HELP Debt Frequently Asked Questions

Both types of assistance are available to teachers who are, or were, teaching in a very remote area of Australia, based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Remoteness Structure during their teaching period. This includes work at:

• a primary or secondary school
• centre based day care service
• a preschool

Lists of eligible schools, centre-based day care services, and preschools is available on our HELP Debt Reduction for very remote teachers page.

To be eligible for either type of assistance you need to: 

• have completed a course of study which enables you to register as a teacher in the relevant state or territory.
• be working as a teacher in a ‘face-to-face’ manner at a centre-based daycare,  preschool, primary school or secondary school.
• Bb working in a very remote area of Australia as defined by the ABS remoteness structure.
• have an outstanding HELP debt when you commence working in a very remote location.

In addition, for a HELP debt reduction you must:

• have completed four years (or 1,400 days) of teaching full time, or the pro-rated part time equivalent, in a six-year period or,
• have completed at least 800 days of teaching in a very remote area within a continuous six-year period, and be able to demonstrate exceptional circumstances that prevented you from reaching the full 1,400 days.

Further information on eligibility criteria is available here.

Your HELP debt account with the ATO contains a record of your HELP debt including the indexation that has been applied to your HELP debt. You can access this account with the ATO online via your MyGov account.

To estimate your indexation waiver amount:

• Find the indexation amount applied to your HELP debt on 1 June.
• Determine the number of eligible days you taught in a very remote area between 1 June and 31 May of the indexation year.
• Divide your eligible days by 365 (the number of days in a year).
• Multiply that result by the indexation amount applied to your debt.

This is explained further in the example below.

If your application is successful, you will be able to view the indexation amount waived on your HELP debt account.

EXAMPLE: How to calculate your indexation waiver

Ms Taylor starts teaching full-time at a very remote primary school on 30 January 2020. On 1 June 2020, $222.89 of indexation is applied to her outstanding HELP debt.

She applies for the indexation waiver after completing her first year of eligible teaching. Her waiver for the 2020 indexation year is based on the number of eligible days she worked before 1 June 2020.

From 30 January to 31 May 2020, there are 123 eligible days.

Her waiver is calculated like this:

(123 ÷ 365) × $222.89 = $75.11 waived

This amount is removed from her HELP debt by the ATO once her application is approved.

Ms Taylor can reapply each year she continues teaching in a very remote area to have more indexation waived.

You may be eligible if you meet the general eligibility criteria for the program and have been teaching in a very remote area of Australia (as defined by the ABS Remoteness Structure) on or after 14 February 2019.

You can apply for a waiver of indexation for each day you taught face-to-face at a school, preschool, or centre-based day care service in a very remote location.

Once you stop teaching in a very remote area, indexation will start applying to any remaining HELP debt again.

The HELP debt reduction will be the lesser of:

• the accumulated HELP debt incurred for your initial teacher education qualification (up to 5 years of tuition) and;
• the outstanding HELP debt at the start of your eligible teaching period.

Regarding the first amount, you can estimate this amount by checking the HELP debt from your study history using the myHELPbalance portal to work out the loans related to your initial teacher qualification, using the ‘export full statement’ function once signed in.

Regarding the second amount, this will be the HELP debt amount outstanding on the date you commenced employment as a teacher in a very remote school, or 1 January 2019 if you commenced your employment prior to this date. Your HELP debt account contains a record of your HELP debt including compulsory repayments you have made. You can determine your outstanding HELP debt at a point time by following the dates recorded next to each transaction record (the dates are on the left-hand side, and the amount outstanding is on the right-hand side of each transaction record, under the heading ‘balance’). You can access this account online via your MyGov account.

Any day that you are employed with a very remote school will count towards the 1400-day requirement. This includes days that you are not carrying out work as a teacher, such as a weekend, public holiday, paid leave day, or rostered day off.

Unpaid leave is also counted toward the 1400-day requirement, provided it is part of your approved employment period. You do not need to make up unpaid leave days separately.

EXAMPLE: Working days

Joe is due to complete his 1400 days of service on 1 January 2024. Joe takes 7 days of unpaid leave in August 2023. These 7 days are still counted toward his 1400 days, so his completion date remains 1 January 2024.

You can apply once you have completed at least 1400 days of teaching in a very remote school, preschool, or centre-based day care service within a continuous six-year period, starting on or after 1 January 2019.

If you have worked at least 800 days and were unable to reach 1400 days due to exceptional circumstances (such as illness, part-time work, or other disruptions), you may still be eligible. You’ll need to explain your situation and provide supporting documents.

Your application must include documentation that confirms your employment for the full period you’re applying for. If the department cannot verify your teaching days, your application may not be approved.

This initiative commenced from 1 January 2019. Any service prior to that will not count towards your four-year teaching period time.

Yes. You must continue making compulsory repayments on your HELP debt, even if you expect to qualify for a reduction later. You also need to let your employer know you have a HELP debt, so they can withhold extra tax from your pay.

You can find more information about compulsory repayments on the ATO website.

If your application for a reduction of outstanding HELP debt is approved, the amount reduced may include the compulsory repayments you made while teaching in a very remote area.

However, this may not cover all repayments, especially if you have HELP debt from other qualifications that aren’t eligible under the program.

If your application for a reduction of accumulated HELP debt is approved, the amount will be used to reduce your outstanding HELP debt in your ATO account.

If the reduction brings your HELP debt balance below zero, and you don’t have any other tax or government debts, the extra amount will be refunded to you.

Here’s how it works:

• The credit is first applied to your Income Tax account.
• It will appear as a credit on your tax assessment for that financial year.
• If you’re still owed money after your tax is processed, the ATO will transfer the refund to your nominated bank account.

You can view the refund and your updated HELP debt balance in your ATO HELP debt account via MyGov account.

EXAMPLE: Reduction of accumulated HELP debt

Joe completed a Bachelor of Education, which is his initial teacher education qualification. He incurred $40,000 in HELP debt for this course.

When Joe started teaching in a very remote school, his outstanding HELP debt was $40,654.34. Over the next four years, he made $20,000 in compulsory repayments, reducing his debt to $20,654.34. He also received a waiver of indexation during this time, so no additional indexation was added.

After completing 1,400 days of eligible teaching, Joe applied for a reduction of his HELP debt and was found eligible.

The amount to be reduced is the lower of:

• The accumulated HELP debt for his initial teacher education qualification: $40,000, and
• The outstanding HELP debt at the start of his eligible teaching period: $40,654.34

So the amount reduced is $40,000.

The Department of Education sends this information to the ATO, who apply the reduction to Joe’s HELP debt account:

$20,654.34 – $40,000 = –$19,345.66

Joe’s HELP debt account now has a negative balance. Because he doesn’t have any other tax or Commonwealth debts, the $19,345.66 credit will be refunded to him through the usual ATO process. It will first appear as a credit on his income tax account, and then be paid into his nominated bank account.

The lists of very remote schools, preschools and centre based day care services can be found on the HELP Debt Reduction for very remote teachers page.

Yes. Principals and Deputy Principals are usually engaged to some degree in teaching-related duties, particularly in very remote schools. Provided the applicant satisfies the other eligibility criteria, including holding an initial teacher education qualification, then they are eligible to apply for a waiver of indexation and/or reduction of their outstanding HELP debt.

No. Support under the Program is only available to individuals with an outstanding HELP debt. International students are unable to accrue a HELP debt and therefore are not eligible for support under the Program.

Yes. If you were receiving approved workers compensation while employed as a teacher in a very remote area, those days can count toward your 1,400-day requirement for HELP debt reduction.

To be eligible:

• You must have been formally employed at a school, preschool, or centre-based day care service in a very remote area.
• The workers compensation leave must be paid and approved under your employment contract.
• Your Statement of Service should confirm the period of workers compensation and your employment status during that time.

These days will also count toward eligibility for the indexation waiver, as long as the other criteria are met.

Only schools, preschools and centre based day care services that in locations determined as ‘very remote’ according to the latest ABS remoteness structure (during your teaching period) are eligible.

The published lists will be updated in line with the ABS Remoteness Structure updates, or more frequently if new locations are opened that meet the very remote definition. You can view the Remoteness Areas online using the ABS Maps tool.

If the very remote school, preschool, or centre based day care service you are working at is not included on one of these lists, please contact veryremotehelp@education.gov.au for further information on eligibility.

No. The important factor is that the area that you are teaching face-to-face in very remote Australia. Please refer to the HELP Debtor Guidelines (Teachers) 2023 for more details.

You can apply for a waiver of indexation on your HELP debt for any period on or after 1 January 2019, as long as you meet all the eligibility criteria.

To be eligible, you must:

• Have completed your initial teacher education qualification and have a HECS-HELP or FEE-HELP debt for that course.
• Be employed as a teacher in a very remote school, preschool, or centre-based day care service.
• Be teaching face-to-face in a very remote location during the period you're applying for.

Your supporting documents must cover the full period you're applying for. If you're on a fixed-term contract, your employment end date can't go beyond the contract end date. If you're permanent or ongoing, you can either include an end date or leave it blank—your application will be assessed accordingly.

If your application is missing key information, we may ask you to provide more details. This is called a Request for Further Information (RFI).

We might ask for more information if:

• You didn’t include your ATO HELP debt statement
• Your employment documents don’t show the dates you worked

We won’t ask for more information just to confirm something you’ve already provided.

Your start date is the day you began working as a qualified teacher in a very remote school, preschool, or centre.

If you worked in another role before becoming a qualified teacher, that earlier time doesn’t count toward the program.

No, you may apply for the waiver of indexation at any time; however, you are encouraged to apply as soon as possible if you consider yourself eligible.

Waiver of indexation will be applied for the approved period on or before 1 June of the year following your application. These can be applied retrospectively.

If you have completed your approval period from your first indexation waiver application, or your employment circumstances have changed, please return the application form, selecting the appropriate box on the first page.

You may email the Department of Education at veryremotehelp@education.gov.au

Your outstanding HELP debt is the amount of HELP debt you still owe at a specific point in time. It includes any unpaid HELP loans such as:

• HECS-HELP
• FEE-HELP
• OS-HELP
• SA-HELP
• VET FEE-HELP and VET Student Loans (pre 1 July 2019)

The ATO keeps track of your HELP debt in your HELP debt account. This account shows:

• The HELP debt you’ve incurred
• Any repayments you’ve made
• Indexation amounts added each year

You can check your outstanding HELP debt by logging into your myGov account and viewing your ATO HELP debt statement. The “balance” column shows how much you still owe at any point in time.

This amount is used to:

• Calculate indexation waivers
• Determine the maximum amount that can be reduced under the HELP debt reduction measure

Your initial teacher education qualification is the first course you completed that made you eligible to register as a teacher in your state or territory.

This qualification must meet the minimum academic requirements set by the teacher registration authority in your state or territory. You can find more information about approved programs and registration requirements on the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) website.

In some cases, your initial qualification may include:

• A non-teaching undergraduate degree (e.g. Bachelor of Arts), if it was a required prerequisite for a postgraduate teaching qualification (e.g. Master of Teaching).
• Both courses may be eligible for HELP debt reduction, up to a maximum of five years of tuition, if they form a recognised pathway to teacher registration.

However:

• A second education degree completed after your initial teacher qualification is not eligible.

EXAMPLE: Which qualifications count toward HELP debt reduction

Amira completed a Bachelor of Arts, followed by a Master of Teaching. The Bachelor was a required step for entry into the Master’s program. Because both courses were part of her pathway to becoming a registered teacher, the HELP debt from both qualifications may be eligible for reduction up to a maximum of five years of tuition.

Liam completed a Bachelor of Education and later a Master of Education. Only the Bachelor of Education counts toward HELP debt reduction, because it was his initial teacher education qualification. The Master of Education is not eligible.

Priya studied a Bachelor of Education and a Bachelor of Laws. Only the HELP debt from the Bachelor of Education is eligible for reduction. The Bachelor of Laws is not considered part of her initial teacher education qualification.