HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING ACT 1988
[ CCH Note: Act No 150 of 2003 (as amended by No 157 of 2004), s 3 and Sch 1 items 6 to 9 and 24, contains the following transitional provisions:
``Part 2 - Transitional arrangement for students under the Post-graduate education loan scheme
FEE-HELP assistance for existing students under the Post-graduate education loan scheme
6
If:
(a) a person is enrolled with an institution in a unit of study that forms part of a course of study that the person started before 1 January 2005; and
(b) the period over which the person is undertaking the unit ends on or before 31 December 2008; and
(c) the person is an eligible student, within the meaning of section 98B of the Higher Education Funding Act 1988 , for the semester; and
(d) the course is an eligible post-graduate course of study within the meaning of section 98A of that Act; and
(e) the Commonwealth had, under section 98G of that Act, discharged a liability that the person had incurred in relation to the course; and
(f) the person:
(i) is entitled to FEE-HELP assistance for the unit; or
(ii) would be entitled to FEE-HELP assistance for the unit but for paragraph 104-1(1)(a) of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 ; and
(g) the person has neither:
(i) discontinued his or her enrolment in the course since that commencement (see item 7); nor
(ii) completed the requirements of the course;then:
(h) if the institution is not (apart from this item) a higher education provider - the institution is taken, for the purposes of the application of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 in relation to the person and unit, to be a higher education provider; and
(i) if subparagraph (f)(ii) applies - the person is taken, for the purposes of that Act, to be entitled to FEE-HELP assistance for the unit; and
(j) the person is taken, for the purposes of that Act, to incur a HECS-HELP debt, and not a FEE-HELP debt, if the Commonwealth makes a loan to the person under section 104-1 of that Act in relation to the unit.Note:
The effects of the person incurring a HECS-HELP debt rather than a FEE-HELP debt are that the indexation of the debt is limited to changes in the Consumer Price Index (see section 140-5 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 ), and that voluntary repayments may attract a 10% bonus (see section 151-5 of that Act).
Discontinuance of enrolments
7
A person is not taken, for the purposes of subparagraph (g)(i) of item 6, to have discontinued his or her enrolment in a course of study merely because:
(a) the person has taken leave of absence from, or has deferred, the course, with the approval of the institution with which the person is undertaking the course; or
(b) the person transfers his or her enrolment in the course to another course of study at the same level with the same or another institution or higher education provider; or
(c) circumstances have occurred that are specified in the guidelines under item 8 as not amounting to a discontinuance of enrolment. Guidelines
8(1)
The Minister may, in writing, make guidelines providing for matters:
(a) required or permitted by this Schedule to be provided; or
(b) necessary or convenient to be provided in order to carry out or give effect to this Schedule.
8(2)
Without limiting subitem (1), the guidelines may provide for:
(a) when a person is taken to have commenced a course of study; and
(b) when a person is taken to have completed the requirements of a course of study.Any such guidelines have effect, for the purposes of this Schedule, accordingly.
8(3)
The guidelines are disallowable instruments for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 .
Meaning of institution
9
In this Part:institution
Definitions
has the same meaning as in Chapter 4A of the old Act.
24
In this Schedule:new Act
means the Higher Education Support Bill 2003 .old Act
means the Higher Education Funding Act 1988 .'']
View history note
Hide history noteIn this Chapter, unless the contrary intention appears:
appropriate officer
of an institution means:
(a) a person who is an appropriate officer of the institution for the purposes of Chapter 4 ; or
(b) if the institution is an eligible private institution - a person, or a person included in a class of persons, appointed by the chief executive officer of the institution or the chief executive officer's delegate to be an appropriate officer of the institution for the purposes of this Chapter.
eligible post-graduate course of study
at an institution means a course of study at the institution that:
(a) is a post-graduate course for which fees may be charged; and
(b) is not a post-graduate research award course of study; and
(c) if the institution is a non-self accrediting private institution:
(i) is a course that is accredited by a State or Territory accreditation agency listed in the Australian Qualifications Framework Register of Bodies with Authority to Issue Qualifications; and
For the purposes of paragraph (c), a part of an agency is taken to be an agency in its own right.
(ii) is a course which the Minister is satisfied meets the criteria in place in the National Protocol for the Accreditation of Higher Education Courses to be offered by non-self accrediting providers, based on the advice of the State or Territory accreditation agency listed in the Australian Qualifications Framework Register of Bodies with Authority to Issue Qualifications.
eligible private institution
has the meaning given by section
98AA
.
eligible student
, for a semester, has the meaning given by section
98B
.
(a) an institution referred to in section 4 ; or
(b) an eligible private institution.
National Protocols
means the
National Protocols for Higher Education Approval Processes
(first endorsed by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs on 31 March 2000), as in force from time to time.
non-self accrediting private institution
is an eligible private institution which appears in column 2 of the table in subsection
98AA(1)
.
semester
means a semester in a year to which this Chapter applies, and has a meaning affected by subsection (3).
(a) a person who proposes to undertake on or after 1 January 2002, or is undertaking or has undertaken on or after that date, an eligible post-graduate course of study at an institution (other than an eligible private institution); and
(b) when used in relation to a particular eligible post-graduate course of study at an institution (other than an eligible private institution) - a person who proposes to undertake on or after 1 January 2002, or is undertaking or has undertaken on or after that date, the eligible post-graduate course of study at that institution; and
(c) a person who proposes to undertake on or after 1 January 2003, or is undertaking or has undertaken on or after that date, an eligible post-graduate course of study at an eligible private institution; and
(d) when used in relation to a particular eligible post-graduate course of study at an eligible private institution - a person who proposes to undertake on or after 1 January 2003, or is undertaking or has undertaken on or after that date, the eligible post-graduate course of study at that institution.
98A(2)
Expressions used in this Chapter that are defined in Chapter 4 have in this Chapter, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meanings as in Chapter 4 .
98A(3)
For the purposes of subsection (2), section 37 and subsection 39(2) apply in relation to the expressions semester and standard student load in this Chapter in the same way that they apply in relation to those expressions in Chapter 4 , as if:
(a) the references in section 37 and subsection 39(2) to institution were references to institution within the meaning of Chapter 4A ; and
(b) the reference in subsection 39(2) to each designated course of study were a reference to each eligible post-graduate course of study.
98A(3A)
For the purposes of this Chapter, the definition of census date in subsection 34(1) applies as if the reference in that definition to institution were a reference to institution within the meaning of Chapter 4A .
98A(4)
Section 36 does not affect the meaning of the expression student load in this Chapter.
98A(5)
Expressions used in this Chapter that are defined in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 have in this Chapter, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meanings as in that Act.
98A(6)
For the purposes of this Chapter, the payment of an amount to an institution by a person other than a student in respect of fees payable by the student to the institution is taken to constitute payment of that amount to the institution by the student.
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