USI Management in aXcelerate is crucially important as each student who enrols in accredited training must have a verified Unique Student Identifier set against their contact profile for AVETMISS reporting (unless the student is eligible for an exemption). A student's USI record will contain all information relating to their training and accreditation completed from the 1st of January 2015 onwards.
When the USI Management page is opened it will list all students doing accredited training this year and the following year who do not yet have a USI recorded.
You can create and verify USIs individually, or submit a batch of students simultaneously for USI creation or verification. The system accepts a maximum of 500 students at a time in alphabetical order, so you may need to submit multiple batches of data depending on the number of student records.
Courses
Before you can access the USI Registry system, you need to ensure you have completed the following:
- Register with training.gov.au
- Hold an ABN
- Have a myGovID
- Claim your ABN in (Relationship Authorisation Manager) RAM
- Be the Principal Authority or Authorised Administrator of your RTO in RAM
- Requested for System Access Request from the USI Office (for newly registered RTOs)
Note: Please be aware that the recommended method of generating USIs is to ask your students to go online and create their own USI account from usi.gov.au and then provide you with the number that is generated.
Warning: Once a USI is verified, if the student's name or date of birth are changed in the system, their USI will no longer be verified. If students are allowed to update their own details via the student portal, clients with the Workflow Automation feature can utilise the Contact Event trigger type to notify an admin user that key USI verification details may have changed.
Enable USI Authorisation
The USI Authentication system in aXcelerate is managed through the USI Cloud Authentication & Authorisation (CAA) solution. Before you begin to configure the USI Authentication system, you will need to:
- Register with training.gov.au
- Hold an ABN
- Claim your ABN in (Relationship Authorisation Manager) RAM
- Be the Principal Authority or Authorised Administrator of your RTO in RAM
- Scroll to the USI Integration section
- Generate your Software ID
- Log in to RAM (Relationship Authorisation Manager) and follow the instructions to authorise a new cloud software notifications
- Enter your Organisation Identifier/Code
- Click Test Connection
- Click Save VET Settings
Tip: Your Organisation Identifier/Code is your National Training Organisation Identifier/Code that is available from training.gov.au. At most, it will be 6 characters long. You can set or update your ABN from the Additional Options tab of your System Settings.
Note: For information on how to get a digital identity, link your business and authorise others to act on behalf of the business, please refer to https://info.authorisationmanager.gov.au/
Search for a USI
Once you have the USI authentication method enabled, you will be able to search for the USI of a student who does not have a verified USI from their Contact Profile.
- View the Contact Profile of a student without a verified USI
- Click on the Search Icon next to the USI field
- Check the fields that you would like to include in the search
- Accept the acknowledgement
- Click Search
Tip: Surname, Date of Birth and Gender are always required when locating a USI.
Note: Locating USIs will only work if USI Authentication has been connected in your aXcelerate account.
Warning: Please be aware that if you locate a USI, the student who holds the USI will get a text message or email notifying them that someone has searched for and found their USI. This will happen in both the Staging and Live aXcelerate environments.
Update USI Creation Data
In order to create a USI via aXcelerate, the government's USI Web Service portal requires a few extra pieces of data that are not part of the normal aXcelerate contact record. This page allows you to add and modify the details of that data, which we refer to as USI Creation Data.
Most of the required student information is fairly standard including address, date of birth and contact details. In addition to standard contact information you will also require some additional information to create a USI, as listed below:
- Country of Study
- Evidence of Identity
- Preferred Contact Method
- Click the Update USI Creation data icon
- Select the student's Country of Study
- Select the Document Type for the student's evidence of identity
- Tick the checkbox declaring that you been given permission from the student to generate a USI on their behalf
- Click Submit
Tip: If there is outstanding personal information required to create a USI for a student, click the Update icon next to their name in the USI Management table to edit information on the student's contact profile.
Note: The additional data collected on this form, including personal evidence of identity information, is used only for the purposes of creating a USI via the USI Web Service portal. It is not accessible, reportable, or used in aXcelerate outside of this function and is removed once a USI has been generated.
Warning: Please ensure that you have obtained evidence of the student's consent to create a USI on their behalf before declaring that you have permission to do so.
Create USIs
aXcelerate allows you to create USIs individually or in bulk for students who are undertaking accredited training in the current or following year. Creating USIs in bulk involves creating a batch of students to create USIs simultaneously.
When the batch request is created, the system will select the first valid students, up to a maximum of 500, and submit them to the USI Web Service. Once submitted, you can check the progress by viewing Batch Request Results.
- Ensure your students have the necessary USI creation data set against their profile
- Click Submit a Batch
- View Batch Request Results to check the status of the request
Tip: USIs can be created individually by clicking Create USI next to a particular student in the USI Management table. An unverified USI can be set against a student from their contact profile.
Note: Until the necessary student data is provided, you will be unable to create or verify a USI. The outstanding student information required to be able to create a USI is listed under the Verification column of the USI Management table. You will be able to see all of the required information when updating USI creation data.
Verify USIs
The Verify tab of USI Management page will show a list of all contacts that have a USI which has not been verified. This generally includes USIs which have been manually entered in aXcelerate, either by staff or by the students through the Student Portal or online enrolment form.
Student contact records will need to have a name and date of birth before you will be able to verify their USI. When the batch request for verification is created, the system will select the first valid students, up to a maximum of 500, and submit them to the USI Web Service. Once submitted, you can check the progress by viewing Batch Request Results.
- Click the Verify tab
- Click Submit a Batch
- View Batch Request Results to check the status of the request
Tip: A student's USI can be verified from their contact page by clicking Verify next to their unvalidated USI number. USIs can also be verified individually by clicking Verify USI next to a particular student in the USI Management table.
Note: A USI that was created by the USI Web Service through aXcelerate or directly from the USI website is considered verified and does not need to be verified again. For students who have been granted an exemption and have a USI exemption code, verification must be done manually by contacting the USI office.
Warning: It is possible that a USI is valid but does not match the contact details provided. For example, if the student's name and USI are correct, but the date of birth is incorrect, "NO MATCH" will be shown next to the date of birth field. Before a USI can be marked as verified, all details (name, date of birth, USI) must match the details recorded with the USI Service.
View batch request results
Viewing batch request results will show any batch requests that have been submitted and their statuses. Specific batches can be viewed to show each of the students associated with the batch and their individual USI creation or verification results.
- Click Batch Request Results
- Click on a BatchID to view the results of the batch
Tip: The Contacts column will show the number of contacts processed in the batch. For verification batches, this column will also show the number of USIs that were verified as well as how many failed. For example, if a batch had 100 contacts and 10 of them failed, this column would read: 100: [90 / 10]
Note: A batch is automatically archived if it is older than 2 days and has no contacts that need to be cleared.
Clear a batch
Once a student is assigned to a batch, they will not be part of any other batch. This is to prevent the system from doubling up and submitting the same invalid contact multiple times.
Once the results are returned from a batch, it is the responsibility of an administrator to correct any errors encountered. For instance, you may have to double-check the student's date of birth or ask them for a different identifying document because the USI Service rejected their passport. Once the errors have been corrected, that student can either be cleared from the batch or issued their USI individually from their contact profile.
- Click Batch Request Results
- Click Clear Batch next to a particular batch
Note: Clearing a batch does not delete the batch completely. It only removes the invalid or failed students from the batch. The successful students remain, as they will not need to be part of any future batches. The failed students will then be picked up the next time you submit a batch request.
The creation and verification batches are handled separately in the system. Although it would be unlikely, a student could potentially be part of both a verification and a creation batch request.
Apply USI Exemption
Under some circumstances, students and RTOs may be granted an exemption to the requirement of having a USI. For details on exemption rules, see the USI website.
For individuals who have been granted a personal exemption, they must show the original of this notice to their training organisation. On sighting the USI exemption notice, the training organisation should phone the USI Office – 1300 857 536 to:
- Confirm that the person has in fact been exempted (to address the risk of fraudulent exemption notices being used)
- Obtain a special code the training organisation will be able to use for the purpose of AVETMISS reporting in respect of the individual instead of the USI. This code can be entered into the student's contact record along with the exemption setting.
- Update a student's Contact Record
- Click Apply Exemption next to the Unique Student Identifier field
- Enter the Exemption Code
- Select the Reason for exemption
- Click Submit
USI Management Troubleshooting
I am getting the error: Connection test failed. Unable to authenticate CAA credentials.
The Notification in the Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM) has not been correctly configured, or the Software ID was not saved in the aXcelerate System Settings correctly prior to creating the notification.
I am getting the error: The organisation was not verified as an authorised body/organisation in the system.
Your Training Organisation has not submitted the System Access Request Form on the USI website. The form can be completed and submitted to the USI Office here.
I am getting the error: 500 - Internal Server Error.
The USI Office is likely experiencing issues with their systems. You can view their status page for more information.