Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Modification Rules 2025

Administered by Department of Education

Legislation au F2025L01515 Rules In force Legislative Instrument

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EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Issued by the authority of the Minister for Education

Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Act 2025

Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Modification Rules 2025

AUTHORITY

Subitem 85(1) of Schedule 1 to the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Act 2025 (the Act) provides that the Minister may, by legislative instrument, make rules modifying the operation of a provision specified in subitem 85(2), by providing that the provision applies as if a reference in the provision to 1 June 2025 were a reference to a later day specified by the rules (which must be no later than 2 calendar days after 1 June 2025).

Subitem 85(2) of Schedule 1 to the Act specifies the provisions of the Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans Act 2014, the Higher Education Support Act 2003, the Social Security Act 1991, the Student Assistance Act 1973, and the VET Student Loans Act 2016 (together, the ‘Student Loans Acts’), as amended by Schedule 1 to the Act, that refer to 1 June 2025.

Subitem 86(1) of Schedule 1 to the Act provides that the Minister must not make rules under subitem 85(1) that modify the operation of an Act (apart from a provision of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA)) without the written agreement of a Minister administering the Act.

PURPOSE AND OPERATION

Schedule 1 to the Act amends the Student Loans Acts to provide a one-off 20 per cent reduction to debts incurred under the Student Loans Acts on or before 1 June 2025 (the debt reduction measure).

Subitems 85(1) and (2) of Schedule 1 to the Act provide that the Minister may make rules modifying the operation of the provisions in the Student Loans Acts, as amended by Schedule 1 to the Act, that refer to 1 June 2025, by providing that those provisions apply as if a reference in the provision to 1 June 2025 were a reference to a later day (which must be no later than 2 calendar days after 1 June 2025).

The Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Modification Rules 2025 (the Instrument) sets out rules that modify the operation of the provisions in HESA, the Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans Act 2014 (the AASL Act) and the VET Student Loans Act 2016 (the VSL Act), as amended by Schedule 1 to the Act, that refer to 1 June 2025. The Instrument provides that references to 1 June 2025 in HESA are modified and apply as if they were references to 3 June 2025, and references to 1 June 2025 in the AASL Act and the VSL Act are modified and apply as if they were references to 2 June 2025. This means that the effect of the debt reduction measure is extended to debts incurred on or before 3 June 2025 (for debts incurred under HESA), or debts incurred on or before 2 June 2025 (for debts incurred under the AASL Act and the VSL Act).

The purpose of modifying the operation of the provisions in HESA is to account for higher education students that are disadvantaged because their census date (which is set by their higher education provider) for a relevant unit of study was set on 1 or 2 June (leading to the student incurring the debt on 2 or 3 June). This is because some higher education providers that may have otherwise set census dates on 31 May 2025, changed the census date because 31 May and 1 June fell over the weekend. As such, the Instrument will have a beneficial effect for these students.

The purpose of modifying the operation of the provisions in the VSL Act is to account for VET students that are disadvantaged because their census date (which is set by their VSL provider) for a relevant unit of study was set on 2 June 2025. This is because some VSL providers that may have otherwise set census dates on 31 May 2025 or 1 June 2025, changed the census date because 31 May and 1 June fell over the weekend. As such, the Instrument will have a beneficial effect for these students.

The purpose of modifying the operation of the provisions in the AASL Act is to ensure apprentices accessing support through Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans Program (AASL program) are not otherwise disadvantaged due to administrative or timing-related factors. For example, payments under the AASL program are not processed over weekends. The modification will allow the debt reduction measure to apply to debts incurred up to and including 2 June 2025, ensuring that apprentices are not disadvantaged by circumstances outside their control. This modification also promotes consistency of treatment across different cohorts of tertiary education students, by extending the beneficial effect of the debt reduction measure to apprentices who incur debts on or before 2 June 2025.

COMMENCEMENT

The Instrument commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.

CONSULTATION

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the Department of Social Services (DSS), and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) were consulted through established communications channels in relation to the Instrument. This consultation considered which Student Loans Acts the modification rules should be applied to, how the relevant provisions should be modified, and any implications for implementation.

No modifications were made to the Social Security Act 1991 and the Student Assistance Act 1973, following feedback from DSS that the effective dates of the student loan debts under those Acts are not affected by 1 June 2025 falling over a weekend.

The Instrument modifies the provisions in HESA to extend the debt reduction measure to 3 June 2025, but only extended the measure to 2 June 2025 for debts incurred under the AASL Act and VSL Act, following feedback from DEWR that the measure does not need to be extended until 3 June 2025, since there is no delay in when debts under the AASL Act and VSL Act are incurred. This is different to how debts are incurred under HESA, as many HESA debts are incurred the day after a student’s census dates.

The Minister for Skills and Training, who is a Minister responsible for administering the AASL Act and the VSL Act, provided written agreement to the provisions of the Instrument modifying the operation of the AASL Act and the VSL Act.

 


STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Modification Rules 2025

The Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Modification Rules 2025 (the Instrument) is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

Overview of the Legislative Instrument

Schedule 1 to the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Act 2025 (the Act) amends the Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans Act 2014, the Higher Education Support Act 2003, the Social Security Act 1991, the Student Assistance Act 1973, and the VET Student Loans Act 2016 (together, the ‘Student Loans Acts’), to provide a one-off 20 per cent reduction to the debts incurred under the Student Loans Acts on or before 1 June 2025 (the debt reduction measure).

Subitem 85(1) and (2) of Schedule 1 to the Act provide that the Minister may make rules modifying the operation of the provisions in the Student Loans Acts, as amended by Schedule 1 to the Act, that refer to 1 June 2025, by providing that those provisions apply as if a reference in the provision to 1 June 2025 were a reference to a later day (which must be no later than 2 calendar days after 1 June 2025).

The Instrument sets out rules that modify the operation of the provisions in HESA, the Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans Act 2014 (the AASL Act) and the VET Student Loans Act 2016 (the VSL Act), as amended by Schedule 1 of the Act, that refer to 1 June 2025. The Instrument provides that references to 1 June 2025 in HESA are modified and apply as if they were references to 3 June 2025, and references to 1 June 2025 in the AASL Act and the VSL Act are modified and apply as if they were references to 2 June 2025. This means that the effect of the debt reduction measure is extended to debts incurred on or before 3 June 2025 (for debts incurred under HESA), or debts incurred on or before 2 June 2025 (for debts incurred under the AASL Act and the VSL Act).

The purpose of modifying the operation of the provisions in HESA is to account for higher education students that are disadvantaged because their census date (which is set by their higher education provider) for a relevant unit of study was set on 1 or 2 June (leading to the student incurring the debt on 2 or 3 June). This is because some higher education providers that may have otherwise set census dates on 31 May 2025, changed the census date because 31 May and 1 June fell over the weekend. As such, the Instrument will have a beneficial effect for these students.

The purpose of modifying the operation of the provisions in the VSL Act is to account for VET students that are disadvantaged because their census date (which is set by their VSL provider) for a relevant unit of study was set on 2 June. This is because some VSL providers that may have otherwise set census dates on 31 May 2025 or 1 June 2025, changed the census date because 31 May and 1 June fell over the weekend. As such, the Instrument will have a beneficial effect for these students.

The purpose of modifying the operation of the provisions in the AASL Act is to ensure apprentices accessing support through Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans Program (AASL program) are not otherwise disadvantaged due to administrative or timing-related factors. For example, payments under the AASL program are not processed over weekends. The modification will allow the debt reduction measure to apply to debts incurred up to and including 2 June 2025, ensuring that apprentices are not disadvantaged by circumstances outside their control. This modification also promotes consistency of treatment across different cohorts of tertiary education students, by extending the beneficial effect of the debt reduction measure to apprentices who incur debts on or before 2 June 2025.

Human rights implications

The Instrument engages the right to education in Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Right to education

Article 13 of the ICESCR recognises the important personal, societal, economic and intellectual benefits of education. Article 13 also provides that secondary education in all its different forms, including higher education, shall be made generally available and accessible to all by every appropriate means. Article 13(2)(c) of the ICESCR provides that ‘higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education’.

The Instrument modifies the operation of the provisions in HESA, the AASL Act and the VSL Act so that students who incurred a debt on 2 June 2025 (for student loans provided under the AASL Act and the VSL Act) or 2 June or 3 June 2025 (for student loans provided under HESA), still receive the benefit of the debt reduction measure. This will mean that more students will receive a reduction of their debts which were incurred when undertaking tertiary education and reduces the amount that students and graduates will have to pay for tertiary education. This increases accessibility to tertiary education and supports the right to education.

Conclusion

The Instrument is compatible with human rights because it supports the right to education.

 

Minister for Education, the Hon Jason Clare MP

UNIVERSITIES ACCORD (CUTTING STUDENT DEBT BY 20 PER CENT) MODIFICATION RULES 2025

EXPLANATION OF PROVISIONS

Section 1: Name

  1.   This is a formal provision specifying the name of the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Modification Rules 2025 (the Instrument).

Section 2: Commencement

  1.   This provision provides that the Instrument commences on the day after the Instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.

Section 3: Authority

  1.   This provision provides that the Instrument is made under subitem 85(1) of Schedule 1 to the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Act 2025 (the Act).

Section 4: Definitions

  1.   This section provides that the term ‘Act’ in the Instrument means the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Act 2025.

Section 5: Modification rules

  1.   This section provides that, for the purposes of subitem 85(1) of Schedule 1 to the Act, provisions of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA), the Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans Act 2014 (the AASL Act) and the VET Student Loans Act 2016 (the VSL Act), as amended by Schedule 1 of the Act, that refer to 1 June 2025, are modified and apply as if a reference to 1 June 2025 were a reference to a later date (that is no later than 2 calendar days after 1 June 2025).
  2.   Paragraph 5(1)(a) provides that the provisions of HESA, as amended by Schedule 1 of the Act, that refer to 1 June 2025, are modified and apply as if a reference to 1 June 2025 were a reference to 3 June 2025. This is to account for higher education students that are disadvantaged because their census date (which is set by their higher education provider) for a relevant unit of study was set on 1 or 2 June (leading to the student incurring the debt on 2 or 3 June). This is because some higher education providers that may have otherwise set census dates on 31 May 2025, changed the census date because 31 May and 1 June fell over the weekend.
  3.   Paragraph 5(1)(b) provides that the provisions of the AASL Act as amended by Schedule 1 of the Act, that refer to 1 June 2025, are modified and apply as if a reference to 1 June 2025 were a reference to 2 June 2025. The modification is designed to prevent apprentices receiving AASL from being disadvantaged by timing or administrative issues, such as delays caused by the department’s payment systems not operating over the weekend.
  4.   Paragraph 5(1)(c) provides that the provisions of the VSL Act, as amended by Schedule 1 of the Act, that refer to 1 June 2025, are modified and apply as if a reference to 1 June 2025 were a reference to 2 June 2025. The modification is to account for VET students that are disadvantaged because their census date (which is set by their VSL provider) for a relevant unit of study was set on 2 June 2025. This is because some VSL providers that may have otherwise set census dates on 31 May 2025 or 1 June 2025, changed the census date because 31 May and 1 June fell over the weekend.

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Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 26 August 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.