I'm wanting to study in Melbourne in 2009. Am I entitled to support from the government if I'm a New Zealand citizen? Do I have to meet international entry requirements? Australians don't in NZ.

I am still trying to work this out as well. I rang the HECS people ( 1800-020-108 ) and they told me that the shared HECS-HELP agreement between NZ and Australia stopped in 2005. Then I rang the NZ student services people ( +6449173107 ) and they told me I could not apply for a student loan to study overseas unless it was as part of an already existing NZ tertiary program. So what gives. Do I have to wait 4 years before I can study here? Any clarification on this situation would help!

I am also looking at studying on Oz as a post grad, and as far as I can tell kiwis studying in Oz pay local student fee rates, but are not entitled to loans so you have to pay the fees up front.

I spoke to someone at the university of Sydney as well as centrelink, who both told me that NZ citizen's are unable to receive any social security payments (i.e., student loans, loans, benefits etc) unless you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident. You can, however, receive a commonwealth supported place, which means that the government will pay for a selected amount and depending on the degree you take for example Science, you will need to pay for $7400 and the rest the government pays for and this amount is paid immediately after being accepted. This also depends on whether you are approved for a commonwealth supported place, otherwise we'll have to pay around $25,000 or so for a whole year's papers.

Hope this helps

So could i work in aussie for 6 mths and apply for permanent resident and then enter a university as a resident of aussie. How do you become a permanent resident?

Yea i was looking at going to Uni over there, NZ citizens apply through the relevent states admissions centers and are selected from a teriary rank just like an australian. When you get an offer you automactically receive a commonwealth supported place. They accept NZ university entrance and NZQA level 4 and above certificates from NZ

Hey I've also been looking into this, unfortunately unless you can get a scholarship you don't get any financial assistance. Furthermore you can't just go over and work for 6 months and apply for centrelink (studylink equivalent) help. They have a two year stand down period from when you arrive/ become a permanent resident. If you're going do to post-grad research (masters or phd) the aus government pays for your fees and there are a lot of scholarships on offer (eg APA) which we are eligible for. However, if you're going to do post-graduate coursework you'll have to pay fees up front and support yourself as there a limited scholarships, but this also depends on where you're going to study and what you're going to study.