HECS-HELP is a loan available to eligible Commonwealth supported students that can be used to pay your student contribution amount. This is the portion of your tuition fees not subsidised by the Australian Government. You won't have to start repaying your loan until your income reaches a certain amount.
You can apply for a HECS-HELP loan if you're one of the following:
You also need to:
For a full list of eligibility requirements, visit the Government's Study Assist website.
cmp-callout--informational-blue
To apply for HECS-HELP, complete a Request for a Commonwealth supported place and a HECS-HELP loan form (eCAF). You can do this during enrolment by logging in to Sydney Student > My Studies > Enrolment.
You can also complete or update your eCAF after you enrol, provided it's before census. Log in to Sydney Student > My finance > Your finances > Government forms.
The first step is to request a TFN from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). It can take up to 28 days to receive your TFN. However, Australian citizens can set up a 'Strong Digital ID', and generally receive a TFN straight away.
If you've applied and didn't receive your TFN immediately, follow the steps in our knowledge article I don't have a Tax File Number (TFN), what should I do?
Creating your USI is simple and takes about 5 minutes. Once you have it, you can submit your eCAF and complete enrolment.
Yes. Provided you're eligible, you can update your eCAF to change whether or not to apply for a HELP loan. You need to do this before the earliest census date for your units of study.
You can change your payment option each session.
Log in to Sydney Student > My finance > Your finances > Government forms > Change Payment Option.
Once you've completed enrolment you'll be able to view your student financial statement in Sydney Student, which will show your HECS-HELP liability status.
After each census date you will be emailed your CAN. This is not an invoice requesting you to pay any fees to the University. It is an official statement outlining your unit of study enrolment for that session, student contribution and any HELP debt or loan fee you may have incurred.
For seven days from when it's sent, you will be able to access your CAN by logging in to Sydney Student > My finance > Your finances > CAN statements.
After this you will need to refer to the copy sent to you in the email.
Once your income reaches a certain level, you are required to start paying back your accumulated HELP debt through compulsory repayments directly to the Australian Taxation Office.
You also have the option of making voluntary repayments.
Find out how this works on the Study Assist website.
Contact us
If you're a current student, this is how you can get in touch with us
