30. HECS HELP

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30.1 - What is HECS-HELP?

HECS‑HELP provides eligible students with a loan to pay their student contribution amount for Commonwealth supported units of study.

30.2 - Who is eligible for HECS-HELP?

To be eligible for HECS‑HELP for a unit of study, the student must be:

  • an Australian citizen [HESA subsection 90-5(1)] who will undertake at least one unit of study in Australia contributing to their course of study
  • the holder of a permanent humanitarian visa, an eligible former permanent humanitarian visa holder or a Pacific engagement visa holder who will be resident in Australia for the duration of the unit [HESA subsection 90-5(1)]; or
  • a New Zealand Special Category Visa (CSV) holder, or former New Zealand SCV holder that has transitioned to a permanent resident on the pathway to Australian citizenship, who meets certain arrival and long‑term residency requirements and who will be resident in Australia for the duration of the unit [HESA subsection 90-5(2A)]. Please see [Appendix] for further information.

Further, the student must:

  • have completed, signed and given to an appropriate officer of the provider a Request for a Commonwealth supported place and a HECS‑HELP loan form on or before the census date [part 9] [HESA paragraph 90-1(g)];
  • meet the TFN requirements [part 34] or have paid their student contribution amount upfront on or before the census date [part 30.5] [HESA paragraph 90-1(f)]
  • have an available HELP balance greater than $0 [HESA paragraph 90‑1(ba)]
  • be enrolled in the unit as a Commonwealth supported student [HESA paragraph 90-1(c)]
  • be enrolled in an accredited course of study [HESA paragraph 90‑1(aa)]
  • still be enrolled in that unit at the end of the census date [HESA sub‑paragraph 90‑1(e)(ii)]; and
  • have a student identifier immediately before the census date [HESA paragraph 36-10(1)(f)]

A student is not eligible for HECS-HELP for a CSP, and therefore also cannot receive HECS-HELP assistance for a unit of study, if the unit forms part of a course of study that is, or will be, undertaken primarily at an overseas campus [HESA sections 36-15 and 90‑1(c)].

Students will need to:

  • pay their student contribution amount upfront to the provider; or
  • meet the TFN requirements so their student contribution amount may be deferred through a HECS-HELP loan, if applicable.

Australian citizenship

A student who is an Australian citizen will not satisfy the residency requirements if the provider reasonably expects the student will not undertake any of the units of study contributing to the course of study within Australia [HESA subsection 90-5(3)].

A person may automatically be an Australian citizen by birth or adoption, or after applying for Australian citizenship by descent or conferral. A person over 16 years of age applying for citizenship by conferral, will only obtain Australian citizenship after they have made the pledge of commitment and the Department of Home Affairs has issued them with evidence of Australian citizenship.

Permanent humanitarian visa, eligible former permanent humanitarian visa holders and Pacific engagement visa holders

In determining whether a permanent humanitarian visa holder, eligible former permanent humanitarian visa holder or a Pacific engagement visa holder is considered resident in Australia for the duration of the unit, a provider must disregard any periods spent outside of Australia if those periods:

  • cannot reasonably be regarded as indicating the visa holder’s intention to reside outside of Australia for the duration of the unit; or
  • are required to complete the requirements of that unit [HESA subsection 90‑5(2)].

However, a holder of a permanent humanitarian visa, eligible former permanent humanitarian visa holder or a Pacific engagement visa holder will not satisfy the citizenship or residency requirements if the provider reasonably expects the visa holder will not undertake in Australia any of the units of study contributing to the course of study [HESA subsection 90-5(3)].

For more information, see [Appendix C].

New Zealand citizenship

From 1 January 2016, certain New Zealand SCV holders are eligible for HELP loans. From 29 June 2023, certain former New Zealand SCV holders that have transitioned to a permanent resident visa on the pathway to Australian citizenship are eligible for HELP loans. 

For more information, see [Appendix F].

30.3 - Student contribution payment options

Students who are eligible for a HECS‑HELP loan may choose to:

  • make a full upfront payment by paying their student contribution amount for a unit of study; or
  • pay part of their student contribution upfront for all (or some) of their units and obtain a loan for the remainder; or
  • obtain a loan for the full amount of their student contribution [HESA section 96-1]

Although students indicate their intended payment option on their Request for a Commonwealth supported place and a HECS-HELP loan form [part 9.1], a provider can only determine a student’s eligibility for HECS-HELP (and therefore confirm that the student’s preferred payment option is open to the student) after the census date(s) for the unit(s) of study in which the student is enrolled. Any payments made by the student to the provider on or before the census date are taken into account when determining a student’s payment status.

30.4 - Full up-front payments for HECS‑HELP eligible students

Students who are eligible for HECS-HELP may still choose to make a full upfront payment of their student contribution amount for a unit of study to their provider.

TFN requirements for full up-front payments

Students who choose to make a full up-front payment of their student contribution amount are not required to provide their TFN [part 34]. If they have made a full up-front payment to their provider on or before the census date, they will be eligible to remain enrolled as a Commonwealth supported student.

However, it is prudent for students to provide their TFN, particularly if they are not certain they will be able to make a full up-front payment on or before the census date. This is because a provider must cancel a student’s enrolment in a unit as a Commonwealth supported student if the student has not made the full up-front payment for that unit and has not provided their valid TFN on or before the census date [HESA subsections 36-40(2) and 90‑1(f)].

Partial up-front payments

A partial upfront payment is a payment of less than 100 per cent of the student’s contribution amount for all units of study with the same census date. Providers may accept multiple partial upfront payments from students for units of study with the same census date.

Students who intend to make only a partial upfront payment must meet the TFN requirements [part 34]. This will enable the student to access HECS‑HELP for the unpaid part of their student contribution.

A provider determines the amount of the unpaid portion of the student contribution after the census date, which will be the amount of the student’s HECS-HELP assistance for that census date. 

A provider may pro-rate the partial upfront payments across all units the student has enrolled in on that particular census date or allocate the upfront payments in a way that best suits the provider’s business processes. The allocation method chosen may impact students who apply for a remission of a HECS-HELP debt for a unit in special circumstances.

30.5 - Deadline for up-front payments

Students may only make up-front payments on or before the census date for the unit of study [HESA subsection 93-15(2)]. A provider may ask students to pay by an earlier date for administrative purposes but, in doing so, must ensure that students are treated fairly. Any payments that a provider does accept on or before the census date count as up-front payments. While providers could set an earlier administrative payment date, providers are still required to accept up-front payments made on or before the census date, even if this is after their ‘administrative payment date’. A provider cannot cancel a student’s enrolment based on their payment status until after the census date has passed [HESA subsection 36-40(2)].

30.6 - HECS-HELP loans

Students who wish to access a HECS‑HELP loan for all or part of their student contribution amount must meet the TFN requirements, on or before the census date, in order to be eligible [part 34].

The amount of the student’s HECS-HELP loan is equal to the unpaid portion of the student’s contribution amount for the units immediately after the census date. That is, the loan is equal to the student contribution amount, minus any upfront payments made on or before the census date.

The Commonwealth will pay the provider the amount of HECS‑HELP assistance lent to the student [part 39.1] [HESA paragraph 96-1(b)].

Exceeding an available HELP balance

There is a ‘combined limit’ on how much students can borrow in government study and training loans. The HELP loan limit includes all previous FEE‑HELP, VET FEE-HELP and VET Student Loans borrowed, as well as new HECS-HELP loans from 1 January 2020.

If a student is enrolled in a unit of study where the student contribution amount exceeds the student’s HELP balance, the student will only receive HECS-HELP equal to the available HELP balance [HESA section 93‑20]. Providers are responsible for collecting the remainder of the person’s student contribution amount for the unit.

Example

Rob has a HELP balance of $2,000. Rob enrols in four units with the same census date. The student contribution amount for each unit is $600. The total amount of HECS‑HELP to which Rob is eligible for the units is $2,000, even though the total amount of student contribution amount for the units is $2,400. Rob must pay the remaining $400 up-front.

Students enrolled with multiple providers

Students who have almost consumed their available HELP balance, and who are enrolled with multiple providers or are enrolled in units, some of which are provided by OUA, must notify each provider and OUA of how much HECS‑HELP they wish to receive for each unit [HESA subsection 93‑20(3)].

In cases where a student is enrolled in multiple units with the same census date, does not have sufficient available HELP balance to cover all the units, and fails to notify their providers, the units for which they will receive HECS‑HELP will be determined according to the order in which data is reported to TCSI (e.g. date and time). Where a student does not have enough available HELP balance to cover a unit of study, TCSI will indicate that the loan has been adjusted or rejected and this information will be available to the provider via TCSI systems. Providers are responsible for recovering any outstanding student contribution amounts from students. The Commonwealth can only pay the provider HECS‑HELP up to the amount of the student’s available HELP balance.

Determining a student’s available HELP balance

A provider can undertake an entitlement search at myHELPbalance any time to obtain the student’s remaining HELP balance. The available HELP balance will be calculated when the provider has reported the student’s record to the department, and the census date has passed. Before the census date has passed, any student records with a loan attached will adjust a student’s pending HELP balance.

A student can borrow up to the amount of the student contribution amount being charged by their provider if this amount does not result in the student exceeding their available HELP balance.

The amount of HECS‑HELP loan provided for a unit of study is the difference between the student contribution amount for the unit and the sum of any up-front payments the student has made on or before the census date [HESA Division 93]. This amount should be calculated immediately after the census date for the unit. A student’s available HELP balance will be reduced by this amount.

Providers report a student’s HECS‑HELP loan through the Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI) [part 36.1] and the Commonwealth pays the HECS‑HELP amount to the provider [part 42.3] [HESA section 96‑1].

30.7 - Repaying HECS-HELP debts

A person’s HECS-HELP debt is part of their accumulated HELP debt recorded by the ATO. Individuals repay their accumulated HELP debt through the taxation system once their income is above the minimum repayment threshold for compulsory repayments [part 35.1]. They may also make voluntary repayments to the ATO.