The Commonwealth Government determines the number and allocation of Commonwealth supported undergraduate places with each public higher education providers each year through the Commonwealth Grant Scheme (CGS). A Commonwealth supported place is a higher education place for which the Commonwealth Government makes a contribution to the higher education provider towards the cost of a student's education. The student only makes a contribution towards the cost of education, known as the student contribution. Commonwealth supported places are available to citizens of Australia and New Zealand and Australian permanent residents.
The majority of Commonwealth supported places are managed through the tertiary admissions centre in each state or territory (although universities make the selections, deciding which students they will make offers to):
Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) in NSW and ACT
Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre
South Australian Tertiary Admissions Centre in South Australia and the Northern Territory
University of Tasmania in Tasmania
Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) in Victoria
Tertiary Institutions Service Centrein Western Australia.
The allocation is usually based on secondary school results (through the ATAR or OP scores), TAFE qualifications and previous university results.
The student contribution varies between courses. It is based upon the expected earnings following a students' graduation, not the cost of providing the course. Higher education providers can set the student contribution level for each unit of study, up to a maximum level set by the Government. It is said that, due to government underfunding of universities, universities almost always charge the highest level allowable.
| National priority | Mathematics, Statistics Science | $0-$4,429 | $0-$4,162 | $0-$4,077 | $0-$3,061 |
| Band 1 | Education, Nursing, Humanities, Behavioural science, Social studies, Foreign Languages, Visual and Performing arts, Nursing, Education, Clinical Psychology | $0-$5,310 | $0-$5,201 | ||
| Band 2 | Computing, Built Environment, Health sciences, Engineering, Surveying, Agriculture | $0-$7,567 | $0-$7,412 | $0-$5,807 | |
| Band 3 | Law, Dentistry, Medicine, Pharmacy, Veterinary science, Accounting, Administration, Economics, Commerce | $0-$8,859 | $0-$8,677 | $0-$6,798 | |
An eligible student can either pay the entire student contribution and receive a 10% in-kind contribution (~9.1% discount) (was 20% in-kind (17% discount) prior to 2012) or defer payment of the contribution through a HECS-HELP loan. It is possible to defer payment of some of the contribution and pay part upfront. In cases of part payment, a 10% bonus (was 20% prior to 2012) is received on the amount paid. Only Australian citizens and permanent humanitarian visa holders are eligible for HECS-HELP loans or the up-front 10% bonus on the payment amount. Students who are New Zealand citizens or Australian permanent residents must pay the entire contribution upfront and receive no HECS discount.
Total Funding
The total funding available to institutions per equivalent full-time student is the combination of the student contribution (divided into 3 different amounts/bands) and the Commonwealth government contribution (divided into 8 different amounts/clusters). For 2017 these are
| Band 3 | Law, accounting, commerce, economics, administration | 10596 | 2089 | 12685 |
| Band 1 | Humanities | 6349 | 5809 | 12158 |
| Band 1 | Behavioural science or social studies | 6349 | 10278 | 16627 |
| Band 2 | Mathematics, statistics, computing, built environment or other health | 9050 | 10278 | 19328 |
| Band 1 | Education | 6349 | 10695 | 17044 |
| Band 1 | Clinical psychology, foreign languages, or visual and performing arts | 6349 | 12641 | 18990 |
| Band 2 | Allied health | 9050 | 12641 | 21691 |
| Band 1 | Nursing | 6349 | 14113 | 20462 |
| Band 2 | Engineering, science, surveying Engineering, science, surveying | 9050 | 17971 | 27021 |
| Band 2 | Agriculture | 9050 | 22809 | 31859 |
| Band 3 | Dentistry, medicine or veterinary science | 10596 | 22809 | 33405 |