To receive Commonwealth Assistance you must:

• be one of the following:

  • an Australian citizen 
  • a current or eligible former New Zealand Special Category Visa (SCV) holder, who meets the long-term residency requirements and who studies the entire program while living in Australia
  • a current or eligible former permanent humanitarian visa holder, who will be resident in Australia for the duration of your study
  • a Pacific engagement visa (PEV) holder, who will be resident in Australia for the duration of your study

• submit your electronic Commonwealth assistance form (eCAF) by census date
• have available HELP balance
• have sufficient Student Learning Entitlement available
• be correctly enrolled by the census date
• not undertake more than two years' worth of higher education study in 12 months unless UNSW has approved you to take on more
• have a Unique Student Identifier (USI)
• have a Tax File Number (TFN)

Important: Keep your personal information updated with UNSW, the Australian Taxation Office and the USI Registry. You may lose access to your Commonwealth assistance and have your enrolment cancelled if there is mismatched information.

You will not receive Commonwealth Assistance for post-census, late enrolment. You will be considered a domestic fee-paying student for these courses and you will not be eligible for the subsidised student contribution amount or HELP loans.

Before you apply, complete the following:

• Read your relevant HELP information booklets
• Have or get a Unique Student Identifier (USI)
• Have or get a tax file number (TFN)

To apply:

• Submit an electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form by the census date.

Commonwealth Support refers to the specific tuition type (student contribution) you will be charged during your program at university. If you do not have a Commonwealth supported place (CSP), you are considered Fee Paying and not eligible for subsidised tuition. You should refer to your letter of offer for confirmation of your tuition type.

A CSP and HECS-HELP loan are not the same thing. A CSP refers to a subsidised tuition (called the student contribution amount) and HECS-HELP is a loan you can get to pay your student contribution amount. Eligibility for a CSP and HECS-HELP are not the same.

The student contribution amount must be paid by the census date. If you are not eligible for a HECS-HELP loan you will need to organise to pay this amount upfront.

Just being eligible for a CSP does not mean that you will be offered one. You must meet the academic entry requirements. 

Your Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN) is issued each teaching period with information about your enrolment, Commonwealth Assistance status, tuition fees and upfront payments. View on myUNSW.

Information relating to Commonwealth Assistance, including upfront student contribution payments, HECS-HELP, FEE-HELP, SA-HELP or OS-HELP: 

Relevant details according to your career, e.g. Undergraduate, and the type of HELP you are receiving -

• Units of study (UOC) and course codes

• Census date

• Total Equivalent Full-Time Student Load (EFTSL) 

• Student charge type

• Liability status

• HECS-HELP assistance

• FEE-HELP assistance 

• FEE-HELP loan fee (if applicable)

• OS-HELP assistance 

• SA-HELP assistance

• SSAF amount

Note: Full tuition fees are not displayed on the CAN. The CAN is issued within 28 days after each teaching period's census date.

You are required to check your CAN for any discrepancies and you have the right to request correction of information within 14 days of the date of issue.

If you believe your CAN has incorrect enrolment details, e.g. you are enrolled in the wrong course or not enrolled in a course you are attending, and/or incorrect fees or student contribution charges, contact the Nucleus: Student Hub.

If you don’t have a record of your previous CANs, you can access a compiled list of all your Commonwealth assistance on myHELPbalance and select 'Export full statement' to see all loans recorded against your CHESSN/USI.

UNSW, in conjunction with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and the Department of Education run a TFN verification process for all students who have submitted a TFN and requested a HELP loan. 

To be eligible for a HELP loan, we must be able to verify that the TFN and personal details submitted on your Commonwealth Assistance Form, belong to you, the student. To be able to verify this information, the following details must be correct and up to date with both UNSW and the ATO: 

• Full name (including any middle names) 

• Date of birth 

• Address 

• Tax file number 

UNSW will contact you if the ATO advises us they are unable to match the information you have submitted to UNSW, for the purposes of obtaining HELP. 

If we contact you, it is extremely important that you do the following: 

• Confirm that your information (including all personal details and addresses) held with UNSW are complete and correct - myUNSW Login 

• Confirm that your information at the ATO matches with the information you have provided to UNSW - ATO Login or call 13 28 61 

• Advise Student Financials that you have: updated any personal details and/or your TFN, where applicable and the information now matches - fees@unsw.edu.au 

If you are not sure what data is missing or incorrect between UNSW and the ATO, please refer to this mismatch factsheet for guidance. 

If your TFN is unable to be verified by the ATO due to either an incorrect TFN or mismatching personal information, the ATO will not be able to store your HELP debt accurately and as such you will not be eligible for a HELP loan. 

If your TFN has not passed the ATO verification by the census date, your HELP loan will be reversed and your enrolment may be cancelled.