Importing Data From NAT Files

Introduction

A NAT file import takes the files that form an AVETMISS generation and creates core data within VETtrak such as clients, enrolment and enrolled units. This form of import can serve as a jumping-off point for a much larger migration project, or can stand alone as a means to quickly and efficiently move data from your current student management system over to VETtrak.

It's important to be aware of the limitations of such an import, and the purpose of this article is to inform what data is present in a set of NAT files, how much can be imported, as well as advise what data is not present.

This article is broken up into the individual files one would find in an AVETMISS generation, and includes a description of the contents of the file as well as what we can retrieve from it. There are variations between files reported to NCVER and those that are reported to state bodies and where relevant, the additional state data is specified.

There is also a frequently asked question section that details some of the more common issues with this type of import.

File Structure

Frequently Asked Questions

AVETMISS 8 NAT Files

Below is a breakdown of each of the files that form part of an AVETMISS generation. The full specification can be downloaded from ncver.edu.au.

This list assumes files are in AVETMISS 8 format. We can also utilise AVETMISS 7 format files, and though there will be some minor variation, the vast majority of information is the same.

Organisation Details

Contains details about the organisation that delivers the training. Missing details can and often will be retrieved from training.gov.au.

Organisation IdentifierThis is your national RTO ID (may be different in QLD)
Organisation NameWill be populated in both the Legal and Trading Name

STATE SPECIFIC

Contact NamePrimary contact of the organisation
Telephone NumberTelephone number of the organisation
Facsimile NumberFax number of the organisation
Email AddressOrganisation email address (often primary contact's email)


Delivery Locations

Contains details of the various locations that your organisation delivers training. These could be physical locations with addresses, or include 'Online' locations where you deliver online learning with addresses that match your organisation's address.

Organisation IdentifierRTO ID of delivery organisation
Location IdentifierUnique code associated with the location
Location NameName of the location
PostcodePostcode of the location's address
State IdentifierState of the location's address
SuburbSuburb/City/Town of the location's address
Country IdentifierThe Location's country (usually Australia)


Program File

Contains a list of each of the Programs delivered. These will be created as either a course or a qualification within VETtrak and will be populated with data available from training.gov.au

Program IdentifierQualification or course code
Program NameQualification or course name
Nominal HoursHours associated with delivery of program


Subject File

Contains a list of all delivered units of competency or modules. This list is compared against those units that exist on training.gov.au to determine which training packages are required. Prior to importing NAT files, these training packages will be imported into VETtrak to allow enrolled units to be matched against an existing unit. If any units are not present (either because it is no longer present on TGA, or because it is a custom module), those subjects in this file will be created as modules within VETtrak at the time of import.

Subject IdentifierUnit / module code
Subject NameUnit / module name
Field of EducationField of education attributed to the unit / module
VET FlagDenotes whether the unit / module is vocational education
Nominal HoursDelivery hours, where not available this will be zero


Client Personal Details

Contains the basic details of a client that are required for reporting, and together with the next 3 files, the client and any relevant information will be populated in VETtrak.

If these files are reported to a state body, additional detail may also be present along with the below list. This will vary from state to state and includes data such as the LUI for Queensland clients, or the SACE number for South Australian clients.

Available in our help centre is an process article creating a client that details where much of this information will be populated. Whilst not all of the information in the article is present in the NAT files, it should give you a more visual representation of how these files translate into VETtrak.

Client IdentifierUnique code associated with client for reporting (Not USI)
NameClient's name in the format Surname, Given Other
Highest School LevelHighest school level attained by client (between 8 and 12)
GenderClient's gender, either female, male or other
Date of BirthClient's date of birth
PostcodeResidential address post code
Indigenous StatusCan be Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Both or Neither
Language IdentifierLanguage spoken at home where not primarily English
Labour Force StatusWhether the client is full time, part time, unemployed etc.
CountryBirth country of the client
DisabilityWhether the client has a disability
Prior EducationWhether the client has any prior educational achievements
At School FlagWhether the client is still at school
Address - SuburbResidential address suburb
Unique Student IdentifierClient's USI
StateResidential address state
Address - BuildingResidential address building (may be blank)
Address - Flat / UnitResidential address flat or unit (may be blank)
Address - Street NumberResidential address street number
Address - Street NameResidential address street name
Survey Contact StatusWhether the client can be contacted for communication


Client Postal Details

Primarily a list of ways to contact a client. Will contain postal address details as well as email, telephone and so on. This file may be present, but is not required for NCVER reporting. The number of clients present in this file when it exists should match the number of clients in the previous file.

Client identifierClient unique code
Client TitleClient title (Mr, Mrs etc)
Client First Given NameClient first name
Client Family NameClient surname
Address - Building NamePostal address building name
Address - Flat / Unit DetailsPostal address flat or unit details
Address - Street NumberPostal address street number
Address - Street NamePostal address street name
Address - PO BoxPO box, where present will overwrite above details
Address - SuburbPostal address suburb
PostcodePostal address postcode
State IdentifierPostal address state
Telephone - HomeClient home phone number
Telephone - WorkClient work phone number
Telephone - MobileClient mobile phone number
Email AddressClient primary email address
Email Address - AlternativeClient secondary email address


Client Disability

Where a client has a disability, they will have a record in this file identifying what disability they have. A client may appear more than once where multiple disabilities are present. This file may also be empty (or indeed not present at all) where no clients have disabilities.

Client IdentifierClient unique code
Disability type identifierA 2 character code indicating what disability is present


Client Prior Education

Contains the list of any prior educational achievements the clients may have. This includes things like diplomas, certificates or other achievements. Similar to the above disability file, this file may or may not be present, and may be empty dependent on whether there are clients that have prior educational achievements or not.

Client IdentifierClient unique code
Prior Education IdentifierA 3 character code indicating the level of education


This does NOT include details about what education was achieved (such as Diploma of Leadership and Management), only the level that was achieved. It also does not include detail about the recognition status (Australian, Australian Equivalent or International)

Training Activity File

This is the big one that contains details for each unit or module that has training activity recorded during the collection period. Using the details in this file, we are able to create stand alone contract (apprenticeship and traineeship) or non-contract enrolments for all recorded training.

When we look to review your data for suitability, this is the file that most often has issues, these records are imported verbatim so any issues present in the source data will likely be present in VETtrak post-import. Where issues are discovered, they will be investigated and where possible, a solution to make bulk changes will be implemented.

Where it is determined that repairing the data requires a human interaction, this will fall to you to resolve manually and every effort will be made to assist in locating those affected records as well as the steps required to correct them.

Lastly, the process article creating a client enrolment shows, excluding the optional section, the sort of data that will be populated against an enrolment retrieved from the NAT0120.

Organisation IdentifierNational RTO ID as it exists in the organisation file
Location IdentifierLocation code from location file
Client IdentifierClient unique code from client file
Subject IdentifierUnit/Module code from subject file
Program IdentifierCourse/Qualification code from program file
Activity Start DateResult start date for subject
Activity End DateResult end date for subject
Delivery Mode IdentifierCode indicating delivery (internal, external, workplace based)
Outcome ID - NationalThe outcome code (20 - pass, 60 - RPL etc)
National Funding SourceNational funding code (20 - domestic, 30 international etc)
Commencing Program IDNotes if subject is from previous year or commenced this year
Training Contract IdentifierContract code, varies for state (Regn, TCID, COT, WAAMS)
Client Apprenticeships IDClient contract ID varies for state (STA, Delta, LUI, VETA)
Study Reason IdentifierCode noting reason for study from predefined list
VET In Schools FlagWhether subject is delivered as part of school system
Specific Funding IdentifierCommonwealth funding code for national 13 funded subjects
School Type IdentifierClassification of educational institute delivering subject

STATE SPECIFIC

RTO Outcome IdentifierResult code used by RTO for the outcome recorded
State Funding SourceState funding source code for state reported subjects
Client Tuition FeeTotal of tuition fee for subject
Fee Exemption/ConcessionIndicates fee exemption or concession from predefined list
Purchasing Contract IDWhere required, this is the code of a purchasing contract
Purchasing Cont. ScheduleThe purchasing contract schedule code of the above ID
Hours attendedMay vary, generally attended hours of withdrawn outcomes
Associated Course IDVaries for state, usually ties training to awards or funding
Scheduled HoursSubject hours, usually matches hours in subject file
Predominant Delivery ModeIndicates whether delivery is internal, external or workplace

When having multiple years of NAT files imported, enrolments will be created for each year with the results present in each year. These will then be tidied up to remove units in earlier years that were later completed, whilst preserving the final outcome.

Program Completed File

Contains details of awards for clients that have completed training. Generally this will only contain full certificates as these are reported to your respective bodies. Statements of attainment are usually not reported and will not be present in this file.

Organisation IdentifierRTO ID from organisation file
Program IdentifierCourse / qualification code from program file
Client IdentifierClient unique code from client file
Date Program CompletedDate completed for the awarded course / qualification
Issued FlagIndicates whether the award has been issued to the client

STATE SPECIFIC

Parchment Issue DateDate the award has been issued when above flag is true
Parchment NumberParchment / award / certificate number
Statements of attainment are NOT included in the Program Completed file unless they are for a nationally recognised course or skill set and are reported to NCVER or state body

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my statement's of attainment be imported?

Generally not.

Statements of attainment are in most cases not reported to NCVER or the various state bodies and by extension, not included in the NAT00130. There are a 2 exceptions to this rule however; training for nationally recognised courses and completion of a nationally recognised skill set. Where an award has been created for one of these, a record will exist in the NAT00130 and can be imported as part of the process.

Should you require statements of attainment to be imported where they are not reported, then this will need to be discussed as part of the new customer process and may incur a cost depending on the scope of work required to extract them from provided files.

I have clients with no result recorded, what happens?

These units will not be imported.

Only training activity is included in the NAT files so a unit with no result, indicating that it has no activity, will not be included and not be present for the purpose of an import. This can extend further where a client has no training on any unit at all, which would mean the entire client would not be included in the import, rather than just a unit.

If these units are required then steps will need to be taken to ensure they are either present on the NAT files by way of a continuing result being recorded, or time set aside to add the missing units to the clients enrolments after they have been imported.

My old system uses classes and occurrences, can these be created?

Not from NAT files.

VETtrak has support for occurrences and classes as a way to deliver identical training over the same period of time to multiple clients at once. However, there is no data represented in NAT files that would allow for these to be created reliably.

VETtrak has 3 main types of enrolments; contract, non-contract and occurrence. Where data exists for the client apprenticeship identifier in the NAT00120, a contract will be created within VETtrak for the client and their units will be part of an enrolment within that contract. All other enrolments will be considered non-contract.

Are my client's employment details carried over?

No.

Employer details are not part of the AVETMISS specification and cannot be imported as part of the process, there are some options however.

If you are able to export data from your current system that includes the necessary employer information as well as a way to match it to a client, you can use the data import tools available within VETtrak to add the employers to the database and then link the employers to the client. Should this be required, support can be provided to guide you through the process.

Can my invoices be imported?

Not as part of the NAT files.

As above, these details are not part of the AVETMISS specification. Invoices could potentially be imported as part of a custom data import and would incur a cost.

What about my staff members?

No, as these are also not included in NAT files.

You can however, as with the client employment details above, use the importing tools within VETtrak to create the staff members. If you are able to export the list of staff members and any details you require from your current system, the client importer within VETtrak can be used to create these clients.

Have I missed anything?

Commonly after a NAT file import, there are a few questions asked regarding why this data or that is missing and this is most often because the data simply isn't in the NAT files to be imported.

If you're unsure about whether all of the data you need will be imported, ask yourself whether that specific data is reported to either NCVER or your state reporting body. If the answer is yes, then there's a better than average chance that data will be part of the NAT file import process. If the answer is no however, then that data probably isn't included and you should find some time to discuss options for getting other data into VETtrak.

There are solutions in place and steps available for a more custom import of data, though if required, a discussion should occur in advance as these will need to be scoped and cost appropriately, and performing a custom import as part of set up is more convenient than doing so after.

Conclusion

A NAT file import is an easy way to populate VETtrak with the data required to meet your reporting requirements. NAT files are the most common format of training data and as VETtrak is first and foremost a vehicle to report training activity to the government, these files can be imported efficiently and generally without major issue.

Worth noting however is that there are shortcomings to having a database created from NAT files alone. Understanding what is present in the NAT files is the first step to understanding whether additional data will also be required. If you are ever unsure, don't hesitate to ask your account manager or contact at VETtrak for further information.

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