Unique Student Identifier

Unique Student Identifier (USI) is your individual education number issued by the government. It only takes 5 minutes to create, and once you create it, you have it for life.

CREATE A USI

If you have undertaken any vocational education or training (even a First Aid course) since 2015 you probably already have a USI.

FIND YOUR USI

A USI is your individual education number issued by the government. The Australian government introduced the USI to the Higher Education sector to manage students’ records from various education providers, nationally.

Eventually, the USI will replace the Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN) which most Higher Education students have now. This will allow a more seamless and effective way to record and manage Student Learning Entitlements and HELP loan debts.

You will need a USI in order to receive commonwealth financial assistance, and/or to obtain your qualification.

For more information about the USI process and/or privacy policy, visit the USI help page and the USI privacy page.

If you have undertaken any vocational education or training (even a First Aid course) since 2015 you may already have a USI.

FIND YOUR USI

If you do not have a USI, you can create one. To create a USI, you will need to have a valid form of identification on hand.

If you are travelling to Australia to study, you must land in Australia and go through customs before you can create a USI using your non-Australian passport and visa as a form of ID.

CREATE A USI

From 1 January 2023, all students studying in Australia, including international students, must provide UOW with their USI in order to apply to graduate and receive their award.

However, when you need to provide UOW with your USI depends on a number of factors, including your student type:

Domestic students

All new and returning domestic UOW students who are in a Commonwealth Supported Place and/or access a HELP Loan (HECS/FEE/SA/OS/VET HELP) will need to provide UOW with their USI by Census date of the first session they enrol in from 1 January, 2023. This also includes any UOW College student studying a UOW accredited course.

International students

If you are travelling to Australia to study, you must land in Australia and go through customs before you can create a USI using your non-Australian passport and visa as a form of ID. Once you have your USI you must provide it to UOW.

If you are studying offshore (outside of Australia) for the entire duration of your course, you do not need a USI.

More information for International and offshore students >

Students who don’t need a USI

  • Offshore and Online campus students that are not residing within Australia for the duration of their course;
  • Non-award course students that do not access HECS-HELP, SA-HELP or FEE-HELP Loans do not require a USI. e.g. Summer Master Classes, UniNow, UniLaunch & Transition, Uni Prep Program, Exchange and Study Abroad at UOW, Cross Institutional (unless using a HELP loan), Effective Leadership, UG Enabling courses, Medical Practicum programs, MOOCs; and
  • Students that are approved for USI exemption by the Government’s Student Identifier’s Registrar and show this evidence to the University Student Fees team by their first census date. NOTE: this removes any entitlements to Commonwealth Support or assistance.

You must provide your USI directly to UOW. When setting up your USI account via the government portal, please do not select to provide permission to a provider. This will not give UOW access to your USI - you must provide it through one of the options below.

Option 1 – During online enrolment (new students)

When you enrol online in your course, you’ll be prompted to enter your USI. You can choose to not provide a USI at this step, however you will need to tick the box to acknowledge that you will provide it at a later date.

Option 2 – In SOLS

New and returning students can provide their USI in SOLS by:

  1. Logging into SOLS
  2. Click on Personal Details and Consent
  3. Click on Unique Student Identifier
  4. Enter your 10 digit USI
  5. Click Add/Update USI

Note: UOW College VET students should provide their USI via UOW College processes and not via SOLS.

To create a USI, you will need to provide personal details and contact information. The information provided will help ensure duplicate USIs aren’t created and your education records are linked to your USI account.

You must ensure that your personal information in the USI portal matches your personal details held by UOW (e.g. name is consistent). If you have a Tax File Number (TFN), you should use the same verifiable identification document/s to apply for both your TFN and USI.

Visit the Australia Government USI website to find out what details are required to apply for a USI.

When you create a USI, you will be provided with information regarding the handling of your information. More details at usi.gov.au/about-us/privacy.

Your USI may have failed verification as your personal details at UOW do not match those held by the Government in the USI Portal.

You need to ensure that your full name and date of birth details at UOW in SOLS match exactly with your details in the Government's USI Portal.

We suggest using the same form of ID in the USI portal that matches your UOW details.

If your information in USI and/or UOW was based on an identification document that doesn't reflect the name you'd like to use, you need to resolve this with the relevant agency that issued that document (e.g. married or maiden names, preferred names, native or English names, commas, hyphens and spaces).

The USI we collect from you will be verified and disclosed back to the Government based on your enrolment at the University of Wollongong. The USI will eventually replace the existing Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN).

Your USI will be held securely by UOW against your student record and only utilised for the process of verifying your identity and study entitlements back to the Government.

Further information can be found on the UOW’s Privacy homepage at uow.edu.au/privacy/.

If you are required to provide a USI to UOW (refer to the above section ‘When do I need to provide UOW with my USI?’) and haven’t done so by the required date, you will be contacted accordingly as your enrolment may be impacted in one of the following ways:

  • You may have your marks or grades withheld;
  • You may be ineligible for any Commonwealth Support or Assistance
  • You may be unable to enrol in future years;
  • You may have your course enrolment cancelled;
  • You may be unable to apply to graduate.; or
  • You may not receive a qualification from UOW or UOW College.

If you are a Domestic student and do not have a USI, you will not be eligible for a Commonwealth Supported Place. This may mean that to continue to study at UOW, you could be faced with full, upfront fees without the government’s contribution. That could mean fees of over $500 per credit point required to be paid upfront. 

If you have a genuine personal objection to being assigned a USI, you can apply for an exemption.

Successful exemption will mean that you will not be eligible for Commonwealth Support or Assistance.

International students who will not be coming onshore for their entire course may also be eligible for an exemption.

If you decide to apply for an exemption, you will need to let your student administration office know:

View the full USI exemption process