Higher Education Support Amendment (VET FEE-HELP Reform) Act 2015 (168 of 2015)

Schedule 1   VET FEE-HELP Reform amendments

Part 1   Main amendments

Higher Education Support Act 2003

14A   Before clause 47 of Schedule 1A

Insert:

46B Re-crediting a person's FEE-HELP balance - VET FEE-HELP account in deficit at the end of a calendar year

Main case

(1) A *VET provider must, on the *Secretary's behalf, re-credit a student's *FEE-HELP balance with an amount if:

(a) the student receives *VET FEE-HELP assistance in a calendar year for a *VET unit of study undertaken with the VET provider; and

(b) under subclause 45E(1), the Secretary notifies the VET provider that the VET provider's *VET FEE-HELP account was in deficit at the end of the calendar year; and

(c) the VET provider reasonably believes that some or all of that assistance caused or contributed to the deficit.

(2) The amount to be re-credited is equal to so much of that assistance as the *VET provider reasonably believes caused or contributed to the deficit.

Note: A corresponding amount of the student's VET FEE-HELP debt relating to the unit will be remitted (see section 137-18).

(3) The *Secretary may re-credit the student's *FEE-HELP balance under this subclause if:

(a) the *VET provider is unable to do so under subclauses (1) and (2); and

(b) the Secretary knows how much of that assistance that the VET provider reasonably believes caused or contributed to the deficit.

If not all of the deficit can be re-credited under subclauses (1) and (3)

(4) If the deficit exceeds the total amount able to be re-credited under subclauses (1) and (3) for all of the *VET provider's students who received *VET FEE-HELP assistance in the calendar year for *VET units of study undertaken with the VET provider, the *Secretary may re-credit the *FEE-HELP balance of each of those students with the amount equal to:

where:

student's percentage of the total assistance means the percentage equal to the percentage that the student's *VET FEE-HELP assistance referred to in paragraph (1)(a) is of the total VET FEE-HELP assistance received by students of the *VET provider in the calendar year for *VET units of study undertaken with the VET provider.