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Australian citizens, eligible New Zealand Citizens, permanent humanitarian visa holders, Pacific engagement visa (PEV) holder and who are enrolled in an eligible course of study are eligible to use FEE-HELP providing they complete a request for FEE-HELP assistance on or before the census date of their first course in their current semester/session, and have not exceeded their HELP limit. 

An eligible course of study is a subject which is part of a program leading to a higher education award (eg Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma or Masters by coursework). Students enrolled in a non-award program are not eligible to use FEE-HELP for that course.

Permanent residents, some New Zealand Citizens and temporary residents are not eligible to use FEE-HELP. New Zealand citizens can visit this   to check whether they meet the eligibility requirements.

Your income and assets do not affect your eligibility for FEE-HELP. Your income may result in you being required to start to repay your FEE-HELP debt.

From 1 January 2021, new higher education students will need a Unique Student Identifier (USI) in order to be eligible for a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) or Commonwealth financial assistance HECS-HELP, FEE-HELP and OS-HELP. For more information, please visit - Unique Student Identifier.

If you are eligible for FEE-HELP assistance and would like to obtain a FEE-HELP loan, you should complete a Request for FEE-HELP assistance form. All FEE-HELP forms are completed through  by selecting 'Account details' from the menu list and then selecting 'eCAF'. If there is no form available on СÀ¶ÊÓƵHub and you believe that you are eligible, please contact Student Central immediately.

You must complete and submit the request for FEE-HELP assistance form on or before the census date for the course for which you wish to obtain FEE-HELP assistance. If you have not submitted a completed request for FEE-HELP assistance form on or before the census date for the course, you will not be entitled to FEE-HELP assistance for that course and the Australian Government will not pay your tuition fee for that course.

When you sign your Request for FEE-HELP assistance form, you are:

• confirming that you have read the and the FEE-HELP assistance form, and are aware of your obligations under FEE-HELP
• requesting the Australian Government to lend you the amount of the tuition fee outstanding at the census date for each course of study covered by the form and pay the outstanding amount of your tuition fee to СÀ¶ÊÓƵ on your behalf
• agreeing to begin repaying the loan to the Australian Government, through the taxation system, when your income for an income year is above the minimum repayment threshold for compulsory repayment.

You must submit your Request for FEE-HELP assistance form online through Ð¡À¶ÊÓƵHub on or before census date for the first course of study for which you wish to obtain FEE-HELP assistance.

If you have not submitted a completed Request for FEE-HELP assistance form on or before the census date, you will not be entitled to FEE-HELP for that course. The Australian Government will not pay your tuition fee for that course. 

Census date deadlines cannot be extended.

You will be asked to provide your tax file number (TFN) when completing and submitting the Request for FEE-HELP assistance form. You must provide your TFN because your HELP debt is repaid through the Australian tax system. СÀ¶ÊÓƵ will then use your TFN to provide advice to the Australian Government regarding the amount of your loan. 

If you choose not to provide your TFN, you will not be entitled to FEE-HELP. 

If you think you will not receive your TFN by the census date, you should obtain a Certificate of application for a tax file number (TFN) from the Australian Taxation Office stating that you have applied for one. You must then provide that certificate to Student Central on or before the census date. You will not be able to access a FEE-HELP loan by providing the Australia Post receipt from your TFN application lodgement.

Once you receive your TFN, you must give your TFN to your provider within 21 days or lose your access to FEE-HELP. 

You may choose to pay part of your Domestic Tuition Fees (DTF) up-front and defer the remainder through FEE-HELP. To do this, you must apply for FEE-HELP assistance then simply pay the desired portion of Domestic Tuition Fees (DTF) by using one of the standard payment methods. Any remaining amount at the relevant course census date will automatically be deferred to the FEE-HELP loan as long as you have supplied your tax file number and have not reached the HELP limit.

An invoice will be issued to you even though you have chosen to use FEE HELP. This allows you to make an upfront payment before the census date of your course/s. If you do not make a payment by the course/s census date, the outstanding amount will then be deferred through FEE HELP.

You will need to submit a new Request for FEE-HELP assistance form if you transfer from one program to another.

The HELP loan limit will be $126,839 for most students with census dates in 2025. If a student is undertaking a medicine, dentistry, or veterinary science course, the HELP limit is $ 182,172.

From 1 January 2020, the Australian Government introduced the combined HELP loan limit which is a cap on what you can borrow to cover the costs of your tuition fees for your Undergraduate and Postgraduate degrees.

• Any HECS-HELP debt prior to 1 January 2020 will not be included in the combined HELP loan limit.
• Any previous FEE-HELP debt will be included in the combined HELP loan limit.

Eligible students may borrow up to the HELP limit to pay tuition fees over their lifetime.

When you use HELP to pay tuition fees, the amount you may borrow in the future is reduced. Once you have borrowed up to the HELP limit (the indexed amount at that time), you will no longer be able to receive HELP to pay tuition fees.

Your available HELP balance is the amount you are still able to borrow under the HELP loan limit. The HELP loan limit is renewable.

If you enrol in a course of study and the tuition fee exceeds your available HELP balance, you will receive HELP assistance only for an amount equal to your available HELP balance. You will need to pay the remainder of your tuition fee direct to СÀ¶ÊÓƵ. If you do not do this, СÀ¶ÊÓƵ may cancel your enrolment as some of your tuition fee will remain unpaid. It is your responsibility to be aware of your available HELP balance and pay any tuition fees that exceed it.

You can top up your available HELP balance by making repayments on your HELP debt. This will allow you to borrow that amount again in the future by increasing your available HELP balance.

Any voluntary repayments you make will top up your HELP balance as soon as the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) tells the Department of Education about your repayments.

Any compulsory repayments will top up your HELP balance once:

• you have completed your tax return and have been issued a notice of assessment; and
• the ATO notifies the department of any repayments you made on your HELP debt.

Your fortnightly pay as you go (PAYG) repayments will not impact your HELP balance until you complete your annual tax return, and it is processed by the ATO.

For students who already have a HELP debt, only repayments made after 1 July 2019 will top up your available HELP balance.

Students can access the link for a summary of their personal details regarding Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) assistance. This can be access through the website or by going directly to the webpage. Using their Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN), Unique Student Identifier (USI) and other personal identifying data, students can view their HELP usage as reported to the Department of Education by СÀ¶ÊÓƵ and other institutions. However this may not show your most recent courses taken so please check your eCAN.

Within 28 days after the census date for the relevant course(s), СÀ¶ÊÓƵ will provide you with a electronic Commonwealth Assistance Notice (eCAN) for that course. Your eCAN will be available on СÀ¶ÊÓƵHub by selecting 'account details' from the menu and then selecting 'eCAN'. An eCAN is the electronic Commonwealth Assistance Notice which provides you with information on your FEE-HELP debt for your course(s) and may cover more than one course.

Your notice will enable you to check if the calculation of your FEE-HELP debt for the courses covered by the notice is correct.

If you believe the eCAN is incorrect, you should submit a written request to Student Central within 14 days of the date of your eCAN asking for the eCAN to be corrected. You should identify which parts of the eCAN that you believe are not correct and specify why you believe they are incorrect.

If you drop a course after the census date has passed or fail a course, you still remain liable for the debt associated with that course/s. It does not matter whether or not you attended any classes.

If you have successfully completed a course, you are not eligible to apply to have your FEE-HELP debt removed for that course.

To apply for a remission of FEE-HELP debt in special circumstances, you must apply for a late withdrawal. You must submit your application for late withdrawal to СÀ¶ÊÓƵ within twelve months after your withdrawal date.

Late Withdrawals may be granted if you encounter unavoidable and unexpected extenuating circumstances that impede your successful completion of a course where the circumstances occur or are exacerbated after the census date. Each application will be examined and determined on its merits.

You start repaying your accumulated HELP debt when your repayment income is above the for compulsory repayment. The repayment thresholds are adjusted each year to reflect any changes in average weekly earnings.

When your repayment income is above the minimum repayment threshold for any particular year, the Australian Taxation Office will calculate your compulsory repayment for that year and include it on your income tax notice of assessment.

Your compulsory repayment increases as your income increases. The more you earn, the higher your repayment. Your compulsory repayment is based on your income alone, not the income of your parents or spouse.

You must start repaying your debt when your income is above the minimum repayment threshold, even if you are still studying.

You are not charged interest on your debt. Your accumulated HELP debt is indexed annually on 1 June each year to maintain its real value by adjusting it in line with changes in the cost of living (as measured by the CPI). The indexation figure is calculated each year after the March CPI is released.