February 20, 2023 • 11 mins
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand has been approved as a higher education FEE-HELP provider. It’s a game changer and a big win for the future of the profession. This episode explains why, and what it means for small and medium-sized practices who are facing inflationary pressures on their costs base. Hear how CA Program candidates and aspiring members, no matter their background, can use it to become a chartered accountant. FEE-HELP will open the door to a broader and more diverse pool of talent who may have felt a career in accounting was out of their reach.
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program joins Gillian Bowen to explain.
For more information about CA ANZ and FEE-HELP
For information about accessing a FEE-HELP loan
Email: podcast@charteredaccountantsanz.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gillian Bowen, Host (00:07):
Hello, my name is Gillian Bowen, the Australian manager of
Public Affairs at Chartered Accountants, ANZ or CA ANZ. This
is Small Firm, Big Impact.
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (00:21):
CA ANZ is the largest single tertiary education course provider in
Australia and today's news means that what we can do
now is really enhance and make the CA Program accessible to
more aspiring students and future members. For growth of the
profession this is really a game changer. We do have
a number of candidates who we know have had to
pause their studies because of financial pressure. Those candidates now
(00:43):
can re-engage with the program a lot quicker than they
would have been able to do previously.
Gillian Bowen, Host (00:50):
It's the podcast giving you and your clients the up
to date information you need to do your jobs. Each
fortnight I share resources, tools and expert advice provided by CA
ANZ and a range of people across our profession. So
make sure you're following the pod in your favourite podcast
and if you've got an idea for the show email podcast@charteredaccountantsanz.com Today
(01:15):
we've got Samantha Wilson FCA. CA Program General Manager in the studio.
The topic FEE-HELP and how it can assist smaller firms.
Samantha welcomed to Small Firm, Big Impact.
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (01:27):
Thanks, Gillian. It's fabulous to be here today.
Gillian Bowen, Host (01:29):
Okay. First off, let's explain. FEE-HELP. What is it?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (01:34):
So FEE-HELP is an Australian Government Study Assistance Loan scheme.
And what it does is it helps eligible full fee
paying students to pay off all or part of their
course fees. The tuition fees at Australian universities and other
higher education providers. Okay. CA ANZ is the only professional accounting
(01:55):
body in Australia that's approved by the Australian Government to
offer these FEE-HELP loans.
Gillian Bowen, Host (01:59):
That's an important point.
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (02:01):
Yeah, that's right.
Gillian Bowen, Host (02:02):
And so perhaps we go one step back even further.
How do people become chartered accountants? I think we should
actually talk about that briefly first before we then dive
into how they may then use FEE-HELP .
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (02:16):
That's a great question. So for someone who wants to
become a CA, they need to go through the CA Program,
which is our admissions program, which then permits them to
become a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. And
that's made up of two elements. So there's an academic component,
which is our graduate diploma or the GradDipCA . And
(02:38):
that's where candidates have to complete their studies and they
complete seven core subjects and two elective subjects in there.
And then alongside that, they also complete three years of mentored,
practical experience. Once they've completed the graduate diploma and they've
done their three years of mentored practical experience, at that point,
they're then eligible to apply for membership.
Gillian Bowen, Host (02:59):
Okay, great. All right. So we've got those two bits explained.
So then how do CA Program candidates currently pay? How
did they pay before this FEE-HELP announcement was unveiled?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (03:10):
Yeah, so there was a couple of options for them. So
some of our candidates are sponsored by their employers and
they would be given an employer token and they would
pay by that employer token and then their employer would
pay for their course fees. Alternatively, they'd pay by credit card,
and that's always paid upfront when they enrol in any subject.
Gillian Bowen, Host (03:28):
Okay. Alright. So now what's changed?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (03:31):
So the big change is that CA ANZ has now been
approved by the Australian Government to offer FEE-HELP loans. So
what that means is that any eligible CA Program candidates will
be able to access a FEE-HELP loan and they'll be
able to pay all or part of their GradDip subject
tuition fees with using that FEE-HELP loan.
Gillian Bowen, Host (03:51):
That's good. Okay. We'll go into the eligibility in a second.
But when does all of this take effect.
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (03:57):
So candidates can access the FEE-HELP loans and pay for
their CA Program subject tuition fees from term two of this year.
So our enrolments open on the 20th of February (2023) and
they'll be eligible to use that from then.
Gillian Bowen, Host (04:09):
Okay, great. So really soon. So that's fantastic. So let's
talk eligibility then, because there'll be people listening along thinking, gosh,
can can I access this or do I know people
who could access this? Who is eligible?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (04:21):
Right. So eligibility is for Australian citizens and residents that
hold a permanent humanitarian visa. They're eligible to access the
FEE-HELP , subject to meeting all other eligibility requirements, and
those can be found on the Government Study Assist website.
Gillian Bowen, Host (04:38):
Okay, great. Alright, well we can put some links to
that information in the show notes so people can access it
easily and there's obviously as well information about that on our website.
I know that there'll be people listening along who will
ask the question, will people in New Zealand be able
to access it?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (04:52):
Yeah, that's that's a really good question, Gillian. So generally
New Zealand citizens and non Australian citizens won't be eligible
for a FEE-HELP loan except where they meet those eligibility
requirements as detailed on the Australian Government Study Assist website.
Now New Zealand citizens may be eligible if they're a
dual Australian and New Zealand citizen or a New Zealand
(05:15):
citizen that holds a special category visa and they meet
those Australian residency requirements.
Gillian Bowen, Host (05:20):
Okay, so there's a bit of information to understand there
about that and people can find more information about that
on our website.
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (05:26):
That's exactly right. All of this information is available on
the website.
Gillian Bowen, Host (05:29):
Right. Fantastic. Alright, so speaking of the CA Program then,
what CA Program course costs can be covered with this
FEE-HELP loan?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (05:35):
Yep. So it can be used by those eligible candidates
to cover the cost of all or part of their
CA Program GradDip course subject tuition fees. So when they're
enrolling in a subject, that's when they can use the
FEE-HELP loan. What they can't use it to cover, though,
is costs, the kind of incidental CA Program fees. So
things like laptops, textbooks, if they wanted to buy some
(05:58):
CA study master class also can't be used, we can't
use fee help to pay for CAstudy master class fees or
the foundation program module fees. So is those CA Program
subject fees.
Gillian Bowen, Host (06:10):
Okay, great. And can you do can you do a mix?
Can you do part of it with FEE-HELP, art of it,
you know, firm sponsored or part of it with your credit
card sort of thing?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (06:18):
So you can mix payments, so you can use FEE-HELP
and mix that with credit card payments, so you can pay
off part by FEE-HELP and then part by credit card.
What you can't do, though, it's not available for subjects
that a candidate is being sponsored by their employer. So
they have to be fully sponsored by the employer.
Gillian Bowen, Host (06:36):
Okay. Well, then that makes me pivot nicely to who
it is that's listening to this podcast. The majority of
people that are listening are from small or medium sized firms,
or they might be sole practitioners listening along to this.
Why should they care about this development?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (06:49):
Yeah, well, this is really welcome news for small and
medium sized practices. They're facing inflationary pressures it's a big,
big pressure on costs at the moment. And so what
FEE-HELP means is that the candidates will be able to
access that that loan program. And what that means is
that their accessibility to talent, to be able to retain
talent as part of the employer proposition is certainly going
(07:11):
to improve.
Gillian Bowen, Host (07:12):
And that has me thinking as well about attracting people
to the profession and attracting people from a range of
walks of life and different areas of the community that
may not have been looking at this. How will this
help attract people to to become CAs?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (07:29):
Yeah, So what what we have in our current candidate
cohort is it's just under half, so about 48% of
CA Program candidates partially or fully pay for their, CA Program
fees themselves. What that means is that it's previously been
out of reach for an awful lot of people. So
what this is going to do now is open the
(07:49):
door to a much broader, more diverse pool of talent,
where where a career, as a CA , just just wasn't
accessible to them. So, CA ANZ is the largest single
tertiary education course provider in Australia. And today's news means
that what we can do now is really enhance and
make this program accessible to more aspiring students and future
(08:11):
members for growth of the profession this is really a
game changer.
Gillian Bowen, Host (08:16):
Hmm. It really sounds then like it's it's creating an
opportunity for candidates who might not have considered this before
in the past.
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (08:23):
That's exactly right. Yeah. If if they couldn't afford to
do the program, this now gives them an opportunity to join.
Gillian Bowen, Host (08:29):
So what's your advice then to smaller firms who are listening
along today? And now that they have this information, what
do they do with that?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (08:36):
Yeah, so they they can look at how can they
attract talent and how do they fit that into that
employee retention and proposition and look at where they can
now attract candidates that previously wouldn't have been available. Hmm.
Gillian Bowen, Host (08:51):
Okay. So what are you expecting them to happen with enrolments?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (08:56):
Well, a couple of things. So we do have a
number of candidates who we know have had to pause
their studies because of financial pressure at the moment. .
So what they hopefully will do is look that those
candidates now can re-engage with the program a lot quicker
than they would have been able to do previously. And
also then just looking a little bit more into the
future is that hopefully will now start to see people
(09:17):
who can enter the profession and join the CA Program that
wouldn't have been able to do before. So hopefully we're
going to see an improvement, an increase in those enrollment numbers.
Gillian Bowen, Host (09:27):
Yeah, fantastic. So then it's got me thinking, how are
we getting this news out?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (09:30):
Yeah, So there's a lot of communication. We're communicating with
current tertiary students, with candidates, with employers and with our
members and also other relevant parties, people like career advisors, academics,
grad recruiters as well. So there's direct messaging going out.
We've got social media, it's on our website, we've got presentations.
(09:51):
So lots of different ways to get that news out
to people.
Gillian Bowen, Host (09:53):
Including this wonderful podcast. If you're listening long today and
this sounds like something you want someone in your circle,
your community, your family to know about - send them this episode.
They can have a quick taster and then they'll know
exactly where to go to find out more information. So
on that, if those people listening along want to find
out more or just want to know how to apply,
(10:15):
what is they? What is it they should do? What
step one for them?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (10:18):
Yeah. Best thing is to visit our website, so charteredaccountantsanz.com
and search for FEE-HELP on there and information about the
CA Program.
Gillian Bowen, Host (10:27):
Yeah great. Look, that is all we have time for.
We just wanted to give you a little taste of
this so that you could know what's happening and then
share the information around. I will put links to what
Sam has just mentioned in the show notes, so it's
easy for you to click on and find. There's also
a comprehensive Q&A document available on our website that's being
updated regularly, so I'll include the link to that too
in the show notes as well. You'll find out other
(10:49):
episodes from season three. I highly recommend you check those out.
Feel free to follow the pod in your favourite pod app,
and the podcast has an email as well, so feel
free to get in touch with any feedback or questions
you might have. podcast@charteredaccountantsanz.com . Thank you Samantha Wilson for
being our expert on Small Firm, Big Impact.
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (11:09):
Thank you. It's been fabulous to be with you.
Gillian Bowen, Host (11:11):
Bye bye.
Hello, my name is Gillian Bowen, the Australian manager of
Public Affairs at Chartered Accountants, ANZ or CA ANZ. This
is Small Firm, Big Impact.
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (00:21):
CA ANZ is the largest single tertiary education course provider in
Australia and today's news means that what we can do
now is really enhance and make the CA Program accessible to
more aspiring students and future members. For growth of the
profession this is really a game changer. We do have
a number of candidates who we know have had to
pause their studies because of financial pressure. Those candidates now
(00:43):
can re-engage with the program a lot quicker than they
would have been able to do previously.
Gillian Bowen, Host (00:50):
It's the podcast giving you and your clients the up
to date information you need to do your jobs. Each
fortnight I share resources, tools and expert advice provided by CA
ANZ and a range of people across our profession. So
make sure you're following the pod in your favourite podcast
and if you've got an idea for the show email podcast@charteredaccountantsanz.com Today
(01:15):
we've got Samantha Wilson FCA. CA Program General Manager in the studio.
The topic FEE-HELP and how it can assist smaller firms.
Samantha welcomed to Small Firm, Big Impact.
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (01:27):
Thanks, Gillian. It's fabulous to be here today.
Gillian Bowen, Host (01:29):
Okay. First off, let's explain. FEE-HELP. What is it?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (01:34):
So FEE-HELP is an Australian Government Study Assistance Loan scheme.
And what it does is it helps eligible full fee
paying students to pay off all or part of their
course fees. The tuition fees at Australian universities and other
higher education providers. Okay. CA ANZ is the only professional accounting
(01:55):
body in Australia that's approved by the Australian Government to
offer these FEE-HELP loans.
Gillian Bowen, Host (01:59):
That's an important point.
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (02:01):
Yeah, that's right.
Gillian Bowen, Host (02:02):
And so perhaps we go one step back even further.
How do people become chartered accountants? I think we should
actually talk about that briefly first before we then dive
into how they may then use FEE-HELP .
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (02:16):
That's a great question. So for someone who wants to
become a CA, they need to go through the CA Program,
which is our admissions program, which then permits them to
become a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. And
that's made up of two elements. So there's an academic component,
which is our graduate diploma or the GradDipCA . And
(02:38):
that's where candidates have to complete their studies and they
complete seven core subjects and two elective subjects in there.
And then alongside that, they also complete three years of mentored,
practical experience. Once they've completed the graduate diploma and they've
done their three years of mentored practical experience, at that point,
they're then eligible to apply for membership.
Gillian Bowen, Host (02:59):
Okay, great. All right. So we've got those two bits explained.
So then how do CA Program candidates currently pay? How
did they pay before this FEE-HELP announcement was unveiled?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (03:10):
Yeah, so there was a couple of options for them. So
some of our candidates are sponsored by their employers and
they would be given an employer token and they would
pay by that employer token and then their employer would
pay for their course fees. Alternatively, they'd pay by credit card,
and that's always paid upfront when they enrol in any subject.
Gillian Bowen, Host (03:28):
Okay. Alright. So now what's changed?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (03:31):
So the big change is that CA ANZ has now been
approved by the Australian Government to offer FEE-HELP loans. So
what that means is that any eligible CA Program candidates will
be able to access a FEE-HELP loan and they'll be
able to pay all or part of their GradDip subject
tuition fees with using that FEE-HELP loan.
Gillian Bowen, Host (03:51):
That's good. Okay. We'll go into the eligibility in a second.
But when does all of this take effect.
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (03:57):
So candidates can access the FEE-HELP loans and pay for
their CA Program subject tuition fees from term two of this year.
So our enrolments open on the 20th of February (2023) and
they'll be eligible to use that from then.
Gillian Bowen, Host (04:09):
Okay, great. So really soon. So that's fantastic. So let's
talk eligibility then, because there'll be people listening along thinking, gosh,
can can I access this or do I know people
who could access this? Who is eligible?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (04:21):
Right. So eligibility is for Australian citizens and residents that
hold a permanent humanitarian visa. They're eligible to access the
FEE-HELP , subject to meeting all other eligibility requirements, and
those can be found on the Government Study Assist website.
Gillian Bowen, Host (04:38):
Okay, great. Alright, well we can put some links to
that information in the show notes so people can access it
easily and there's obviously as well information about that on our website.
I know that there'll be people listening along who will
ask the question, will people in New Zealand be able
to access it?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (04:52):
Yeah, that's that's a really good question, Gillian. So generally
New Zealand citizens and non Australian citizens won't be eligible
for a FEE-HELP loan except where they meet those eligibility
requirements as detailed on the Australian Government Study Assist website.
Now New Zealand citizens may be eligible if they're a
dual Australian and New Zealand citizen or a New Zealand
(05:15):
citizen that holds a special category visa and they meet
those Australian residency requirements.
Gillian Bowen, Host (05:20):
Okay, so there's a bit of information to understand there
about that and people can find more information about that
on our website.
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (05:26):
That's exactly right. All of this information is available on
the website.
Gillian Bowen, Host (05:29):
Right. Fantastic. Alright, so speaking of the CA Program then,
what CA Program course costs can be covered with this
FEE-HELP loan?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (05:35):
Yep. So it can be used by those eligible candidates
to cover the cost of all or part of their
CA Program GradDip course subject tuition fees. So when they're
enrolling in a subject, that's when they can use the
FEE-HELP loan. What they can't use it to cover, though,
is costs, the kind of incidental CA Program fees. So
things like laptops, textbooks, if they wanted to buy some
(05:58):
CA study master class also can't be used, we can't
use fee help to pay for CAstudy master class fees or
the foundation program module fees. So is those CA Program
subject fees.
Gillian Bowen, Host (06:10):
Okay, great. And can you do can you do a mix?
Can you do part of it with FEE-HELP, art of it,
you know, firm sponsored or part of it with your credit
card sort of thing?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (06:18):
So you can mix payments, so you can use FEE-HELP
and mix that with credit card payments, so you can pay
off part by FEE-HELP and then part by credit card.
What you can't do, though, it's not available for subjects
that a candidate is being sponsored by their employer. So
they have to be fully sponsored by the employer.
Gillian Bowen, Host (06:36):
Okay. Well, then that makes me pivot nicely to who
it is that's listening to this podcast. The majority of
people that are listening are from small or medium sized firms,
or they might be sole practitioners listening along to this.
Why should they care about this development?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (06:49):
Yeah, well, this is really welcome news for small and
medium sized practices. They're facing inflationary pressures it's a big,
big pressure on costs at the moment. And so what
FEE-HELP means is that the candidates will be able to
access that that loan program. And what that means is
that their accessibility to talent, to be able to retain
talent as part of the employer proposition is certainly going
(07:11):
to improve.
Gillian Bowen, Host (07:12):
And that has me thinking as well about attracting people
to the profession and attracting people from a range of
walks of life and different areas of the community that
may not have been looking at this. How will this
help attract people to to become CAs?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (07:29):
Yeah, So what what we have in our current candidate
cohort is it's just under half, so about 48% of
CA Program candidates partially or fully pay for their, CA Program
fees themselves. What that means is that it's previously been
out of reach for an awful lot of people. So
what this is going to do now is open the
(07:49):
door to a much broader, more diverse pool of talent,
where where a career, as a CA , just just wasn't
accessible to them. So, CA ANZ is the largest single
tertiary education course provider in Australia. And today's news means
that what we can do now is really enhance and
make this program accessible to more aspiring students and future
(08:11):
members for growth of the profession this is really a
game changer.
Gillian Bowen, Host (08:16):
Hmm. It really sounds then like it's it's creating an
opportunity for candidates who might not have considered this before
in the past.
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (08:23):
That's exactly right. Yeah. If if they couldn't afford to
do the program, this now gives them an opportunity to join.
Gillian Bowen, Host (08:29):
So what's your advice then to smaller firms who are listening
along today? And now that they have this information, what
do they do with that?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (08:36):
Yeah, so they they can look at how can they
attract talent and how do they fit that into that
employee retention and proposition and look at where they can
now attract candidates that previously wouldn't have been available. Hmm.
Gillian Bowen, Host (08:51):
Okay. So what are you expecting them to happen with enrolments?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (08:56):
Well, a couple of things. So we do have a
number of candidates who we know have had to pause
their studies because of financial pressure at the moment. .
So what they hopefully will do is look that those
candidates now can re-engage with the program a lot quicker
than they would have been able to do previously. And
also then just looking a little bit more into the
future is that hopefully will now start to see people
(09:17):
who can enter the profession and join the CA Program that
wouldn't have been able to do before. So hopefully we're
going to see an improvement, an increase in those enrollment numbers.
Gillian Bowen, Host (09:27):
Yeah, fantastic. So then it's got me thinking, how are
we getting this news out?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (09:30):
Yeah, So there's a lot of communication. We're communicating with
current tertiary students, with candidates, with employers and with our
members and also other relevant parties, people like career advisors, academics,
grad recruiters as well. So there's direct messaging going out.
We've got social media, it's on our website, we've got presentations.
(09:51):
So lots of different ways to get that news out
to people.
Gillian Bowen, Host (09:53):
Including this wonderful podcast. If you're listening long today and
this sounds like something you want someone in your circle,
your community, your family to know about - send them this episode.
They can have a quick taster and then they'll know
exactly where to go to find out more information. So
on that, if those people listening along want to find
out more or just want to know how to apply,
(10:15):
what is they? What is it they should do? What
step one for them?
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (10:18):
Yeah. Best thing is to visit our website, so charteredaccountantsanz.com
and search for FEE-HELP on there and information about the
CA Program.
Gillian Bowen, Host (10:27):
Yeah great. Look, that is all we have time for.
We just wanted to give you a little taste of
this so that you could know what's happening and then
share the information around. I will put links to what
Sam has just mentioned in the show notes, so it's
easy for you to click on and find. There's also
a comprehensive Q&A document available on our website that's being
updated regularly, so I'll include the link to that too
in the show notes as well. You'll find out other
(10:49):
episodes from season three. I highly recommend you check those out.
Feel free to follow the pod in your favourite pod app,
and the podcast has an email as well, so feel
free to get in touch with any feedback or questions
you might have. podcast@charteredaccountantsanz.com . Thank you Samantha Wilson for
being our expert on Small Firm, Big Impact.
Samantha Wilson FCA, General Manager, CA Program (11:09):
Thank you. It's been fabulous to be with you.
Gillian Bowen, Host (11:11):
Bye bye.
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