Commonwealth supported fees and payment options

Commonwealth supported places (CSP) are subsidised by the Australian Government.  Students in a CSP pay a portion of their tuition fees, called the student contribution, and the Government pays the remaining portion (Commonwealth contribution) directly to the University. Eligible students can defer payment of their student contribution to a HECS-HELP loan.

A Commonwealth supported place will be offered to domestic students who meet the citizenship and residency requirements. To be eligible for a CSP, you must be:

• an Australian citizen who will undertake at least one unit of study in Australia
• a New Zealand who will be resident in Australia for the duration of your unit of study
• an Australian Permanent Resident or Humanitarian Visa holder who will be resident in Australia for the duration of your unit of study

Your subject fee amounts (student contributions) are based on what band/subject discipline each of your subjects sits in and the credit point value of the subject.

For example, if you study a law subject (Band 3) within an Arts degree you would pay the Band 3 fee for that subject even though most of your Arts degree subjects are listed under Band 1.

See the subject fee amounts below to view your fees by year (24 credit points) and subject (3 credit points). Three credit points is the most common subject value, however you can view the credit point value and student contribution band details for individual subjects on Subject Search.

The Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) is the legislation that governs higher education funding for Australian Universities and determines the conditions for students receiving Commonwealth assistance.

In October 2020, additional eligibility conditions for Commonwealth assisted students were incorporated into the legislation when the Higher Education Support Amendments (Job Ready Graduates and Supporting Rural and Remote Students) Bill was passed by Parliament. The new requirements will be introduced from 1 January 2022 for new students.

What you need to do:
During your studies, you must meet the following conditions to maintain your eligibility for Commonwealth assistance for the duration of your program.

You must:

• be a genuine student and actively engage in your studies
• maintain a satisfactory completion rate of at least 50% of courses attempted*
• be assessed as academically suited to your chosen program of study and the courses you enrol in each Teaching Period
• maintain a reasonable study load of no more than 2.0 EFTSL (16 units) in an academic year

Students who do not meet the above requirements will no longer be eligible for Commonwealth assistance and will have their fee category changed to fee-paying for any further enrolment in their current program. Eligibility for Commonwealth assistance will be reinstated when a student has increased their completion rate to 50% or higher.

Important: courses withdrawn after the census date without academic penalty are considered ‘not successfully completed’ and will be included in calculations for assessing the 50% completion rate requirement. Courses with an incomplete grade are still in progress and are not included in the completion rate calculations.

Students Commencing a Course of Study from 1 January 2022

Continuing Students who commenced before 1 January 2022

If you are a continuing student (who commenced before 1 January 2021) studying units in disciplines with increased student contribution  amounts, you will continue paying the same amount (indexed each year) as you would have. These 'grandfathered' students contributions for 2023 are shown below.

You may be eligible to be considered a 'pre-2021 student' if:

• you commenced a course of study with a provider before 1 January 2021 and did not complete the course by 31 December 2020
• you completed a course of study on or before 31 December 2020 and, on or after 1 January 2021, you commence another course that relates to the earlier course and leads to an award that is an honours degree
• you were undertaking, in 2020, an enabling course and, on or after 1 January 2021, you commence another course of study that is leading to an award
• you were undertaking, in 2020, a course of study leading to an undergraduate certificate (UC), and, on or after 1 January 2021, you commence another course of study that relates to the UC course and that is leading to an award that is a bachelor degree.

Additional information is available on the Study Assist - Student Contribution amounts page.

Students Commencing a Course of Study from 1 January 2023

Continuing Students who commenced before 1 January 2023

If you are a continuing student (who commenced before 1 January 2021) studying units in disciples with increased student contribution amounts, you will continue paying the same amount (indexed each year) as you would have. These 'grandfathered' students contribution for 2023 are shown below.

You may be eligible to be considered a 'pre-2021 student' if:

• you commenced a course of study with a provider before 1 January 2021 and did not complete the course by 31 December 2020
• you completed a course of study on or before 31 December 2020 and, on or after 1 January 2021, you commence another course that relates to the earlier course and leads to an award that is an honours degree
• you were undertaking, in 2020, an enabling course and, on or after 1 January 2021, you commence another course of study that is leading to an award
• you were undertaking, in 2020, a course of study leading to an undergraduate certificate (UC), and, on or after 1 January 2021, you commence another course of study that relates to the UC course and that is leading to an award that is a bachelor degree.

Additional information is available on the Study Assist - Student Contribution amounts page.

You are also required to pay or defer payment of the SSA Fee by the payment due date for each study period or trimester.

If you are:

• An Australian citizen, or
• A permanent humanitarian visa holder, or
• A New Zealand citizen who meets certain criteria,

and you meet residency requirements, you may be eligible to defer payment of your SSA Fee (either in full or by part-payment) by submitting an SA-HELP form. This form must be submitted by the payment due date for the course you are currently enrolled in.

New Zealand citizens (who do not meet certain criteria) and permanent residents must pay the SSA Fee up-front.