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Fee Remission in special circumstances

Can I get my fees or student contribution remitted if I withdrew late or failed a subject due to special circumstances?

You can apply for a remission of fees and/or reversal of HELP debt if you were unable to complete a subject’s requirements owing to special circumstances. Applications must be submitted within 12 months from the date of subject withdrawal or, if the subject was failed, within 12 months from the end of the study period in which the subject was undertaken.

If Fee Remission is granted for a failed subject, you will be considered for a grade change to withdrawn (WD). For Commonwealth Assisted students, if Fee Remission is granted, the subject won’t count as a fail toward your Student Learning Entitlement.

Please note that students are not eligible to apply for Fee Remission for subject/s that they initially successfully completed (passed) but which are subsequently altered to late-withdrawn as an outcome of a Special Consideration application.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility for Fee Remission in Special Circumstances is assessed in accordance with the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) 36-21 and 36-22.

Special circumstances are defined as circumstances that:

• are beyond your control in that they are not due to your action or inaction, either direct or indirect and are unusual or uncommon or abnormal
• make their full impact on, or after, the census date, and
• make it impracticable for you to complete the subject requirements

All of the above criteria must have been met in order to apply. Your circumstances must have impacted you to the extent that you were unable to complete the subject requirements and must have occurred or worsened on or after the census date. This must be supported by documentation. 

Supporting Documentation

It is essential that you provide independent supporting documentation to support your application. It is not sufficient to provide only a personal statement or statutory declaration.

Documentation should clearly indicate what the circumstances are, when they occurred, and how they made it impracticable for you to successfully complete your subject/s.

Medical reasons

Print and complete the Fee Remission Special Medical Circumstances form. You will need to fill in page one and have your medical practitioner complete pages two and three of this form.

Family/Personal reasons

A statement from a doctor or counsellor stating:

• The date your personal circumstances began or changed;
• How your circumstances affected your ability to study; and
• When it became apparent that you could not continue with your studies.

Employment-related reasons

A statement from your employer stating:

• Your previous work hours and location;
• Your current work hours and location; and
• The reason for changed hours and location.

Course-related reasons

A statement from your faculty stating:

• That you have been disadvantaged by changed arrangements to your subject or course and that it was impossible for you to undertake alternative subjects or courses.

How To Apply

Applications within the 12-month application period MUST be submitted via the online portal:

Submit a Fee Remission application

We will endeavour to assess your application and provide you with an outcome within 28 days. If the 12-month application period has passed, your subject/s will not be eligible for Fee Remission unless you have been approved for a waiver of the 12-month application period. 

 

12-Month Application Period

Commonwealth legislation requires Fee Remission applications to be submitted within 12 months of the date of subject withdrawal, or if the subject is failed, within 12 months from the end of the study period in which the subject was undertaken. You can check the end of study period for each subject on the University Handbook by viewing the date 'Assessment period ends' under 'Dates and Times'.

The Higher Education Support Act 2003 (Cth) (HESA), 36-23 (b) provides for a waiver of the application period only on the grounds that it would not be, or was not, possible for the application to be made before the end of that period. This represents a high threshold that must be met before a provider can waive the requirement that the application be made before the end of the application period. 

The submission of an application for fee remission is an administrative task, as is enrolling/withdrawing from subjects, submitting assignments, applying for special consideration, etc. It is considered that completing administrative enrolment/re-enrolment tasks and successfully completing subjects within the 12-month application period demonstrates your ability to complete an administrative task within that time.

Applications submitted outside the 12-month application period will not be considered unless you can demonstrate, with evidence, that it was not possible for you to apply within this timeframe. Being unaware of fee remission is not accepted as a reason for not applying within the application period; as information on fee remission is published on the University website and is accessible to all students.

To apply for a waiver of the 12-month application period, please submit your application and supporting documentation to: sa-remission@unimelb.edu.au.

Supporting documentation must be from an independent source. It is not sufficient to provide only a personal statement or statutory declaration.

Support:

For general enquiries regarding the status of your application, please contact Stop 1.

If you require further information about applying for Fee Remission, please email sa-remission@unimelb.edu.au.

Always include your Student ID or application reference number with your email.