Services & amenities fee

The SSAF is paid by nearly all students and each have their own views and needs. Some may use a lot of services and support one year and less the next - by combining the SSAF and allocating it to a group of service providers we are able to offer many services to meet needs, and offer them by different groups each speaking to different student cohorts or groups, and to different priorities/interests throughout their time at ANU.

There are well over 100 programs, clubs, functions, events, and services funded by your SSAF. The benefit of the SSAF funding model is to use the contributions of many to fund as many programs as possible to support different students who have different needs.

Many of SSAF funded services and programs are 'silent' - you don't realise they are there until you need them. The SSAF model allows funding to areas which cannot be funded through centralised funding due to legislation or education guidelines (such as food, legal advice, media outlets).

Once the data gathered from the 2023 survey has been compiled it will be published through this webpage. If the response rate is too low and it could be reasonable to identify a student or small group of students from the survey, we will choose to not publish the data and advise of this outcome on the website.

The Budgets will need to:

• Be developed in line with the legislation and guidelines for the use of SSAF (https://www.education.gov.au/higher-education-loan-program/approved-hep-information/student-services-and-amenities-fee).
• Demonstrate the programs and services which will be available to students, as well as estimates of the number of students or contacts for each service/program (adjusted based on the type of service/program being offered).
• Demonstrate how the Budget has been informed by the student feedback received through the survey. Organisations are encouraged to provide details of how their own data (e.g. surveys, feedback on programs) has informed their budget development.
• Be provided to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, for review within 30 days of the advice of budget allocation to inform the preparation of a contract or unit performance agreement.
• Throughout the year service providers will report performance against their budget on a quarterly basis, advising of any shifts in programs or services.

This process has been adopted because it reduces the administrative and drafting burden of a bidding process, allowing organisations to develop a budget to their priorities for the year. The University requires oversight of the final budget to meet contractual obligations and its oversight obligations on the use of SSAF. 

The amount of SSAF available is unknown until students pay the SSAF each semester. Instead, the University models student numbers to estimate the amount of SSAF likely to be available and this becomes the allocation amount.

2023

• ANU Student Media Inc. (Woroni) released six editions.
• ANU Sport supported 220 students to participate at the UniSport Nationals across 16 different sports.
• ANU Sport ran 13 short courses at discounted prices to students, which included bespoke courses and activities to differing cohorts. 
• The Student Life team had 19 students complete the ANU+ program in Semester 2, over 30 student presenters at the Student Research Conference, Set4ANU Mentoring had 849 students participate as mentors or mentees.
• ANU Students’ Association (ANUSA) provided over 240 financial assistance grants, and their legal service had over 833 legal matters.
• The Scholarly Information Services team had their writing coaches hold over 962 student consults, there were 437 peer writer drop-in sessions, and there were over 1,800 attendees at Let’s Speak English Conversation Groups.

2022

• ANU Careers launched a career voyage online tool to help student who struggle to verbalise their career ideas, over 50 students have used this tool already.
• Scholarly Information Services have a writing centre to assist with academic writing, referencing, interpreting assignment questions, reading strategies, time management, note-taking, exam preparation and presentation skills.
• ANU Student Association (ANUSA) has provided over 500 various financial grants including emergency grants, grocery vouchers and emergency accommodation.
• Woroni released two editions.
• The Observer released multiple articles online. 
• ANU Sports ran 10 ANU Sport programs hosted across the year which are subsidised or free of charge (on campus and interstate).
• The Engagement and Success Team successful delivery the ACT Youth Week Grant "Cooking and Conversations," 80 students participated, and the events garnered attention from media and radio locally.
• Postgraduate and Research Student Association (PARSA) assisted 232 students (across mental health, academic, migration, legal, accommodation and financial assistance).

The SSAF is a fee-based system, where the money collected is the money available for allocation. As student numbers rise and fall, so does the amount of SSAF available. 

The SSAF is intended to fund a variety of student programs and services that would not normally be funded through a university's operating costs. At ANU a very small portion of the funding is used to fund programs run by ANU services, reducing the administrative and operational costs to run services and programs and capitalising on the expertise and experience of ANU staff.

A difference in the system is an ANU service provider is responsible to the organisation to deliver outcomes for the funding they have been provided, which forms part of the unit and individual performance agreements. These will be informed by the Budget the services jointly outline.

External service providers (ANUSA, ANU Sport, Woroni, ANU Observer) sign a contract with the University to provide services in exchange for funding. The Budget provided by these service providers will form the performance measure for the contract (i.e. to deliver these services/programs outlined).

From 2023 ANU services provide the same budget detail as required from all service providers, though note that this will appear differently as administrative costs and most staffing is covered within the operational costs of the ANU service.

In 2022 a Student Services Council (SSC) was established to improve the administration and decision-making that reflects the student body interest. 

Made up of representatives from SSAF receiving service providers the SSC plays an advisory role on all matters pertaining to the SSAF, its allocation and use across different services provided to the ANU Students; and it plays a key role in managing SSAF reporting and acquittals. The SSC recommends expenditure to both the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic).