WTF. It's just been brought to my attention that FEE-help is basically what used to be called hecs. WHY DIDNT ANYBODY TELL ME THIS. I can't begin to explain the inconvenience caused by me not knowing this.
There are uni degrees that have no STAT test or other requirements that can be fully paid for by the government with you not paying until you're making decent money. fml. This info would have been helpful a year ago.
FEE-HELP is a different thing to HECS-HELP. Essentially HECS is for Commonwealth supported places at uni ie has discounted course fees. FEE is for full fee paying students who couldn't get a Government supported place at uni and for VET courses so you are paying the full course cost plus a massive loan fee 20% or 25% of the course fee. Lifetime limit for FEE is pretty low too