VET Student Loans

• be an Australian citizen; or
• a permanent Humanitarian visa holder, (resident in Australia for the duration of the units/s of study); or
• a pacific engagement visa holder, (resident in Australia for the duration of the unit/s of study); or
• a qualifying New Zealand citizen who is on a Special Category Visa (SCV) holder (this is not a permanent visa but allows its holder to visit, live, and work in Australia indefinitely) who meets the long-term residency requirements, which are:
  • first entered Australia as a minor under 18 years of age;
  • have lived in Australia for at least 8 of the last 10 years; or
  • have lived in Australia for at least 18 months in the last two years

Please note: In order to apply for a VSL, you must provide current and updated evidence against each of the above criteria prior to enrolment.

You have been assessed by your CDU delivery team as academically suited to undertake the approved course on the basis of either:

• providing your Australian year 12 Certificate; or
• providing evidence of successful completion of an Australian Qualifications Framework Certificate IV or higher qualification (where the language of instruction is English); or
• displaying competence at Exit Level 3 in the Australian Core Skills Framework in both reading and numeracy through an approved Language, Literacy and Numeracy test.
• In addition, CDU must reasonably believe you are academically suited to undertake the course; and you must meet any other specified entry requirements.

Note: All CDU TAFE students are assessed for their level of Language, Literacy and Numeracy (LLN) either prior to being admitted to their course or commencing their studies. CDU uses The Learning Resources Groups' LLN Robot platform to conduct the LLN test, which is an assessment tool approved for use to meet the VSL program student entry requirement. Students who request or are required to undertake the LLN test will be advised the outcome of the results as soon as practicable after the assessment. The results will be retained for at least five (5) years (as per the VSL Rule 2016 - Clause 105 Information and documents to be retained for 5 years) and reported to the 'Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Employment and Workplace Relations in the form, manner and by the time requested by the Secretary'. 

For 2023, the new combined HELP loan limit will be $113,023 for most students. You must meet each of the following criteria to be eligible for a VSL:

• have a HELP balance that is more than $0 (i.e. have not used all your HELP limit).
• studying the approved course primarily at a campus in Australia.
• studying with an approved provider.
• have a Tax File Number or a Certificate of Application for a Tax File Number provided by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
• have a Unique Student Identifier (USI) or are otherwise exempt.
• submit the electronic Loan Application Form (known as eCAF – electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form) by the first census day which is no less than two business days after enrolling.
• confirm engagement and progression online when requested to by the Government. 

If you are unable to meet the VSL eligibility criteria, you will not be approved for a VSL and will be required to pay the tuition fees for the relevant teaching period in full by the Census date to avoid cancellation of your enrolment. 

Please note: If you change your personal details with CDU, make sure to also update the USI Registry and ATO.

When you enrol at CDU the collection, storage, use and disclosure of any personal information you provide are protected by legislation. See our Privacy and Confidentiality Policy for more information.

For more information on eligibility requirements, please visit DEWR’s  Information for VET Student Loan students webpage.

An Australian Passport is suitable evidence of Australian citizenship.

If you do not have an Australian Passport, the evidence required to demonstrate you are an Australian citizen may differ depending on whether you were:

• born in Australia before 20 August 1986;
• born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986; or
• born overseas.

If you do not have an Australian Passport, you need to provide your full birth certificate issued by an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (RBDM).

An exception to this is where your parents were in Australia as diplomats or consular officers at the time of your birth. In these circumstances, you need to provide a citizenship certificate as evidence that you are an Australian citizen.

If you do not have a citizenship certificate you'll need to lodge Form 119 Application for evidence of Australian citizenship with certified copies of the required documents and the application fee with the Department of Home Affairs (Home Affairs).

If you don't have an Australian Passport, and where one (or both) of your parents was an Australian citizen at the time of your birth, you should provide your full birth certificate issued by an Australian RBDM and one of the following documents to show that one of your parents was an Australian citizen at the time of your birth:

• your parent’s Australian citizenship certificate; or
• if your parent was born in Australia before 20 August 1986, your parent’s full birth certificate issued by an Australian RBDM; or
• if your parent was born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986, your parent’s full birth certificate issued by an Australian RBDM and their grandparent's   Australian birth certificate issued by an Australian RBDM.

If you cannot provide this, you should apply for your own evidence of Australian citizenship by lodging Form 119 Application for evidence of Australian citizenship with certified copies of the required documents and the application fee with Home Affairs.

If you don't have an Australian passport, and where one (or both) of your parents was a permanent resident of Australia at the time of your birth, you will need to provide both of the following documents to prove your Australian citizenship:

• your full birth certificate issued by an Australian RBDM; and
• your Australian citizenship certificate.

You can apply for an Australian citizenship certificate by lodging Form 119 Application for evidence of Australian citizenship with certified copies of the required documents and the application fee with Home Affairs.

The following documents are not acceptable as proof of a parent’s permanent residency for VSL applications:

• parent's foreign passport with a visa label
• Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) printout 
• visa grant notification letter 
• Certificate of Evidence of Resident Status (CERS) 
• Certificate of Status for New Zealand Citizens in Australia (CSNZCA) 
• ImmiCard 
• Freedom of Information (FOI) letter from the Department of Home Affairs.

These documents only provide proof of a person’s visa status on the day they are issued / printed and are not sufficient proof of a parent’s resident status at the time the applicant was born.

As a guide, please refer to the relevant category below:
You will need to provide one of the following documents as evidence of your Australian citizenship:

• an Australian passport
• an Australian citizenship certificate
• a Citizenship by Descent extract
• an Adoption in accordance with the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption or bilateral arrangement extract

If you don't have one of the above citizenship documents you will need to apply for a replacement certificate by lodging Form 119 Application for evidence of Australian citizenship with certified copies of the required documents and the application fee with the Home Affairs.

If you are under 18 year of age, a parent or guardian must co-sign the form.  You must provide parental or guardian consent in writing via the Government’s VET Student Loans Parent Consent form and return it to CDU. The form is also available for request through your TAFE course delivery team.

The form must be submitted to CDU before you can apply for a loan.

Parental or guardian consent is not necessary if you have been assessed by Centrelink as meeting the requirements for receiving the independent rate of Youth Allowance.  You will need to provide evidence of this assessment in the form of your Centrelink Income Statement, which you can request by logging into myGov and selecting your Centrelink online account and return it to CDU via email or submit the completed form to your TAFE course delivery team.

Every student undertaking a nationally recognised CDU TAFE course will require a Unique Student Identifier (USI). This initiative allows the student to receive a complete record of all the accredited TAFE courses they undertake from 1 January 2015.  A USI gives you access to your online USI account which will help to keep all your training records together.

Students can apply for their USI online or authorise CDU to apply on your behalf. The USI must be provided to the training provider before students can receive their Statement of Attainment or Qualification.

Approved courses for VSL are high national priority qualifications at Diploma and above which contribute to addressing skills shortages, align with industry needs, and lead to strong employment outcomes.

The following Diplomas may be eligible for VSL in 2024 – please check the CDU Course Catalogue before submitting an application:

• AHC51120 Diploma of Conservation and Ecosystem Management
• BSB50120 Diploma of Business
• BSB50320 Diploma of Human Resource Management
• BSB50420 Diploma of Leadership and Management
• BSB50820 Diploma of Project Management
• BSB51319 Diploma of Work Health and Safety
• CHC50121 Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care
• SHB50121 Diploma of Beauty Therapy
• SIT50422 Diploma of Hospitality Management 
• SIT50122 – Diploma of Travel and Tourism Management
• SIT50322 – Diploma of Event Management

From 1 July 2017, you will be required to demonstrate you are progressing through your course and that you wish to continue accessing a VSL as your payment option.

To do this, you must confirm your engagement and progression via the eCAF when requested to by the Government twice during the year to acknowledge acceptance of the loan you will receive for the course.

An invitation email from the Government will be sent to your personal email account with a link to the VET Student Loan Progression form and will include all the information you need to complete a short survey. It is important to note that you have two (2) weeks to compete the form after you receive the email notification.  If you don't complete and submit two (2) consecutive surveys, you may be ineligible to continue accessing VSL. This means you will need to pay your tuition fees directly to CDU if you want to continue studying your course.

Note: Failure to complete progression will indicate you are not continuing with your studies. You will be ineligible to access VSL to pay for your tuition fees and you will need to pay upfront or be cancelled from the course.

For more information, visit VSL Progression Form Fact Sheet.

Course fees vary based on if you are a resident of the Northern Territory.

Northern Territory Government (NTG) subsidised courses

Some diploma courses are subsidised by the NTG. Tuition fees for 2024 will be charged at $4.00 per nominal hour for domestic students who are NT residents.

Full Fee paying courses

Some courses are not subsidised by the NTG. These courses will be charged full fee rates per nominal hour allocated to the unit. All non-Territory domestic students are charged full fee rates per nominal hour allocated to the unit.

If you meet the VSL eligibility requirements, your fees can be deferred to VSL regardless of your course fee type. For full fee paying students, VSL have a 20% loan fee of the total amount deferred.

For information on loan fees, please visit the Study Assist website or the VET Student Loans Information Booklet.

To find out if your course is subsidised, refer to the  VET Fee Schedule. The VSL schedule contains information of the student fees applicable to a particular course. Note that many courses have a variety of fees depending on the student's eligibility for a particular fee.

General fee information is available in the VET Student Guide, which is also available as a hard copy and on MySkills.

Please note: CDU has an exemption from the Tuition Assurance schemes (course assurance and fee assurance schemes). This means that any student affected by courses ceasing will be accommodated in-line with standard CDU policies and procedures on fees and course delivery.

Please refer to the University's Governance website for more information.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) fees

If you are undertaking your course or units through the RPL process, there is a $295.00 administration fee for each course, no fee exemptions apply. This fee is non-refundable and is not covered by the VSL. 

Any fees associated with the RPL assessment can be paid upfront or deferred to a VSL. The RPL fee rates for 2024 are:

• For NT residents applying for NTG subsidised qualification, there is no fee.
• For non-NTG subsidised training or non-NT residents, a flat rate of $5.50 per nominal hour applies for each unit.

VSL eligible students are required to pay any RPL fees in full by the relevant TAFE Census date to avoid cancellation of enrolment. 

For further information on the RPL process, visit CDU's RPL page. 

Credit transfer - No charge

There is no charge for units granted as credit transfer. 

The census date is the last day you can:

• submit your eCAF to defer your fees to tax,
• make upfront payment of fees,
• withdraw from your units without incurring fees or a HELP debt.  

If the VET Student Loans eCAF is not submitted by the census date, you will not be eligible to access a HELP loan for that study period. Census dates for each Teaching Period are below:

After the census date, students eligible for VSL who have not made full up-front payment and have provided their TFN will incur a VSL debt if they are still enrolled in the unit.

The University is required to defer all such fees to tax and the ATO is advised of the debt.

All fees for each Teaching Period must be either paid upfront or deferred to Tax on or before the census date. If you have chosen the up-front payment option, you will receive a Reminder Notice two (2) weeks before the relevant census date advising that payment of tuition fees is required no later than one (1) working day before the census date.

If you do not pay your fees up-front or defer it to tax, your enrolment will be cancelled within one (1) week after the census date. You will be notified in writing of the cancellation.

If you do not wish to continue with your studies in a Teaching Period, you must withdraw from those units on or before the census date for that Teaching Period without incurring a VSL debt for unpaid fees.

Withdrawals can be done online through MyStudentInfo or by submitting a VET102 - Change of Enrolment/Withdrawal from Course Form to the Team with whom you are enrolled. Online withdrawals are only available until census date. Failure to withdraw on or before the census date will result in financial penalty and you will lose any up-front payments of tuition fees.

Please note: Students cannot claim of lack of knowledge or understanding of the requirements for VET Student Loans for not withdrawing and non-attendance at class does not automatically cancel your enrolment.

If you have accessed VSL to cover all or part of your tuition fees, you incur the liability and therefore the debt for your tuition fees after the census date. You may find you have to withdraw from your studies after the census date or you have been unable to complete your studies because of serious illness or other special circumstances. If you are in this situation, you may apply within 12 months after the census date has passed to have your VSL debt for the unit of study remitted (removed) and your VSL balance re-credited.

For special circumstances to apply, you must demonstrate that the circumstances:

• were beyond your control,
• did not make your full impact on you until on or after the census date(s) of the unit(s) in question, and
• were such that they made it impracticable for you to complete the requirements for the unit(s).

If you withdraw from a unit of study after the census date, the University will advise you to apply in writing for a remission (removal) of your VSL debt.

If you complete a unit and receive a Not Component grade, you are considered to not have successfully completed the unit and you may therefore apply for a remission if special circumstances exist. If you have successfully completed the unit of study, you cannot apply for a remission.

Special circumstance do not include:

• a lack of knowledge or understanding of the requirements for a VSL; or
• a person’s incapacity to repay a VSL debt, as repayments are income contingent and the person may apply for a deferral of a compulsory repayment in certain circumstances.

Further information on special circumstances is available on the Study Assist website.

An application for a re-credit or remission must be made in writing. It must be made within 12 months of you withdrawing from the unit of study or if you have not withdrawn, within 12 months of the end of the period in which the unit of study was, or was to be, undertaken.

To apply for a remission, you must complete the Application for Removal of Financial Penalty via eForms and include any independent supporting documents to support the claim.

Where no supporting documentation is attached to the application, a letter will be sent requesting the same within 28 days of the letter.

If you don't respond, the Remission application will not be supported, and you will be sent the decision notice and your right to appeal.

You have the right for a review of the decision if you are not satisfied with the outcome within 28 days from the day you first received the notice of the decision. You can apply for an external review through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). 

For more information, go to DEWR debt complaints. 

Any upfront payments of fees made for the unit of study will be refunded in accordance with the University’s student refund policy.

For more information about fees, payments and refunds go to fees and payments

A Reminder Notice will be sent to VSL eligible students who have chosen the up-front payment option. Two (2) weeks prior to the relevant census date, Reminder Notices will be sent to advise that payment of tuition fees will be required no later than one working day before the census date.

The Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN) is sent via email to all VSL eligible students who have either made an up-front payment of fees or deferred their fees to tax. The CAN will include details about student enrolment such as: personal details, CHESSN number, course and unit enrolment, deferred amount and/or upfront payment details, loan fees (if applicable), total debt for unit. The CAN will be sent within 28 days after the relevant census date for each study period that the student is enrolled.

You must check if the information in the CAN is correct. If you believe that the information on the CAN is incorrect, you must, within 14 days of the date on the CAN, inform the University in writing for the CAN to be corrected. Verbal requests will not be considered. The request must specify the particular information considered to be incorrect and the reason why it is considered incorrect.

For more information on CAN please refer to the Study Assist website.

Tuition assurance has been put in place by the Government to protect and support students if an approved VSL provider ceases to deliver a course of study or closes.

All providers are required, through the VET Student Loans Act 2016, to have adequate tuition assurance to cover their student load.

Most TAFE providers meet their tuition assurance requirements through membership with a tuition assurance scheme operator. The Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET) and TAFE Directors Australia (TDA) are the two approved tuition assurance operators.

CDU has an exemption from the Tuition Assurance schemes (course assurance and fee assurance schemes). This means that any student affected by courses ceasing will be accommodated in-line with standard CDU policies and procedures on fees and course delivery.

For more information, please refer to the Tuition Assurance information.

Please refer to the University's Governance website for more information.

The University is committed to protecting the privacy of all members of the University community. The University will act responsibly to collect, manage, use and disclose personal information in accordance with the Northern Territory Information Act 2002. The University also commits to comply with the Commonwealth Privacy Act, as if it were a Commonwealth organisation where required to abide by the Australian Privacy Principles under contracted funding agreements from Commonwealth agencies and the Higher Education Support Act when handling students' personal information.

For more information, please refer to our Privacy and Confidentiality Policy

We are committed to providing a fair, safe and productive work and study environment where grievances are dealt with in a timely, impartial and confidential manner that adheres to the principles of procedural fairness and protects against victimisation.

For more information, please refer to our Complaints Policy - Students. 

CDU reserves the right to cancel a student's enrolment in a course or part of a course after the census date of the course or part of the course. 

The circumstances that may lead to a student's cancellation from a course or part of a course are:

• that the student has not meaningfully engaged with the course or part of the course before census date;
• CDU believes that the student does not have a reasonable chance to complete the course or part of the course and/or expiration of the student's enrolment (i.e., when the nominal end date for the enrolment or course has lapsed);
• where a student demonstrates serious misconduct;
• where plagiarism is detected, the work will be assessed as "Not Yet Satisfactory" or "Not Yet Competent", the student will be counselled and, in the first instance, required to complete an alternative assessment. Repeated or continued plagiarism will warrant disciplinary action, which may include cancellation of the course.

Cancellation procedure

Please refer to the University Enrolment Policy.

All details relating to the cancellation will be kept in the student's file and retained for a minimum of five (5) years. 

As an RTO, CDU collects your information so the University can process and manage your enrolment in a TAFE course. 

CDU uses your personal information to deliver TAFE courses to you, and otherwise, as needed, to comply with the University's obligations as an RTO. 

The University is required by law under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (Cth) (NVETR Act) to disclose the personal information collected about you to the National VET Data Collection kept by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research Ltd (NCVER). The NCVER is responsible for collecting, managing, analysing and communicating research and statistics about the Australian VET sector. 

CDU is also authorised by law under the NVETR Act to disclose your personal information to the relevant state or territory training authority. 

The NCVER is authorised to disclose information to the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE), Commonwealth authorities, State and Territory authorities (other than RTOs) that deal with matters relating to VET and VET regulators for the purpose of those bodies.

The NCVER will collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with the law, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the NVETR Act. Your personal information may be used and disclosed by NCVER for purposes that include: populating authenticated VET transcripts; administration of VET; facilitation of statistics and research relation to education, including surveys and data linkage; and understanding the VET market operation for policy, workforce planning and consumer information.

The NCVER may also disclose personal information to persons engaged by NCVER to conduct research on NCVER's behalf. 

The NCVER does not intend to disclose your personal information to any overseas recipients. 

For more information about how the NCVER will handle your personal information, please refer to the NCVER's Privacy Policy. 

If you would like to seek access to or correct your information, contact Student Central. 

DESE is authorised by law, including the Privacy Act and the NVETR Act, to collect, use and disclose your personal information to fulfil specified functions and activities. For more information, please refer to the DESE VET Privacy Notice.