Recovering student loans from overseas residents
Minister for Education and Training, Senator Simon Birmingham, has advised that from 1 January 2016, people who have benefited from Australian student loans, and who now live overseas will pay for them the same way as they would if they lived in Australia.
”Until now, people who took out a loan under the Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) or a trade support Loan (TSL) and moved overseas were under no obligation to repay their debt as long as they remained offshore residents,” Minister Birmingham said.
From 1 January 2016, anyone who has a HELP or TSL debt who earns above the minimum repayment threshold (currently $54,126) will be required to make repayments regardless of where they live.
Minister Birmingham said it is estimated that around $20-30 million each year was lost due to graduates moving overseas, and up to $800 million had been lost since the start of the student loan scheme in 1989 due to non-repayment of debts from students living overseas.
All Australians with current and new HELP and TSL debts who move overseas for six months or more are required to notify the ATO via the myGov website to facilitate repayments.
Ref: Media Release Minister for Education and Training 1 January 2016
Comments are closed.