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Important information if you receive Government student payments
The Australian Government is changing the way student information is collected from universities. These changes may impact your Government funded student payment.
The University of Sydney is required to submit regular data reports about its students to the Australian Government. Changes to the way this is done aim to improve this process and allow student information to be provided to the Government more frequently.
This means it is important for you to make any necessary changes to your study as early as possible in Sydney Student, and also tell the Australian Government about any changes within 14 days.
What you need to do
If you’re currently receiving a student payment from the Australian Government (such as Youth Allowance, Austudy or ABSTUDY), it’s important you keep your details, including your enrolment status, up-to-date. This will ensure that any benefits you receive or obligations you may have are correctly met.
What changes matter
Changes that may impact your student payments include:
- suspending your studies
- discontinuing your course
- discontinuing a unit of study
- changing your course
- changing your study load
- changes to your scholarship payments.
Updating your details
We recommend you make any necessary changes to your study as early as possible in Sydney Student. This means we can process these changes as early as possible, and the information the University reports to the Government is up to date. You also need to be aware of the final deadline to make these changes, which will often be the census date.
In addition, it’s also important you tell the Government about your changes to your enrolment within 14 days of the change. If you don’t, you may get an overpayment which you’ll need to pay back to the Government. Find out more on the Services Australia (formerly known as the Department of Human Services) website.
What does the Australian Government do with my information?
Services Australia uses your student information to assess your eligibility and assist with the administration of your student payments, such as Youth Allowance, Austudy and ABSTUDY.
Once your student payment claim is received, Services Australia will pre-populate your enrolment information with your online claim. All the unit of study enrolment information reported for a Centrelink customer will be visible to Services Australia, including intensive units taken over the summer or winter break.
Student payment review
Services Australia will contact you if the information provided to the Government identifies there is a potential impact on your student payments. You will also be sent a letter to your myGov inbox asking to complete an online study review. This will allow you to confirm the information received by the Government is correct and provide further updates to your individual circumstances, for example if you have reduced your full time study load due to a medical condition.
As part of the student payment review, you will need to provide supporting documents to Services Australia. This may include:
- an unofficial academic transcript
- current proof of enrolment (enrolment certificate)
- Centrelink medical certificate.
Visit Services Australia for more information.
Last updated: 17 October 2022
