Census dates

The census date is important as it is your key enrolment, HELP loan and VET Student Loan deadline. Every unit (class) you are enrolled in has its own census date.

The census date is the deadline by which your enrolment and fees must be finalised. It is the last day that you can withdraw from a unit without incurring academic or financial liability, or impacts on your CSP and HELP eligibility.

Higher education

How census date impacts your academic and financial liability

There is a census date for each unit in which you enrol. If you drop a unit from your enrolment on or before the census date the unit will be completely removed from your record, you will not be charged tuition fees or have a grade applied.

If you drop a unit from your enrolment after the census date the unit will remain on your record with a 'withdraw' grade and student contribution/tuition fees will be charged. If you are in a Commonwealth Supported Place or a HELP loan recipient it will also count as Attempted and Not Successfully completed when calculating your low completion rate.

For a full list of semester census dates please refer to the important dates page.

Important information for CSP and HELP recipients

For domestic students who have government assistance, the census date is also the:

• last day you can make up-front fee payment to the University for the applicable semester;
• last day you can apply for a HELP loan for the applicable semester; and
• day you become liable for HELP debts for the applicable semester.
• last day you can withdraw without the unit contributing to your completion rate and Student Learning Entitlement.
• late day you can complete your eCAF and apply for HECS-HELP

Whether you choose to pay your fees upfront, apply for a HELP loan, or a combination of both, you are required to finalise all of these arrangements by census date.

Vocational education and training (TAFE)

The census date for a unit is the last day a student can submit their request for a VET Student Loan eCAF to defer their tuition fees using a VET Student Loan. If you have not submitted a completed eCAF on or prior to the census date, you will not be entitled to a VET Student Loan for the current unit/s.

A census date is the date by which enrolment may be cancelled without incurring tuition fees for the course or part of the course.

Census dates cannot be set any earlier than 20% of the way through the period in which a unit is undertaken (this period includes any examination/assessment periods). Census dates cannot be extended.

Tuition fees will be reasonably apportioned across fee periods throughout your course, according to the census dates.

Census dates are predetermined and you will not incur a VET Student Loan (VSL) liability until after census date.

Students should refer to their VSL Fee Notices to confirm the actual census dates and tuition fees due for enrolled units. Fee Notices are emailed to your personal email address prior to each census date and can be accessed online in your my Student Centre. It is your responsibility as a student to ensure you know what the census dates are for your units and be aware of the withdrawal and refund rules surrounding VSL eligible courses.

TAFE Census Dates