This is copied direct from the eCAF (for HECS etc) form that you will fill out when finalising your enrolment. As far as I know the census date is March 13. Hope it helps!
8A
Tax File Number (TFN):
Your provider is authorised under the
Higher Education Support Act 2003 to collect your TFN. It is not an offence not to provide your TFN. However, you will not be able to obtain a HECS-HELP loan for the amount of your student contribution that remains unpaid on the census date unless you give your provider, on or before the census date, either your TFN or a
Certificate of application for a TFN from the Australian Taxation Office (the ‘Tax Office’), stating that you have applied for a TFN.
Note: as TFNs are usually provided within 28 days of application, it is essential that you apply early to ensure you have your TFN on or before the census date. If you are applying for a TFN for the purpose of obtaining a HECS-HELP loan and it is within one month before the relevant census date, you should request the Tax Office to issue you a
Certificate of application for a TFN. If you haven’t received your TFN within 10 days before the census date, you should provide this certificate to your provider as proof that you have applied, and then quote your TFN once you receive a Tax File Number Advice from the Tax Office.
You will also need to provide your TFN if you want to obtain a HECS-HELP loan if you fail to make a full up-front payment on or before the census date. If you do not provide your TFN and do not make a full up-front payment on or before the census date, your provider will cancel your enrolment as a Commonwealth supported student. Your provider is authorised to retain your TFN information only for the purpose of reporting details of your HECS-HELP loan to the Tax Office. Privacy and taxation laws protect your TFN information. There may be severe penalties if these laws are broken.
WARNING: Your
enrolment as a Commonwealth supported student will be cancelled if you do not either pay up-front or give your TFN or a certificate from the Tax Office on or before the census date.