: Current duties classification group code) (external link)

• gender code (E315: Gender code) (external link)

Important points to make the Staff Full-Time Packet TCSI PIR reportable:

Record the staff TCSI course information. The data for the staff demographics and the is reported based on the information recorded for the student.

Go to Staff>> Search for the Staff>> Go to Staff Profile>> Click on the TCSI

icon to record the information.

Reporting Casual Actual Packet

To report the data, go to TCSI tile on the homepage.

Select the Submission Type as Staff – Casual Actual PIR , select the relevant reporting period and click “View Data”.

You can then view a list of staff data available for you to report to TCSI.

Click on

icon to check the information of the data packet before sending it to TCSI.

Click on

icon to report or send the data to TCSI.

When the data is successfully reported, TCSI response received is a UID for the record which is a unique identifier for each data record.

Click

icon to view the data that is sent to TCSI.

Click

to delete the data record sent to TCSI.

Notes:

• The system will auto-group the casual staff having the same Organisational Code, Work Sector Code, Function Code, Current Duties Group Code, Gender Code and Reporting Year. If any of these elements are different for the casual staff, the record appears as a new record to be reported under the Casual Actual PIR packet.

• Once the data is reported, the Last Data Sync field is updated to the time the data is reported.

• The Excel icon can be used to export the present dataset in Excel format.

Reporting Casual Estimates Packet

To report the data, go to TCSI tile on the homepage.

Select the Submission Type as Staff – Casual Estimates PIR , select the relevant reporting period and click “View Data”.

You can then view a list of staff data available for you to report to TCSI.

Click on

icon to check the information of the data packet before sending it to TCSI.

Click on

icon to report or send the data to TCSI.

When the data is successfully reported, TCSI response received is a UID for the record which is a unique identifier for each data record.

Click

icon to view the data that is sent to TCSI.

Click

to delete the data record sent to TCSI.

Notes:

• The Casual Estimate PIR estimated FTE reference year will be auto-calculated by the system based on the casual staff information recorded.

• Once the data is reported, the Last Data Sync field is updated to the time the data is reported.

• The Excel icon can be used to export the present dataset in Excel format.