OS-HELP

OS-HELP loans are for students enrolled in a Commonwealth supported place (CSP) who want to study some of their program overseas. OS-HELP loans are offered to help students with a range of expenses, such as airfares, accommodation and other travel or study expenses. Eligible students may also receive a supplementary loan to undertake language study in preparation for overseas study in Asia.

Loan amounts can be found on the Australian Government Study Assist website. Students studying in eligible locations in Asia will have access to a larger loan amount than students studying in other partners of the world.

To be considered for an OS-HELP loan, a Student must meet all of the following criteria:

be an Australian citizen, or
be a New Zealand Special Category Visa (SCV) holder who meets the long-term residency requirements, or
be a permanent humanitarian visa holder; and
not have received an OS-HELP loan on more than one other occasion; and
be enrolled in a Commonwealth supported place with the University; and
have already completed at least one EFTSL (8 units) of study in Australia that counts towards their Commonwealth supported program; and
be undertaking full-time study overseas and have this study count towards the Commonwealth supported program they are enrolled in with the University; and
upon completion of the overseas study, have at least 0.125 EFTSL (one unit of study) of their program left to complete when they return to Australia; and
have a valid tax file number (TFN) at the time of applying; and
not have completed the overseas study prior to submitting the application for an OS-HELP loan.

UniSQ will take into account advice provided by the Australian government regarding travel destinations with regards to student safety. For more information, please visit the Australian Government website.

A range of factors are taken into account when determining if study undertaken overseas is full-time. These factors can include contact hours, volume of assessable tasks and credit granted from the overseas study. For overseas study taking less than six months, the level of academic engagement should be averaged against the actual duration of study.

The Australian Government is making additional supplementary loans available to students who are undertaking Asian language study in preparation for overseas study in Asia.

The online application must include:

completed and signed OS-HELP application form
confirmation of School support and credit for the chosen program; and
confirmation of the overseas study program, including the commencement date and duration of the overseas study period.

Students will be notified of the outcome of their request for an OS-HELP loan within 6 weeks of the University receiving a complete application and all required supporting documentation. Successful applicants will be provided with an online OS-HELP Debt Confirmation form within their student centre. Students must submit a completed OS-HELP Debt Confirmation form before the loan will be paid.

The amount of OS-HELP Assistance payable will be within the maximum defined by the Higher Education Support Act 2003. Successful applicants will have their OS-HELP loan recorded against their existing HELP debt for repayments to be made accordingly.

Payment of the approved loan amount will be by electronic funds transfer (EFT) to the selected student’s nominated bank account within 10 business days of the loan approval date. The University will issue a Commonwealth Assistance Notice within 28 calendar days of the date the OS-HELP loan was incurred.

If a student’s circumstances change subsequent to receiving an offer of OS-HELP assistance and prior to payment of the loan, and the University determines that the student no longer meets the eligibility requirements for receiving OS-HELP assistance, the offer will be withdrawn and the student notified of this decision in writing.

If the University has reason to believe that a student selected to receive OS-HELP assistance has provided false or misleading information in their application, the University must immediately notify the Department of Education.

Students dissatisfied with the outcome of their application may request that the decision be reviewed in accordance with Feedback, Complaints and Grievance resolution.

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