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Student Services and Amenities Fee
- What is the SSAF?
- What are SSAF funds used for?
What are SSAF funds used for?
SSAF funds are used to support:
- student advice and advocacy services
- legal services
- publications
- student orientation and Welcome Program activities
- sports and recreational activities
- careers and employment advice
- student representative organisations, clubs and societies.
Before annual allocations are made, formal consultation and endorsement by student organisation representatives occurs via the SSAF Student Consultation Group.
2026 SSAF allocation
The estimated SSAF income for 2026 is approximately $25 million. The funding is separated into:
- base funding (approx. $19.2M), which is recurrent funding provided to the four student representative organisations, the Careers Centre, and the Office of Student Life.
- contestable funding (approx. $5.7M), available to student representative organisations, the Careers Centre, Student Life, and the University Library.
Student consultation
The SSAF Student Consultation Group provides the formal consultation mechanism with student representatives regarding the SSAF. The membership of the SSAF Student Consultation Group includes the following:
- Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), as chair
- President, Students' Representative Council (SRC)
- President, Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA)
- President, University of Sydney Union (USU)
- Nominated student representative, Sydney University Sport & Fitness (SUSF)
- Undergraduate and Postgraduate Student Senate Fellows
- Head, Student Life
Following the July meeting of the SSAF Student Consultation Group, student organisation representatives submitted priority areas for funding. These priority areas, along with the results from the annual SSAF Student Survey held in May, provided the list of key student priorities for allocating 2026 SSAF funds. You can access the full list of priorities.
Between August and October, applications for 2026 base and contestable funding were prepared and submitted. These applications were tabled at the October meeting of the SSAF Student Consultation Group for consideration. Members and attendees were invited to speak about their applications and discuss funding proposals. The 2026 SSAF budget was also tabled at this meeting for endorsement. In December, the final list of SSAF funded initiatives was approved by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and Students).
2026 SSAF by recipient
The following table shows the allocation of the 2026 SSAF funding by recipient:
| Students' Representative Council (SRC) | $3,573,225 |
| Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA) | $3,325,161 |
| Sydney University Sport & Fitness (SUSF) | $8,069,129 |
| University of Sydney Union (USU) | $8,883,999 |
| Careers Centre | $642,566 |
| Student Life | $484,238 |
| Total | $24,978,318 |
2026 SSAF by key area
The following table shows the allocation of the 2026 SSAF funding by the service and amenity key area:
| 1. Health Services | $551,937.35 | |
| 2. Clubs or other associations |
a. Sporting | $7,359,413 |
| b. Internal student politics and advocating students’ interests | $3,425,361.10 | |
| c. Gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, or nationality-based | $169,660 | |
| d. Areas-of-study related e.g. law | $15,000 | |
| e. Other activities e.g. music, debate, chess, art | $460,516.56 | |
| f. Other | $4,368,745.05 | |
| 3. Employment/career services | $966,069.45 | |
| 4. Legal aid | $886,463.79 | |
| 5. Food or drink services | $1,148,980.68 | |
| 6. Helping students secure accommodation | $120,000 | |
| 7. Financial or insurance advice for students | $0 | |
| 8. Libraries and reading rooms | $0 | |
| 9. Study skills | $0 | |
| 10. Advising on matters arising under the University’s rules | $1,882,089.29 | |
| 11. Student Orientation and Welcome activities | $1,471,464.06 | |
| 12. Helping to meet the specific needs of overseas students | $542,229.60 | |
| 13. Student produced media | $1,610,387.93 | |
| 14. Childcare services | $0 | |
| Total | $24,978,318 |
|
2025 SSAF allocation
The estimated SSAF income for 2025 is approximately $23.7 million. The funding is separated into:
- base funding (approx. $18.6M), which is recurrent funding provided to the four student representative organisations, the Careers Centre, and the Office of Student Life.
- contestable funding (approx. $5M), available to student representative organisations, the Careers Centre, Student Life, and the University Library.
Student consultation
The SSAF Student Consultation Group provides the formal consultation mechanism with student representatives regarding the SSAF. The membership of the SSAF Student Consultation Group includes the following:
- Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), as chair
- President, Students' Representative Council (SRC)
- President, Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA)
- President, University of Sydney Union (USU)
- Nominated student representative, Sydney University Sport & Fitness (SUSF)
- Undergraduate and Postgraduate Student Senate Fellows
- Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Student Life)
At the July meeting of the SSAF Student Consultation Group, student organisation representatives submitted priority areas for funding. These priority areas, along with the results from the annual SSAF Student Survey held in May, provided the list of key student priorities for allocating 2025 SSAF funds. You can access the full list of priorities.
In September – October, applications for 2025 base and contestable funding were submitted. These applications were tabled at the October meeting of the SSAF Student Consultation Group. Members and attendees were invited to speak to their applications and discuss proposals for funding. The 2025 SSAF budget was also tabled this meeting for endorsement.
2025 SSAF by recipient
The following table shows the allocation of the 2025 SSAF funding by recipient:
| Students' Representative Council (SRC) | $3,194,385 |
| Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA) | $3,249,484 |
| Sydney University Sport & Fitness (SUSF) | $7,697,260 |
| University of Sydney Union (USU) | $8,350,482 |
| Careers Centre | $614,207 |
| Student Life | $467,975 |
| University Library | $19,871 |
| Total | $23,593,664 |
2025 SSAF by key area
The following table shows the allocation of the 2025 SSAF funding by the service and amenity key area:
| 1. Health Services | $316,467 | |
| 2. Clubs or other associations |
a. Sporting | $7,489,299 |
| b. Internal student politics and advocating students’ interests | $3,728,095 | |
| c. Gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, or nationality-based | $151,553 | |
| d. Areas-of-study related e.g. law | $10,000 | |
| e. Other activities e.g. music, debate, chess, art | $515,016 | |
| f. Other | $4,171,205 | |
| 3. Employment/career services | $416,317 | |
| 4. Legal aid | $700,428 | |
| 5. Food or drink services | $954,705 | |
| 6. Helping students secure accommodation | $47,500 | |
| 7. Financial or insurance advice for students | $0 | |
| 8. Libraries and reading rooms | $18,000 | |
| 9. Study skills | $0 | |
| 10. Advising on matters arising under the University’s rules | $1,422,428 | |
| 11. Student Orientation and Welcome activities | $1,346,569 | |
| 12. Helping to meet the specific needs of overseas students | $814,197 | |
| 13. Student produced media | $1,491,885 | |
| 14. Childcare services | $0 | |
| Total | $23,593,664 | |
SSAF student survey
Each year, the University conducts the SSAF Student Survey to receive student feedback about how the SSAF can best support students. The outcomes of the survey are provided to SSAF recipients, who are required to highlight how each of their proposed services or amenities align with the survey results as part of their funding application.
Find out more information about the results of the 2022 (pdf, 817KB), 2023 (pdf, 216KB), 2024 (pdf, 446KB) and 2025 (pdf, 404KB) SSAF student surveys.
Last updated: 10 March 2026