Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) and SA-HELP

A provider may charge a SSAF to any person who is enrolled or seeking to enrol, including cross‑institutional, domestic exchange, and international students.

Where a domestic student participating in a formal exchange program declares that they will undertake units of study in Australia that contribute to their course of study, a provider can consider the legislative requirements for charging a SSAF as met.

Yes. A provider can charge a SSAF regardless of whether a student intends to use any of the services and amenities provided. However, providers must be fair and reasonable and ensure that the services and amenities are equally available to all students. For example, providers must ensure that appropriate online services are available to students studying online.

Yes. Providers may charge different SSAF amounts to different cohorts of students, including a zero amount. The SSAF is not required to be a whole dollar amount and can include cents. Providers can determine student cohorts in a range of ways, including:  

• mode of attendance (external and internal)
• type of course (undergraduate and postgraduate)  
• mode of study (part-time and full-time)  
• enrolment attributes (credit points and level of unit of study)
• delivery method (on-campus and online)  
• equity status (low socioeconomic status and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) or
• specific group (international and domestic exchange/cross-institutional).

The term “part-time basis” means a study load of less than 75 per cent of the normal full-time student load for the period to which the SSAF relates. The normal study load for a full-time student studying over a one-year period is 1.0 EFTSL.  

For example, a student who undertakes a full-time study load in Semester 1 equal to 0.5 EFTSL and a part-time study load in Semester 2 equal to 0.375 EFTSL. The total EFTSL undertaken in the reported year is 0.875. As this exceeds 75 per cent of the normal full‑time load, the student is categorised as a full‑time student for the reported year. 

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) provides advice on whether GST is payable on the SSAF. If a provider is unsure whether GST should be included in the SSAF, it should seek its own advice from the ATO. Providers can visit the ATO website and conduct a search for 'private ruling' to seek advice.

To be eligible for SA-HELP, on the day the SSAF is payable, a student must:

• be enrolled in a course of study, a bridging course for overseas-trained professionals, or an accelerator program course with a provider that charges a SSAF and offers HELP loans,
• meet the Tax File Number (TFN) requirements,
• have a Unique Student Identifier (USI),
• submit the SA-HELP electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF), known as Request for a SA-HELP assistance form, to the provider,  
• have read the relevant year’s SA‑HELP information booklet before submitting the Request for a SA‑HELP assistance form, and  
• meet the citizenship or residency requirements.

Students who are eligible to access a SA-HELP may still choose to pay their SSAF upfront.  

The SSAF payable day is the SSAF payment due date and a legal deadline. On or before the SSAF payment due date, a student must either pay the SSAF upfront, apply for a SA‑HELP, or formally withdraw their enrolment so that they are not charged a SSAF or incur a SA‑HELP debt.

Some providers may require a single payment by the SSAF payment due date, while others may divide the total amount across multiple study periods, resulting in several SSAF payment due dates throughout a year.

The SA‑HELP electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF), known as Request for a SA-HELP assistance form, is a government‑approved electronic form that a student must complete and submit to their provider on or before the SSAF payment due date to be eligible to access Commonwealth assistance for a SA‑HELP. 

It is recommended that providers use the Government eCAF system to issue eCAFs to their students. However, providers may choose to use their own eCAFs, known as non-Government eCAFs. A non‑Government eCAF must replicate the approved Government eCAF, this means all aspects of the Government eCAFs must be in a provider's non-Government eCAF, without exception. Providers should review the eCAF fact sheet, so they are aware of their obligations. Any queries regarding eCAF should be directed to the department via HEenquiries@education.gov.au.  

Yes. If a student is enrolled in more than one course of study with different providers, they are eligible to receive SA‑HELP for each SSAF. An eligible student can access SA‑HELP for as many SSAF as the student incurs. There is no limit on the number of SA‑HELP for eligible students rather, the limit is on how much a provider can charge students a SSAF for the calendar year.

No. It is not possible to remit a student’s SA-HELP debt once it has been incurred. A SA‑HELP debt can only be remitted if the student does not have a valid tax file number (TFN). The special circumstances provisions are not applicable to SA‑HELP debts.  

A student must not incur a SA-HELP debt if they have withdrawn from the course of study or paid the SSAF upfront on or before the SSAF payment due date. Providers are expected to develop their own policies in relation to the refund of the SSAF.

Providers must issue each student who has requested SA-HELP with a Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN). A student's CAN must set out the amount of the SSAF, the day the SSAF was payable and the amount of SA-HELP debt the student has incurred.

No. A student’s SA-HELP debt becomes part of their accumulated HELP debt which appears as a single amount on their annual HELP information statement. Students should refer to their CAN or access their loan history via the myHELPbalance portal and scroll down the page to the SA-HELP box to view the amount of SA-HELP debt they have incurred.

SA-HELP advance payments are made according to the UniPay payment schedule. Payments should be received in providers nominated bank account within five days of the completion of the UniPay pay run.

The department places significant emphasis on the availability of recent student liability data when assessing SA-HELP estimate and variation requests. Estimate and variation requests without a satisfactory justification, or where the student liability data does not support the request, will not be approved or may be approved for a lesser amount. This data will be sourced from the Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI) system. Providers are required to have PRODA access to be able to utilise the TCSI service. 

If a provider’s advance was less than the payable amount, the provider will be paid the amount owing. Where a provider’s advance was greater than the payable amount, the difference will be recovered from the provider’s advance payments for the current year or by a lump-sum debt invoice. Further information about SA-HELP payment and reconciliation is available on the Provider payment and reconciliation webpage.

Providers are required to submit SSAF Expenditure report to the department within six months of the end of their annual reporting period (by 30 June or 31 December, whichever is applicable). SSAF Expenditure Reporting requirements are specified in the Financial Statement Guidelines (for Table A and B providers) and the Financial Viability Instructions: Applicants and Providers of FEE‑HELP (for all other approved providers).  

Providers may spend SSAF revenue on a list of 19 allowable expenditure items as per subsection 19-38(4) of the Higher Education Support Act 2003:

1. providing food or drink to students on a campus of the higher education provider;
2. supporting a sporting or other recreational activity by students;
3. supporting the administration of a club most of whose members are students;
4. caring for children of students;
5. providing legal services to students;
6. promoting the health or welfare of students;
7. helping students secure accommodation;
8. helping students obtain employment or advice on careers;
9. helping students with their financial affairs;
10. helping students obtain insurance against personal accidents;
11. supporting debating by students;
12. providing libraries and reading rooms (other than those provided for academic purposes) for students;
13. supporting an artistic activity by students;
14. supporting the production and dissemination to students of media whose content is provided by students;
15. helping students develop skills for study, by means other than undertaking courses of study in which they are enrolled;
16. advising on matters arising under the higher education provider's rules (however described);
17. advocating students' interests in matters arising under the higher education provider's rules (however described);
18. giving students information to help them in their orientation; and
19. helping meet the specific needs of overseas students relating to their welfare, accommodation and employment.

SSAF revenue must not be spent to support a political party, or the election of a person as a member of the legislature of the Commonwealth, State or Territory Parliament, or local Government body. 

Providers are required to publish the SSAF Allocation Report outlining how SSAF was allocated and spent in a particular year and how democratically elected student representatives were consulted on the use of SSAF revenue, specifically the proceeds from any compulsory SSAF are used. The information provided in the SSAF Allocation Report does not require auditing by a financial accountant. Providers must also submit the Report to the Department by 30 June via email to SSAF@education.gov.au.

Where a SSAF allocation that does not fall within a more specific categories, ‘Key Area 8 (Other)’ may be used, provided that a description or supporting evidence are supplied.

Providers must submit data for the organisations, bodies or third-party entities that received SSAF funding. Disclosure is required where an entity received more than $1,000 in SSAF funding in the reporting year. The Report requires the total SSAF funding provided to a third-party organisation for the purpose of service delivery, regardless of how the third-party organisation uses those funds internally.

Providers need to determine that a student-led organisation has appropriate governance arrangements, including:

• the governing body of the organisation makes decisions independently from the provider;  
• the organisation keeps and publishes annual audited accounts that record the organisation’s income and expenditure, including in relation to transactions between the provider and the organisation;  
• the organisation has and complies with policies and procedures that relate to corporate governance standards (record keeping, risk management, fraud prevention and financial controls); and  
• the organisation provides the services set out in subsection 19-38(4) of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to students using the SSAF revenue allocated to them.

Yes. Student-led organisations may choose to spend their SSAF revenue allocated to them by their provider on the delivery of services they determine, so long as these services are those set out under subsection 19-38(4) of the Higher Education Support Act 2003.

Yes. Providers must formally consult with democratically elected student representatives at their institution about how SSAF is used. Some providers also choose to consult with the broader student community via a survey or questionnaire.

Annual reporting is required from providers to submit evidence that students are regularly consulted about SSAF allocations for the 60 per cent of SSAF revenue. The student consultation process must be timely, form part of a provider’s annual financial planning.  

Providers are required to:  

• formally consult with democratically elected student representatives on the use of SSAF,
• establish and maintain a clearly defined and effective process for the use of compulsory SSAF, and
• review and approve the consultation process annually by a provider’s governing body.

Providers must comply with the requirements relating to the representation and advocacy of the interests of students and providing students with information about, and access to, services. 

Providers may vary the SSAF or the day on which the SSAF is payable or both only in certain circumstances, if it is necessary:

• because of new circumstances that did not apply when the fee, or the day the fee was payable, was determined; or
• to correct an administrative error.

Variations that disadvantage students include, but are not limited to, increasing the SSAF amount or changing the date to which the fee is payable to an earlier date. If the variation will disadvantage a student seeking to enrol or enrolled with the provider, then the variation can only be made up to two months before the commencement of the course.

Providers that have funding agreements for the reported year under Commonwealth Grant Scheme (CGS) must publish their completed SSAF Allocation Report on their website by 30 June.