Job Ready Graduates package

The Commonwealth government has passed reforms to the higher education system. These changes are included in the Higher Education Support Amendment (Job-Ready Graduates and Supporting Regional and Remote Students) Bill 2020.

This bill will impact on many Commonwealth supported students, including on the student contributions that you may be charged.

Below are answers to the most common questions regarding the impact of this legislation.

What are the Student Contribution rates for 2021?

For Commencing students, the rates are

Field of Education	Band	Amount Per EFTSL*
Agriculture, Clinical Psychology, Education, English, Foreign Languages, Mathematics, Nursing, Statistics, Teaching	Band 1	$3,950
Allied Health, Behavioural Sciences¹, Built Environment, Creative Arts, Engineering, Environmental Studies, IT, Other Health, Pathology, Science, Social Studies, Surveying, Visual and Performing Arts	Band 3	$7,950
Dental, Medical, Veterinary Science	Band 4	$11,300
Accounting, Administration, Arts, Behavioural Sciences², Commerce, Economics, Humanities, Law, Management	Band 6	$14,500

* Equivalent Full Time Student Load

1 Topics that contribute to a course that leads to a degree in Psychology recognised for registration by the Psychology Board of Australia

2 Excluding topics that contribute to a course that leads to a degree in Psychology or Clinical Psychology

For pre 2021 students, the rates are

Field of Education	Band	Amount Per EFTSL*
Agriculture, Clinical Psychology, Education, English, Foreign Languages, Mathematics, Nursing, Statistics, Teaching	Band 1	$3,950
Arts, Behavioural Sciences, Creative Arts, Humanities, IT, Social Studies, Visual and Performing Arts	Band 2	$6,804
Allied Health, Built Environment, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Other Health, Science, Surveying, Pathology	Band 3	$7,950
Dental, Medical, Veterinary Science	Band 4	$11,300
Accounting, Administration, Commerce, Economics, Law, Management	Band 5	$11,355

* Equivalent Full Time Student Load

I will be continuing a course in 2021 that I was studying in 2020. I have heard that Student Contributions are increasing, will this affect me?

If you are a pre-2021 student (enrolled before 1 January 2021) you will not be disadvantaged by these changes. If you are studying topics whose student contributions have decreased, you will be charged the decreased amount. If you are studying topics where student contributions have increased, your fees will continue to be charged as if the reforms had not been implemented, i.e. your fees may be subject to an indexation increase but otherwise unchanged

I will be returning from Leave of Absence in 2021. Will I be considered a continuing student or a commencing student?

If you commenced your course as a Commonwealth supported student before 2021 but had not completed the course of study by the end of 2020, and you took a break by deferring, you are considered a pre-2021 student on your return to that course. Students are generally subject to the same provisions as existed when they commenced their Commonwealth supported course.

I was offered a place in 2020 but deferred my commencement until 2021. Will I be charged the new rates?

Yes, as you have not completed a topic in your course prior to 2021 you will be considered a commencing student and charged the new rates.

I am changing my course in 2021, will I pay the new rates?

If you are commencing a new course in 2021 including changing to a new course, you will pay the new rates.

How are pre-2021 students determined?

A student is considered to be a pre-2021 student for a topic they are now undertaking if they commenced (completed at least one topic) a course of study before 1 January 2021 and were a Commonwealth supported student, and any of the following apply:

They did not complete the course by 31 December 2020
In 2020, they were undertaking an enabling course and on or after 1 January 2021 they commenced a course leading to a bachelor’s degree. An enabling course may be Foundation Studies or an Undergraduate Certificate.
They completed the related course for an honours course of study and they are undertaking the honours course of study.

When is a person not a pre-2021 student?

A student can be a pre-2021 student only if, among other requirements, they were a Commonwealth supported student for a topic undertaken as part of a course before 1 January 2021. A person is a Commonwealth supported student in a topic only if they remain enrolled at the end of the census date for the topic.

A person who studied as a student prior to 1 January 2016, but who did not undertake any study between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2020 as a Commonwealth supported student, will not be a pre-2021 student.

Are there discounts for up-front payments of student contributions?

The bill re-instates the discounts for student contribution payments that are received prior to the relevant census date and are equal to or greater than $500. The discount is applied to the HECS-HELP loan amount and equivalent to one ninth of the payment amount. As an example, an upfront payment of amount of $900 would provide a discount of $100 ($900/9).

I have heard that if I fail 50% or more of my topics I can no longer study. Is this correct?

A low completion rate is a fail rate of more than 50% of the topics you have attempted, after you have attempted eight or more topics in a bachelor level or higher (or four topics in a Undergraduate Certificate program).

If you have a low completion rate in 2022 or thereafter, you will not be eligible for Commonwealth assistance or access HELP loans for your study.

However you can:

continue your course by paying upfront. If you pay upfront and increase your completion rate to 50 per cent or higher, you will be eligible for Commonwealth assistance for your course again.
transfer to a new course at Flinders or with another University. If you change to a new course, your previous completion rate will not carry over and you will able to access Commonwealth assistance for your new course.
apply for consideration to not count one or more of your failed topics when calculating your completion rate. You will need to prove that ‘special circumstances’ applied to you while you were studying those units.

Special Circumstances may be of a medical, financial, employment nature, or any other that the University deems relevant.

Changes that are included in the bill in regard to a low completion rate will not be introduced until 1 January 2022

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