State and Territory Student Data
Every Australian state and territory has its own government student identifier. Junipa reads your school's address to work out which one applies, then shows that single field on the student record with the correct name for your jurisdiction. A school in Victoria sees "Victorian Student Number", a school in Queensland sees "Learner Unique Identifier", and so on.
The most important thing to know first: many of your students will not have an identifier, and that is normal. In most jurisdictions the number is only issued when a student registers for senior secondary study. A Year 4 student in Queensland has no LUI because Queensland has not issued one yet. Junipa never requires the field.
Which identifier applies to your school
| Your state or territory | Identifier Junipa shows | Issued by | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queensland | Learner Unique Identifier (LUI) | Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) | 10 digits |
| New South Wales | NESA student number | NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) | 8 digits |
| Victoria | Victorian Student Number (VSN) | Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) | 9 digits |
| Western Australia | WA Student Number (WASN) | School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) | 8 digits |
| South Australia | SACE registration number | SACE Board of South Australia | 6 digits then a capital letter, for example 123456A |
| Tasmania | TASC ID | Office of Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification (TASC) | 2 digits, a letter, then 5 digits, for example 16K18367 |
| Australian Capital Territory | BSSS student ID | ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies (BSSS) | Reported as 7 digits |
| Northern Territory | SACE registration number | SACE Board of South Australia | 6 digits then a capital letter |
These identifiers apply across sectors. Government, Catholic and independent schools all use the same jurisdiction identifier, because in each state it is issued by the curriculum or certifying authority rather than by the government school system. In New South Wales this is generally the case through NESA's cross sector role in the RoSA and the HSC.
The Northern Territory uses South Australia's number
The Northern Territory does not issue an identifier of its own. NT senior secondary students complete the NTCET, which the SACE Board of South Australia administers, so they receive a SACE registration number in exactly the same format as a South Australian student. If you are an NT school, the number you hold for a senior student is a SACE registration number.
Why many students have no number yet
The identifiers fall into two very different groups, and this is the single biggest cause of confusion.
Issued at first enrolment, so primary students have one:
- Victoria (VSN). Assigned when a student first enrols at a Victorian education provider, typically at Foundation, and held until age 25.
- Western Australia (WASN). Assigned from Kindergarten on registration at a school and held through Year 12.
Issued only at senior secondary registration, so younger students have none:
- Queensland (LUI). Created when the student's learning account opens, generally around Year 10 or in the 12 months before they turn 16.
- New South Wales (NESA student number). Generated through the Year 9 NAPLAN confirmation step, ready for Year 10 enrolment.
- South Australia and the Northern Territory (SACE registration number). Created at SACE or NTCET registration, around Year 10 or 11.
- Tasmania (TASC ID). Created when the student registers with TASC for TASC accredited courses, in practice Years 11 and 12.
- Australian Capital Territory (BSSS student ID). Created on entry to BSSS accredited senior secondary study.
If your school is in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT or the Northern Territory, expect the field to be empty for your primary and junior secondary students. Nothing is missing and nothing needs chasing.
The field is always optional in Junipa. It is never required to save a student record, complete an enrolment, record an adjustment, log evidence, or submit NCCD data.
How Junipa checks what you type
Junipa checks the length and the characters against the format for your jurisdiction, and nothing more. If the value does not match, you get a warning, not a block. You can always save the number you actually hold.
This is deliberate. No state or territory publishes a check digit or checksum for its student identifier, so there is no way for any system to confirm a number is genuine without asking the issuing authority. A warning tells you to look twice at a likely typing error, while still letting you record an unusual but correct value.
Two details worth knowing:
- South Australia's trailing letter and Tasmania's embedded letter are simply part of the format. They are not check digits and Junipa does not calculate them.
- Junipa stores every identifier as text, not as a number, so a leading zero is preserved.
The USI is a separate, national number
The Unique Student Identifier (USI) is a Commonwealth number issued by the Australian Government, not by your state or territory. It is required for nationally recognised training, so it applies to school students doing VET delivered to secondary students, such as a Certificate II alongside Year 11 or 12. It is not issued for ordinary school enrolment.
A student can hold both numbers at once, and they are unrelated. A Queensland Year 12 student in a school based traineeship will have an LUI for the QCE and a USI for the VET qualification. Junipa keeps them in separate fields. Never put one in the other's field.
The USI is exactly 10 characters using capital letters A to Z and digits 2 to 9, with 0, 1, I and O excluded so they cannot be misread. An example is 3AW88YH9U5. Note that a Queensland LUI is also 10 characters, so length alone does not tell the two apart. The USI is the one that can contain letters.
Where to find it in Junipa
On a student record. Open Administration > Students, select the student, and look in their details. The field is labelled with your jurisdiction's identifier name, so you see the term your staff already use.
For your whole school. Go to Admin > System > Settings > General > State and Territory Details. This is a read only summary showing which identifier applies to this campus, based on the state in your school address. Use it to confirm Junipa has picked up the right jurisdiction.
If the jurisdiction shown is wrong, the school address is the thing to correct. Update the state in your school details and the identifier field will follow.
Entering the numbers
These identifiers are entered manually today. They do not arrive automatically from your student management system, so a Wonde or TASS sync will not fill them in for you.
A practical approach for most schools is to enter them for senior students at the point where you already handle certifying authority registration, since that is when the numbers are issued and when your staff have them to hand.
Before entering a value, trim any spaces and use capital letters for the letter portion in South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
A note on accuracy
Issuing authorities change their systems and formats without notice. The formats above reflect what each authority published at the time of writing. If a number your authority has issued triggers a warning in Junipa, the number you hold is the one that counts. Record it, and let us know at support@junipa.com.au so we can check the format.