Domestic fee paying places

Financial support available

Australian citizens, Humanitarian visa holders and eligible New Zealand citizens (who meet the criteria for assistance) will also be eligible to defer their fees to a HELP loan with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

FEE-HELP: available to assist with the cost of your units of study.

SA-HELP : available to assist with the cost of the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF)

Please Note: If you are a Permanent Resident (non humanitarian) or New Zealand citizen (non eligible SCV holder), you are not eligible for any HELP loans for your studies and are required to make all payments 100% upfront to the University by the relevant session Payment Due Date.

Eligibility for New Zealand citizens

Who is eligible?

You may be eligible to access HELP if you meet the criteria below by the relevant census date:

1. Are a New Zealand citizen who holds a Special Category Visa (SCV).
2. Began residing in Australia at least 10 years ago as a child under 18 years of age, and, at that time, you did not have a spouse or de facto partner; and
3. You have been in Australia for at least:

• a total of eight out of the past 10 years; and
• a total of 18 months out of the last 2 years

Please note: if you are, or become, an Australian permanent resident you will not be eligible for this HELP assistance by the Government.

How do I know if I am a New Zealand Special Category Visa (SCV) holder?

If you are unsure if you are a New Zealand Special Category Visa holder, you will be able to check this on the Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) system, from the Department of Home Affairs.

You can also lodge a Request for your International Movement Records with the Department of Home Affairs, to check if you meet the above residency requirements (as advised in points 2 and 3). Remember requests can take between 14-28 days to be issued.

Please note: You must provide all the required documents and be assessed as eligible by the relevant census date, to be able to defer your fees for the particular session concerned. Otherwise, you will be required to make full payment of fees to the University for that session.

What do I need to do?

If you believe you meet all the SCV criteria, and you would like to request HELP assistance, you will need to do all of the following:

1. Complete the NZ special category visa holder applying for higher education loans form
2. Provide proof that you meet the long-term residency in Australia requirements. Examples of proof include:
   • Your International Movement Records
   • Australian academic transcripts (including VET transcripts) dated when you were a minor
   • School reports or certificates
   • Enrolment papers from when you were a minor
   • Australian proof of age card from when you were a minor
   • Australian student ID card or concession card
   • Stamped passport
   • Payslips or payment summaries from when you were a minor
   • Certificate of application for a Tax File Number, Tax File Number advice or notification of assessment of income tax dated from when you were a minor.
3. Complete the relevant HELP form on eStudent (if you have not done so already). You will then be advised whether or not you meet the requirements for HELP Assistance, once the University has assessed your documents.

Where can I get further information and assistance?

You can find out more or get some help by visiting Student Connect at 18 Wally's Walk, Level 2 MUSE,  raise an online enquiry through AskMQ or call  us on 02 9850 6410.

You can also find further information on this on the government’s StudyAssist website.

Who is eligible for FEE-HELP?

You are eligible for FEE-HELP if you:

• have received an offer of a domestic tuition fee-paying place for your course of study;
• enrol in the unit on or before the census date and remain enrolled at the end of the census date;
• meet the citizenship or residency requirements which means you are either
  • an Australian citizen, for students who commenced their course of study prior to 1 January 2013; or
  • an Australian citizen who will undertake in Australia at least one unit of study contributing to their course of study, for students who commenced their course of study on or after 1 January 2013;
  • the holder of a permanent humanitarian visa who will be resident in Australia for duration of the unit; or
  • an eligible Special Category Visa (SCV)  New Zealand citizen
• are not Commonwealth supported in relation to that unit;
• submit your tax file number (TFN) to the higher education provider by the relevant census date;
• have completed, signed and submitted a valid request for fee-help assistance (CAF) form;
• a holder of a permanent resident (non humanitarian) visa and you are undertaking an approved bridging course. A bridging course is typically a course allowing a student who has overseas qualifications to update their skills.
• have not exceeded the FEE-HELP limit.
• you are not eligible for FEE-HELP if after January 2012 you have commenced a new course of study and are primarily undertaking that course of study at an overseas campus affiliated with Macquarie University.

FEE-HELP limit

You are not eligible for HELP assistance if you have exceeded your HELP limit as set by the Commonwealth Government. The limit is based on the amount of FEE-HELP used from 2005 and any HECS-HELP used from 1 January 2020.

The threshold amounts for 2021 are:

• $155,448 for medicine, dentistry and veterinary science students (as defined in the Higher Education Support Act 2003) and
• $108,232 for all other students.

The threshold amounts for 2022 are:

• $156,847 for medicine, dentistry, veterinary science (as defined in the Higher Education Support Act 2003), or eligible aviation students and
• $109,206 for all other students.

Once having exceeded these limits you must pay your fees upfront to the University by the relevant payment due date for each session of study.

It is your responsibility to monitor your HELP debt. You must advise the University before the relevant session census date if you believe you will exceed your limit. You can do this by raising an enquiry through AskMQ. Please add subject line: "Attn: CommLoans Team".

Students who reach their limit will be required to pay any overdue amount directly upfront to the University.

How to check your HELP balance

You can find your total usage through the ATO website on your MyGov account or via the Government’s MyHELPbalance website. Please note it will not show your current session usage so please check your Commonwealth Assistance Notices (CANs) for your latest usage.

You will need your CHESSN to access MyHELPbalance. You can find this on your CANs or please raise an enquiry through AskMQ with the subject of "Attn: CommLoans Team" in the subject line of your enquiry.

What happens if you exceed your limit?

If you do exceed your limit, you will be required to pay the excess fees upfront to the University.  This may also mean that your account will be sanctioned and there will be restrictions placed on your enrolment and grades.

Paying Fees

Once you enrol in unit/s you can then go to the ‘My Finances’ menu in eStudent and see the information you need on how to pay your fees. Note: Invoices are not sent to students, all payment details are found in your eStudent.

It is your responsibility to

• know the payment due date and
• ensure you make full payment or make payment arrangements by the relevant due dates

What happens if I can’t pay my fees on time?

If you are unable to pay your fees by the ‘Payment Due Date’, you can still pay up until the census date however you will be charged a late payment fee of $200.

If you are unable to pay your fees in full by the relevant study period ‘census date’ this may result in:

• cancellation of enrolment in unpaid units and
• if you are no longer enrolled in any unit/s in a study period, a ‘leave of absence’ status be recorded against your admitted course. This will count towards the maximum 12month duration. If you exceed this limit, you will need to re-apply if you wish to return to studies and be subject to the new course and fee requirements at that time.

Note: If you are an eligible student and wish to defer your contribution amounts to a FEE-HELP loan, the above actions will not occur if you have supplied your Tax File Number to the University on your approved FEE-HELP eCAF by the relevant Census Date.

When is the Payment Due Date?

If you are enrolled in session based units the "Payment Due Date" is the Friday before the session begins. The "Payment Due Date" is about 4 weeks before the census date for these sessions.

Your specific Due Date will be listed on your Statement of Outstanding Charges which you can print out once you enrol into units from the My Finances menu.

Our Payment due dates page lists the payment due dates and census dates for all study periods.

How to pay your fees

You can view or email your Statement of Outstanding Charges from 'My Finances' menu in eStudent. You can also email your statement to your official student email address by:

• Logging in to eStudent
• Selecting > 'My Finances' menu
• Selecting > 'Email my Statement of Outstanding Charges'

Payment Options

Pay your fees upfront to the University

You can do this in eStudent under the My Finances menu or via one of the payment methods detailed here.

Defer your fees (if eligible)

If you are an eligible student you can defer your fees to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) through the Higher Education Loan Programme scheme (HELP).

Eligible students are:

• Australian Citizens, or
• Permanent Humanitarian visa holders, or
• New Zealand citizens who have been assessed as meeting the above eligibility criteria.

To be eligible to defer your fees you must complete the following by the relevant Census Date:

• Lodge a FEE-HELP application form (with tax file number) to defer your fees AND
• If you have an outstanding Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) you may also like to defer this to the ATO by completing a separate SA-HELP application.

For help on "How do I complete an eCAF" or to check your New Zealand eligibility, please refer to our How to complete an eCAF guide.

Note: If you have already submitted the relevant approved HELP eCAFs, this will cover your program of study as long as the program has not changed. The fee charges will be transferred from your student account approximately two weeks after each census date.

Student Services and Amenities Fee

Please note: the SSAF does not trigger into your account until one day after you action an enrolment in units. Don’t forget to check your 'My Finances' account in eStudent at this time to check how much SSAF you may owe.

The SSAF you are required to pay may vary depending on your student status and study load. The SSAF is adjusted daily in your account. You will be liable for any changes that you make to your student status and study load at the census date.

Recovery of FEE-HELP loans by the Australian Tax Office

A HELP loan is repaid through the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). You must provide your Tax File Number to the University by the census date to take out a HELP loan. Repayment will commence once your income is above the minimum threshold for compulsory payment. From 1 July 2020 the minimum HELP repayment threshold will be $46,620 with a one percent repayment rate. For information on the new repayment thresholds, please see Paying Back My Loan on the Study Assist website.

Additional financial support

Learn more about financial assistance for students and trainees on Services Australia’s website.

Income support for Masters degrees

FEE-HELP Booklet

For more information on FEE-HELP 2021, please read the Department of Education's FEE-HELP booklet.