HECS-HELP

HECS-HELP is an Australian Government loan that allows eligible Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) students to defer payment of their student contribution amount.

If students take out a HECS-HELP loan their student contribution is paid to the University by the Commonwealth and a HECS-HELP debt recorded for them with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

HECS-HELP cannot be used for additional study costs such as accommodation, text books, administrative or incidental fees.

Eligibility

To be eligible for HECS‑HELP, you must:

• be studying in a Commonwealth supported place
• You must also be either:
  • an Australian citizen who will complete some of your unit of study in Australia
  • a New Zealand Special Category Visa holder who meets the long-term residency requirements and who will be resident in Australia for the duration of your study
  • a permanent humanitarian visa holder who will be resident in Australia for the duration of your study
• Apply for HECS-HELP via the Government eCAF portal by the applicable census date
• be enrolled in each unit (subject) by the census date
• provide your Tax File Number (TFN) or a Certificate of application for a tax file number before the census date
• provide your Unique Student Identifier (USI) before enrolling
• have enough available HELP balance

Holders of other permanent visas, and New Zealand Citizens, who do not meet the above eligibility criteria, are not eligible for a HECS-HELP loan and must pay all student contributions to the University by the invoice due date.

For more information regarding HECS-HELP including eligibility and residency requirements please read the CSP and HECS-HELP information booklet, available on the Study Assist publications page.

Applying for HECS-HELP

• Find your Passkey in the email you received from ecafsystem@education.gov.au
• Go to the Government eCAF portal and login using your Passkey and date of birth.
• Follow the prompts, answer all questions and provide your Tax File Number (TFN), USI (Unique Student Identifier)
• Click Submit Form to accept your Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) and apply for HECS-HELP
• Ensure that this form is submitted prior to your first census date
• Please note that your eCAF will expire within 12 weeks so please complete this as soon as possible.

If you need assistance to complete your eCAF, or have any questions please submit an online request via our Enquiry Portal.

Eligible New Zealand Special Category Visa holders will need to apply for HECS-HELP by contacting Student HQ and providing evidence of their eligibility. Please refer to our New Zealand HELP eligibility page for further information.

Domestic cross-institutional students who are offered a Commonwealth Supported Place must complete a Request for Commonwealth support and HECS-HELP form online as part of the enrolment process.

HECS-HELP applies for the duration of your unit however, if you transfer to another unit you will need to complete a new HECS-HELP request form.

Combined HELP loan limit

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. It includes HECS-HELP, FEE-HELP, VET FEE-HELP and Vet Student Loans.

Any existing FEE-HELP, VET FEE-HELP or VET Student Loans taken out prior to 2020 will not count towards your HELP limit. Only HECS-HELP debts incurred from 1 January 2020 will be counted towards the limit.

Once you begin using your HELP loan limit, the amount of HELP you have left to borrow is known as your available 'HELP balance'. You can check your HELP balance on my HELP balance.

For 2022, the HELP loan limit is $109,206. If you plan to study medicine, dentistry or veterinary science leading to initial registration, or eligible aviation units the HELP loan limit is $156,847.

HECS-HELP upfront payment discount

Following legislative changes the HECS-HELP discount for upfront payment has been removed by the Australian Government and ceased on 31 December 2022. Enrolments in a semester with a census date from 1 January 2023 will no longer receive a discount.

There have been several iterations of the HECS-HELP discount introduced or abolished by various governments. There is currently no discount for upfront payments. A previous HECS-HELP discount was removed on 1 January 2017, and reinstated on up-front payments of $500 or more from 1 January 2021. That 10% discount has now ended with effect from 1 January 2023.