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:

have been selected by your provider to receive an OS HELP loan
be one of the following:
- an Australian citizen; or a permanent humanitarian visa holder; or an eligible former permanent humanitarian visa holder
- a New Zealand Special Visa (SCV) holder, or eligible former New Zealand SCV holder; who meets the residency requirements and who will be resident in Australia at the time of applying
have not received an OS HELP loan on more than one other occasion
be enrolled with an Australian provider in a Commonwealth supported place
have completed one EFTSL of study (8 courses)
be studying full-time overseas and this study counts towards the Australian degree requirements that you are enrolled in
have at least 0.125 EFTSL of your degree left to complete once you have finished your overseas study (1 course)
have a valid tax file number (TFN) at the time of applying
have a Unique Student Identifier (USI)
have submitted an OS-HELP debt confirmation form to your provider
have read the OS-HELP Statement of terms and conditions booklet.

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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The Mobility Team