Deferring your fees (HELP)

The Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) is a set of loans funded by the Commonwealth Government, that will give access to deferred payment arrangements. The HELP scheme consists of three loans:

HECS-HELP - available for eligible students in Commonwealth supported places, to assist them with payment of the student contribution amount.
FEE-HELP - available for eligible students in both undergraduate or postgraduate programs who are paying full fees.
OS-HELP - available to Commonwealth supported students to study outside Australia.

Continuing students who currently have a HELP debt will be able to continue using HECS-HELP or FEE-HELP respectively providing they have sufficient Student Learning Entitlement or FEE-HELP balance.

Applying for a loan

If you wish to defer your fees, you are required to complete a Commonwealth Assistance Form (CAF), including your tax file number, prior to the census date of the semester you wish to start studying.

Repaying your HELP Loan

Students applying for a HELP Loan should be aware that:

repayments for all HELP loans are based on income and are made through the taxation system. You do not have to start repaying your HELP loan until your income reaches a government determined level.
all debts accrued under HELP will be indexed to the Consumer Price index (CPI).

Voluntary repayments

You can make voluntary repayments towards your HELP loan directly to the Australian Tax Office. If this repayment is of $500 or more, you will receive a bonus of 10% of the repayment you make.

These repayments are:

made in addition to your compulsory repayments
able to reduce your HELP debt immediately.

Further information

Further information about the HELP loans is available from the Study Assist website.