Mature Study

Transport and parking costs are an important financial consideration. To identify the transport requirements that you will need while studying visit the campus of the tertiary institution that you wish to attend prior to applying for your course. This will enable you to identify whether there are good public transport links, sufficient parking options and calculate the travel time to and from your home to the campus. Examples of the considerations that you will need to take into account include:

Refer to the following worksheet to assist you plan your budget for tertiary study:

• Worksheet 6 - Financial planning
  (worksheet 6 as text 27 KB or worksheet 6 as PDF 79KB)

Not all tertiary campuses are located centrally with good access to public transport so you may need to budget for the costs associated with driving or arriving independently at your tertiary institution. Only some tertiary institutions have parking facilities so students are required to locate their own car park. The cost of parking can be very expensive especially in inner city locations. It is worth investigating if the tertiary institution has a student deal with local parking stations or if there are cheap parking metres located near the campus. Some tertiary institutions run a car pooling programme where students that live in the same neighbourhood pool together to travel to their course and split the cost of petrol with the designated driver. This is a great way to meet new people and to reduce the cost of transport. Information on parking and car pooling arrangements are available from the student services office or the website of the tertiary provider.

Tertiary institutions that have student parking facilities require students to purchase parking permits. These permits enable students to park on campus and also include the purchase of permits for disability parking spaces. To find out more about parking permits contact the student administration centre at the tertiary institution or log onto their website and search under 'parking permits'. Disability staff at tertiary institutions can also assist students with questions relating to disability parking access and disability car parking permits. If you have a mobility impairment you may also be eligible for a Disability Parking Permit that is issued by the transport department in each State and Territory. This permit allows you to park in any parking space that is allocated to people with disabilities. There is a cost associated with obtaining this permit.

Investigate public transport to and from your tertiary campus. The cost of buying train, tram and bus tickets in bulk is significantly less than individual tickets. Full time students also receive discounted fares on public transport in each State and Territory of Australia. Make sure that you show your student card to conductors and ticket sellers to receive student prices on public transport. In some States and Territories of Australia people with vision impairment are also eligible to receive public transport concession in addition to recipients of Centrelink benefits.

See transport subsidies and concessions for further information.

The price of petrol is increasing which will impact upon the costs associated with driving. Many supermarket chains such as Coles and Woolworths offer discounts of 4c per litre off the marked price of petrol if you produce a shopping docket at one of their petrol stations.

Transport costs to and from campus also need to be considered such as the cost of petrol, bus, train and tram tickets or taxis. Travel concessions are available to full time students on public transport in addition to students that study part time due to their disability. If you have a permanent and severe disability which affects your mobility you may be eligible for the taxi transport subsidy scheme. Eligible taxi users receive a subsidy of half the fare for each trip up to a maximum amount of $25. This amount varies in each State and Territory. Students who also have physical disabilities may be eligible for financial assistance via access cab schemes that operate in each State and Territory.

For further information see transport subsidies and financial assistance.