The Census Date: It may sound like a terrifying day where every student is counted and tallied into a giant University branded sack of information. When in reality, Census Date is the last day to withdraw or drop a course without financial and/or academic penalty (depending on your program). Huh?

International students:

If you are an international student, you must contact your Program Advisor if you are considering making changes to your enrolment. Correct enrolment is important to ensure you’re not in breach of your Visa and that you can continue to study in Australia. Please also make sure you contact Student Central before the Census Date, if you have any questions about tuition fee payment, or if you believe you will have difficulty meeting your financial commitments. Good financial standing is a requirement under Student Visa conditions. The Student Central team are available to discuss your circumstances and provide you with options.  

Open Foundation or Yapug students:

If you are an Open Foundation or Yapug student and you no longer want to study a course, you need to withdraw prior to Census date to avoid Job Ready Graduate legislation impacting your studies. If you need a helping hand you can contact your Student Liaison Officer (SLO). They are here to provide personalised advice on enrolment and course selection.

All other students:

You need to make these changes before Census date so you don’t affect your HECS fees – or as I like to refer to them as “theoretical post-degree fun bucks”.

1. Log in to myHub to check you’re enrolled in the right courses.
   No one wants to accidentally take a third year course right out of the gate. If you’re not sure what courses you should be enrolled in, that’s what the trusty Program Planner is for.
2. Provide your Tax File Number (TFN) to the University
   So why do you need to do this? To apply for a student loan such as HECS-HELP, FEE-HELP, or SA-HELP, you have to fill in an eCAF (electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form, see Point 4 below), which requires you to provide your TFN. If you don’t already have one, you can apply for one. (PS: This is the extent to which my tax-related knowledge goes, please do not ask me how to lodge a tax return.)
3. Pay or defer your student contribution or tuition fee charge and the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF).
   What is a SSAF, you say? There’s more info about what it’s used for on our website.
4. Complete your eCAF (if applicable) to defer the relevant fees.
   Your eCAF (see Point 2 above) has to be submitted in order to be able to defer your fees to a HELP student loan. Your eCAF is completed through myHub. If you don’t fill this info out by the Census Date, you risk having your enrolment cancelled, so it’s probably a task right up there on the ol’ To-Do list.

If you drop a course after your Census Date you will still be required to pay for it, unless you apply for a refund or Remission of Debt and your application is approved.

Now I know what you’re thinking: when is the Census Date? The date is different for every term of study, so always check the uni key dates page to make sure when the date for your current term of study is and then organise your enrolment accordingly.