What is OS-HELP?
Are you entitled to OS-HELP?
What does OS-HELP cover?
How much can you borrow under OS-HELP?
How many OS-HELP loans can you have?
How do you apply for OS-HELP?
OS-HELP loan fee
Repaying your OS-HELP loan
What happens if your circumstances change?
Further assistance
What is OS-HELP?
OS-HELP is a loan scheme to assist eligible undergraduate students to undertake some of their Australian course of study overseas.
OS-HELP is not available to students undertaking their whole course outside Australia.
OS-HELP support for overseas study brochure (275 KB) PDF
Are you entitled to OS-HELP?
The following table outlines OS-HELP eligibility requirements. It does not include additional selection criteria that may be set by your provider.
| Eligibility |
Requirements |
| Citizenship |
You must be:
See also:
List of permanent visa sub-classes (17kb) PDF
List of permanent visa sub-classes (147kb) RTF 
|
| Enrolment conditions |
You must be:
- enrolled in an undergraduate course of study with an Australian higher education provider (home provider) and
- enrolled in full-time study with an overseas higher education institution or the overseas campus of an Australian higher education provider, and be outside Australia while undertaking that study.
|
| Course of study |
You must:
- have successfully completed at least 1 EFTSL of your course of study in Australia as a Commonwealth supported student, a HECS student
- have the overseas study count as credit towards the course of study you are enrolled in with your home provider and
- on completion of your study outside Australia, still have units to the value of at least 0.5 EFTSL remaining to complete the requirements of your course.
|
| Previous OS-HELP loans |
You must not have:
- received OS-HELP on more than one other occasion and
- been granted an OS-HELP loan from another provider for the same or overlapping period.
|
| Request for OS-HELP |
You must:
- provide your Tax File Number (TFN)
- have read the OS-HELP statement of terms and conditions booklet and
- have completed, signed and lodged an OS-HELP debt confirmation form with your provider.
|
| Selection process |
You must be selected by your home provider to receive an OS-HELP loan.
|
What does OS-HELP cover?
OS-HELP can be used to for expenses such as airfares, accommodation, and other travel or study expenses.
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How much can you borrow under OS-HELP?
The maximum OS-HELP loan amount in:
- 2009 is $5,410.
- 2010 is $5,523.
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How many OS-HELP loans can you have?
Eligible students can receive two OS-HELP loans over their lifetime. Each loan relates to a given 6 month period. You can receive
OS-HELP for overseas study periods of less than 6 months but you cannot receive an OS-HELP loan more than once in a given 6 month period. Your 6 month period is taken to commence on the first day that you commence your overseas study and end 6 months from this commencement date.
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How do you apply for OS-HELP?
You must apply to your higher education provider for an OS-HELP loan. As each provider runs its own application and selection process, you should contact your provider for information about how to obtain an OS-HELP loan.
You may be required to submit documentation to your provider in order for them to determine that you meet the eligibility criteria. You may also need to specify the amount of OS-HELP assistance you would like to apply for. Your provider may set a minimum loan amount and you cannot receive more than the maximum OS-HELP amount for a given six-month period.
Your provider will contact you about whether your application for OS-HELP has been successful.
You will not receive your OS-HELP loan until you sign and submit the form. You must not sign the form until you have read the
OS-HELP statement of terms and conditions booklet.
See also:
OS-HELP statement of terms and conditions 2009 (195 KB) RTF
OS-HELP statement of terms and conditions 2009 (2.32 MB) PDF
OS-HELP support for overseas study brochure (275 KB) PDF
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OS-HELP loan fee
A loan fee of 20 per cent is applied to each OS-HELP loan on the day that you are paid your OS-HELP loan. There is no real interest charged on your OS-HELP debt. However the debt is indexed annually to the CPI to maintain its real value.
Example: Jose borrows $5,000 for her OS-HELP loan. Jose will receive $5,000 but the OS-HELP debt will be recorded as $6,000 (that is, 120 per cent x $5,000)
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Repaying your OS-HELP loan
Your OS-HELP debt is added to your accumulated HELP debt and can be repaid through:
- the tax system when your income exceeds the minimum repayment threshold or
- voluntary repayments direct to the Tax Office
See also: Compulsory Loan repayments
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What happens if your circumstances change?
If you are applying for, or are about to receive OS-HELP you should immediately contact your provider if your circumstances change as this may affect your eligibility.
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Further assistance
See: Contacts and feedback for how to obtain further assistance.