Defer your fees

Who is eligible?

You can defer payment of your subject and SSA Fee if you meet the residency requirements:

1. An Australian citizen undertaking, in Australia, at least one unit of study contributing to your course of study, or
2. A permanent humanitarian visa holder, residing in Australia for the duration of your studies, or
3. Certain New Zealand citizens, residing in Australia for the duration of your studies.

See the residency requirements for all HELP loans on the StudyAssist website.

The Australian Government is proposing changes to Higher Education from 1 January 2018 and to the test for Australian Citizenship (for applications made after 20 April 2017). To find out how these changes may affect you if the legislation is passed, refer to the StudyAssist and the Department of Home Affairs websites.

Who isn’t eligible?

You are not eligible to defer payment if you are:

1. A permanent resident or New Zealand citizen who doesn't meet certain criteria.
2. An international student.
3. A domestic undergraduate student, studying single subjects and not admitted to a full course.
4. An Australian citizen or permanent humanitarian visa holder, or New Zealand citizen (meeting certain criteria) who does not meet the residency requirements. See the residency requirements for all HELP loans on the StudyAssist website.

Government HELP loans to defer your fees

You can apply to defer payment of your fees by submitting the relevant forms below. It is important that you submit the correct forms according to the type of student you are.

Eligible Commonwealth supported students should:

1. Read the Australian Government’s HECS-HELP and SA-HELP booklets.
2. Submit the HECS-HELP form to defer payment of your student contributions, and
3. Submit the SA-HELP form to defer payment of your SSA Fee.

Eligible domestic tuition fee paying students should:

1. Read the Australian Government’s FEE-HELP and SA-HELP booklets.
2. Submit the FEE-HELP form to defer payment your tuition fees, and
3. Submit the SA-HELP form to defer payment of your SSA Fee.

For more information about the different HELP options, see All financial support options.

Steps to defer

Step 1

Get your Tax File Number (TFN) – you’ll need to supply it prior to the census date when submitting your HELP loan form.

If you don’t have a TFN, go to the Australian Tax Office website for the steps to apply.

If you have applied for a TFN but haven’t yet received it, you’ll need to supply your certificate of application for a TFN to the Student Centre before the census date and get advice on how to complete the relevant form.

Step 2

To defer payment of your subject fees, log in to eStudent, click on the ‘My Commonwealth Assistance’ tab and submit the relevant form:

• HECS-HELP for Commonwealth supported students, or
• FEE-HELP for domestic fee paying students – postgraduate or undergraduate (see ‘When are undergraduates not Commonwealth supported’).

Step 3

Defer payment of your SSA Fee by submitting the SA-HELP form.

If you need help submitting your forms in eStudent, see Submitting and viewing Commonwealth Assistance Form.