Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF)
The SSAF contributes towards the funding for student services, support and facilities of a non-academic nature and of benefit to all students.
Since 2012, our students' contribution to SSAF has enabled Macquarie to increase and expand funding to new and existing services, activities and amenities that enrich and support our students while they complete their studies with us.
SSAF supported services are available to all Macquarie students regardless of how and where they study. We encourage all our students to engage with these services to their full advantage.
What are SSAF funds used for?
The revenue generated from the Student Services and Amenities Fee helps Macquarie provide a range of services and amenities for our students. Some of these include:
How much SSAF will I be charged in 2021 & 2022?
Student Cohort | 2021 Fees | 2022 Fees | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Per year | Per half year | Per year | Per half year | |
Undergraduate domestic and onshore international students including fully external, distance and online – Full-time | $313.00 | $156.50 | $313.00 | $156.50 |
Undergraduate domestic and onshore international students including fully external distance and online – Part-time | $232.00 | $116.00 | $232.00 | $116.00 |
Postgraduate coursework domestic and onshore international students including fully external, distance and online – Full-time | $313.00 | $156.50 | $313.00 | $156.50 |
Postgraduate coursework domestic and onshore international students including fully external, distance and online – Part-time | $232.00 | $114.00 | $232.00 | $116.00 |
Domestic and onshore international MUIC Diploma and Undergraduate Certificate students – Full-time (6 terms) | $52.00 per term | $52.00 per term | ||
Domestic and onshore international MUIC Diploma and Undergraduate Certificate students – Part-time (6 terms) | $38.50 per term | $38.50 per term | ||
Domestic and onshore international MGSM & Applied Finance Centre students – Full-time (4 terms) | $78.00 per term | $78.00 per term | ||
Domestic and onshore international MGSM & Applied Finance Centre students – Part-time (4 terms) | $58.00 per term | $58.00 per term | ||
Continuing and commencing offshore international students with unit enrolments in study periods with census date between 1 January 2022 to 30 June 2022 | $313.00 | $156.50 | $0 | $0 |
Continuing and commencing offshore international students with unit enrolments in study periods with census date between 1 July 2022 to 31 December 2022 | $313.00 | $156.50 | TBD* | TBD* |
Non-award students, including Study Abroad, Incoming Exchange and miscellaneous non-award | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
MUIC Foundation (Standard and Intensive) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
English Language Centre (ELC) students | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Open Universities Australia students | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Cross Institutional students | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Higher Degree Research students (Excluding Bachelor of Philosophy) – Full-time | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Higher Degree Research students (Excluding Bachelor of Philosophy) – Part-time | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Gifted and Talented Program | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
HSC-University Pathway for Talented Students | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Conveyancing program | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Global MBA | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Master of Business Administration (Hong Kong) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Grad Cert/Grad Dip/MAF – Melbourne only | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
*TBD = To be determined
How my SSAF was spent in 2020
With 2020 being a challenging year for students, we tailored our support offerings to assist with your studies and welfare. We also listened to your suggestions for how you'd like to see your SSAF spent and have ranked each service in line with your feedback.
Rank per student feedback | SSAF Government Category | Project or Service Spend | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Income: | Student Services and Amenities fees direct from students | $6,908,736 | |
SA-Help | $2,596,176 | ||
Expenses | |||
1 | Helping students obtain employment or advice on careers: Funding student employment service
| -$1,661,166) | |
2 | Promoting the health or welfare of students:
| -$6,023,115 |
|
3 | Helping students develop study skills:
| -$624,168 | |
4 | Providing food or drink to students on campus: Subsidising the cost of food and drink on campus | -$1,381,685 |
|
5 | Supporting overseas students with welfare, accommodation and employment services:
| -$7,816,710 |
|
6 | Helping students with their financial affairs | $ | |
7 | Providing student libraries and reading rooms for non-academic purposes | $ | |
8 | Advising students about university rules, policies and procedures | $ | |
9 | Advocating students' interests in relation to rules, policies and procedures | -$1,036,393 | |
10 | Supporting student clubs and groups
| -$331,831 |
|
11 | Caring for children of students | -$56,185 | |
12 | Supporting student sport or other recreational activities | -$985,604 | |
13 | Giving students information about orientation
| -$404,292 | |
14 | Helping students secure accommodation | -$870,896 | |
15 | Providing legal services to students | $ | |
16 | Supporting an artistic activity by students | $ | |
17 | Supporting the student media and content | $ | |
18 | Helping students obtain insurance against personal accidents | -$30,000 | |
19 | Supporting debating by students | $ | |
Total Expenses | -$21,222,045 | ||
| Total Income | $9,504,912 | ||
Net Balance | -$11,717,134 |
Italics identifies services that are available for remote and external students, delivered online = $9,500,000
How will the fee be charged?
If the SSAF fee applies to you, it will be loaded into your account the day after you enrol in individual units. The SSAF is based on how many units you enrol into per session/term.
You can find out how much SSAF you owe by checking your eStudent > My Finances
If you change your full/part-time study load after the SSAF is calculated, an adjustment will be made to the initial fee charged. The final SSAF fee you are liable for is based on your unit enrolments from the relevant study period census date.
Both up-front payments and deferral submissions to SA-HELP must be made by the relevant due dates.
How can I pay the SSAF?
Students can choose to pay upfront to the University or defer their fees to a SA-HELP loan with the Australian Taxation Office (if eligible). If you wish to pay upfront to the University using ePAY (online payment option) please select the following link from the left hand menu in the "My Finances" tab in eStudent and proceed with payment.
Alternatively, you can use one of the University's other methods of payment.
For information on paying your SSAF in 2021, please read the Department of Education's SA-HELP Booklet.
Key dates for advice and payment
The University advises you of your specific Payment Due date from your eStudent account (>My Finances menu) the day after you enrol in each unit.
You may also get email reminders from time to time sent to your Official Student Email account. You are reminded to check this email a few times a week to ensure you receive any communications from the University.
What happens if this fee is not paid by the payment due date?
Students must pay the SSAF by the relevant payment due date each session in order to avoid sanctions on their student account. Students with sanctions will be prevented from:
- re-enrolling into new units
- accessing exam results
- graduating
- accessing academic transcripts
Can I defer payment?
Australian citizens, eligible New Zealand Special category Visa holders or Permanent Residents (Humanitarian Visa Holders only) who do not wish to pay the fee upfront to the University can defer the fee through SA-HELP assistance to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
To defer the SSAF, eligible students must complete a separate 'Request for SA-HELP Assistance' form by the relevant census date.
A HECS-HELP or FEE-HELP form does not cover the deferral of the SSAF.
To lodge a SA-HELP eCAF please:
- Log in to eStudent
- Click on the 'My Offer' or 'My Finances' tab
- Click on the 'Submit new Commonwealth Assistance Form' link
- Choose the course you are currently "Admitted" to.
- Select "Add New" for SA-HELP and complete
- Once submitted, the next screen should be a confirmation one. If the form status says 'Approved' automatically, you have completed the form correctly. If not, please attempt to complete the form once again.
The SA-HELP form covers a student for the length of their admitted course, and the form need only be submitted once for each course, to defer the SSAF. If the student changes courses a new SA-HELP form will need to be submitted by the relevant census date.
Instructions on completing the SA-HELP form through eStudent.
Can I be given a refund for the SSAF?
Students who withdraw from a unit(s) after the census date, will still remain liable for the Student Services and Amenities Fee. This applies even if a refund has been given for withdrawal due to special circumstances.
If you wish to have this fee refunded, please withdraw from the unit(s) via eStudent by the relevant session census date.
Student consultation
At Macquarie University, the Student Representative Committee (SRC) has been established to work with the University on the expenditure of the fee revenue, as well as other strategic matters affecting students. As such, the SRC plays an important role in discussing funding priorities and setting future directions for the SSAF revenue with the University.
In addition, to strengthen the University's consultation process with students, Macquarie also sort feedback on SSAF funding priorities directly from students in 2019 via the SSAF Survey. This enabled the University to obtain direct comment and feedback from all student cohorts, campus and study modes. See the final SSAF Survey Report summary.
Further information on the Student Services & Amenities Fee can be found on the Australian Government Student Services and Amenities Fee Website.
What has SSAF revenue previously supported?
The table below outlines SSAF revenue and expenditure for previous years.
2019 Actual | 2018 Actual | 2017 Actual | 2016 Actual | 2015 Actual | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
INCOME | |||||
Student services fees direct from students | 5,372,223 | 4,123,098 | 4,178,796 | 4,065,716 | 3,774,424 |
SA-HELP | 2,355,293 | 2,165,022 | 2,143,987 | 1,989,277 | 1,837,966 |
Total revenue expendable | 7,727,515 | 6,288,120 | 6,322,783 | 6,054,993 | 5,612,390 |
EXPEDITURE | |||||
Food and Drink (U@MQ) | 504,163 | 525,969 | 636,613 | 587,887 | 572,644 |
Sport and Recreation (U@MQ) | 1,676,824 | 1,497,898 | 1,470,091 | 1,117,909 | 1,433,813 |
Student Engagement (U@MQ) | 892,859 | 873,279 | 848,661 | ||
Student Engagement/Social Clubs | 1,136,792 | 1,089,611 | 654,846 | 667,674 | 747,098 |
Caring for children of students (U@MQ) | 73,096 | 71,625 | 92,232 | 89,307 | 73,507 |
Legal Services | 26,161 | ||||
Promoting health and wellbeing of students | 4,694,502 | 3,969,730 | 3,345,146 | 3,189,332 | 2,746,444 |
Securing Accommodation | 428,839 | 526,759 | |||
Employment/ careers advice | 1,280,509 | 1,239,301 | 1,105,803 | 944,142 | 872,575 |
Insurance help | 33,415 | 20,000 | 22,499 | 23,000 | 25,300 |
Developing skills for study | 728,742 | 748,769 | 736,758 | 643,891 | 660,303 |
Advising on matters arising under the Higher Education providers rules - Advocacy | 930,777 | 826,800 | 850,314 | 755,809 | 665,017 |
Information to help orientation | 697,360 | 618,460 | 229,377 | 285,234 | 262,571 |
Helping meet the specific needs of overseas students relating to their welfare, accommodation and employment | 385,902 | 114,962 | 92,581 | 93,320 | 60,977 |
Total Expenditure | 12,597,083 | 11,249,884 | 10,129,118 | 9,270,786 | 8,968,910 |
Unspent/(overspent) student services revenue | 4,869,568 | 4,961,764 | -3,806,336 | -3,215,793 | -3,356,520 |
Student enquiries and feedback
For any enquiries regarding payment of the SSAF fee, please contact us at AskMQ.
If you have any feedback or wish to make recommendations for SSAF expenditure, please speak to your SRC representative.
SA-HELP Booklet
For more information on deferring the Student Services and Amenities Fee in 2021 please read the Department of Education's SA-HELP Booklet.