The Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Bill 2024 received Royal Assent, amending the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA).
The measures will drive reform across the higher education sector, making it better and fairer for all Australians.
Amendments include:
- Fairer HELP indexation capped to the lower of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or Wage Price Index (WPI)
- Introduction of the Commonwealth Prac Payment to support teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students with mandatory placements
- Additional FEE-FREE Uni Ready courses to support underrepresented students to gain the skills they need to study at university
- Require higher education providers that charge a Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) to allocate a minimum of 40% of SSAF revenue to support the long-term sustainability of student-led organisations and support students to succeed in their studies.
Australians with a HELP debt, VET Student Loan, Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan or other student loan will receive a credit on loans that were indexed on 1 June last year or 1 June 2023. For students who paid off their HELP debt after 2023 or 2024 indexation was applied, the credit will be refunded to their bank account (assuming there are no outstanding Government debts).
The Australian Taxation Office will automatically apply the credit to outstanding student loans or issue a refund.
Further information is available at: Study and training loans – what's new | Australian Taxation Office.
Australians with a HELP debt can find out how much this is estimated to benefit them using the HELP Indexation Credit Estimator.
The reforms in the Student Support Bill primarily respond to recommendations outlined in the Australian Universities Accord Final Report.
Minister for Education, the Hon Jason Clare MP says the passing of the Bill is an important part of achieving a better and fairer education system.
“The Universities Accord recommended indexing HELP loans to whatever is lower out of CPI or WPI,” Minister Clare said.
“We have done this and gone further. We have backdated this reform to last year. This wipes out what happened last year and makes sure it never happens again.
“Now that legislation has passed, the ATO will automatically apply these credits as soon as possible.
“Passing this legislation wipes around $3 billion in student debt for more than 3 million Australians nationwide – easing pressure on people right across the country.”
FEE-FREE Uni Ready courses and changes to the Student Support and Amenities Fee will commence from 1 January 2025, while the Commonwealth Prac Payment will be introduced from 1 July 2025.
FEE-FREE University Ready Courses are a bridge between school and university to help more Australians from underrepresented backgrounds, with the skills and confidence to enter higher education and succeed when they get there.
The government is supporting eligible students studying nursing, midwifery, teaching through Commonwealth Prac Payments of $319.50 per week, (aligned to the single Austudy rate), while they do their mandatory practicum placement as part of their degree. This measure will help to address staff shortages in these key sectors. For more information visit: Commonwealth Prac Payment page.
In addition, in November 2024, the Australian Government announced future for HELP and other student loan schemes to make it even fairer, subject to the passage of legislation.
From 1 July 2025, students and workers with an outstanding student loan debt will only be required to make compulsory repayments once they start earning an annual salary of $67,000. This is an increase from the current repayment threshold of $54,435 in 2024-25.
The government also announced that anyone with a student loan debt, including a HELP debt will have their debt reduced by 20% before indexation is applied on 1 June 2025. This means that someone with an average HELP debt of $27,600 will have their loan reduced by $5,520.
To read more about the amendments to the HESA Bill, visit: Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Bill 2024 – Parliament of Australia.