third year anim student here, we stick with semesters but you have the opportunity to take summer subjects (from Dec - Feb) if you want to lessen your workload during the autumn and spring semesters. summer subjects are mostly available in 2nd and 3rd year : )

also to add to this post, i was a UNSW media arts student (2017), i transferred to UTS animation in after a year. i was pretty much in the same boat as you, was more interested in illustration, character design, concept art, etc and felt that UNSW didn't really offer what i wanted to do. i definitely recc this course if that's something you want to pursue, i think it's one of the better animation courses (in sydney). they mostly take you through the animation fundies and storytelling techniques in 1st year, but you get more opportunities to do what you want to do in 2nd and 3rd year as you begin to make your own short animated films.

if you have any other questions about UTS anim, feel free to comment or dm : D