On this page:
20% Student debt reduction
The Australian Government’s Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 per cent) Act
(the Act) became law on 2 August 2025. The Act:
- Provides a one-off 20% reduction on student loan debts incurred on or before
1 June 2025 - Increases the minimum repayment threshold for student loans from $54,435 in 2024–25 to $67,000 in 2025–26.
- Introduces a marginal repayment system for compulsory student loan repayments from 2025-26 that will change the repayment calculation method to be based on the portion of a person’s income above the new $67,000 threshold, rather than being based on total income.
The reduction and repayment changes apply to the following loan programs:
- Any of the HELP loans, including HECS-HELP, FEE-HELP, STARTUP-HELP, SA-HELP and OS-HELP
- VET Student Loans
- Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans
- Student Start-up Loans
- Student Financial Supplement Scheme loans
Once the reduction is applied, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will adjust the 1 June 2025 indexation to apply to the reduced balance.
The 20% reduction will be rolled out in stages from November 2025 and the ATO expects most reductions will be applied before the end of the calendar year. Some complex cases may take longer to complete.
HELP providers will not have to do anything for HELP loans to be eligible for the 20% reduction. All HELP loans with census dates on or prior to 1 June 2025 will be in scope to receive the 20% reduction once they are reported to the ATO. However, providers are reminded of their reporting obligations under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA), to ensure that loans are reported within 14 days of the census date.
The 20% reduction and student HELP balances
Students’ available HELP balances under the HELP loan limit will also be re-credited by the amount of the reduction they receive against their HELP and VSL debts. Re-crediting of the HELP balance is capped at the relevant HELP loan limit.
The re-credit is only available to be consumed to support additional future study after it is received in TCSI and visible in myHELPbalance. This may take some weeks after the reduction is visible in the students’ ATO myGov account.
A student must have sufficient available HELP balance on the census date for their unit(s) of study in order to access Commonwealth assistance. If a student does not have sufficient available HELP balance for their intended study, they will have to pay their student contribution amounts or tuition fees upfront. Providers should encourage students to review their HELP balance at myHELPbalance before making any decisions about further study.
Students who are approaching their HELP loan limit should talk to their provider about what options or financial assistance are available to them to continue studying without access to Commonwealth assistance.
Further information, including recently updated FAQs are available on the department’s and ATO’s websites:
HELP Debt Reduction Program for Teachers & Health Practitioners.
There are HELP debt reduction initiatives available to eligible teachers who work in a very remote area of Australia and eligible doctors and nurse practitioners who live & work in rural, remote & very remote areas of Australia.
The objective of the program is to attract and retain teachers, doctors and nurse practitioners in regional Australia. Eligible individuals may receive a waiver of indexation on their outstanding HELP debt balance and / or a reduction of their HELP debt.
Information on the initiatives, including the eligibility criteria, as well as an applicant portal for individuals to lodge their applications online, is available on the department’s website:
- HELP Debt Reduction for very remote teachers
- HELP Debt Reduction for health practitioners in rural, remote and very remote areas
A communication strategy to promote the Program is currently being developed and will be implemented in early 2026.
Regional and Suburban University Study Hubs
University Study Hubs are available in locations across Australia to support tertiary students. Hubs are not education providers themselves. They offer infrastructure including computer facilities, internet and study spaces, and staff to deliver academic skills, administrative and wellbeing support for students to access and complete their studies in their local community. A student who is enrolled at any Australian tertiary provider, including VET and Higher Education, can access the facilities and support available at the Hubs.
In total, there are 71 Hubs operating or being established across Australia. 61 Hubs are currently open and supporting students.
Providers are encouraged to make students in nearby locations aware of the Hubs. Students and providers can find Hub locations and learn more about Regional University Study Hubs, Regional University Study Hubs Network and Suburban University Study Hubs.
Tertiary Access Payment (TAP)
The TAP is a non-indexed, means-tested payment of up to $5,000 to Year 12 graduates (or equivalent) from regional or remote areas who need to relocate for full-time, higher-level tertiary education (Certificate IV and above) at an education provider located at least 90 minutes by public transport from their family home.
As of June 2025, changes to the eligibility criteria now allow students who take one or more gap years after finishing Year 12 or equivalent to claim the payment. Previously, students could only claim the TAP if they were starting tertiary study within 12 months of finishing Year 12 or equivalent. Now, if they start their course by 22 years of age and meet all other eligibility criteria, they will be able to get the TAP.
Eligible students have until the 31 December 2025 to apply for the TAP through Services Australia.
2025 HELP Tuition Protection Service (TPS) Levy
The TPS has commenced preparatory work for the 2025 HELP Tuition Protection Levy (HELP Levy).
HELP providers received early advice from the TPS on 30 October 2025. The TPS strongly encourages providers to check and update their contact information in the HELP IT System (HITS) to ensure all correspondence is received. The TPS will send all correspondence to the persons identified in HITS with the contact type of CEO/Vice-Chanceller (VC) and copy it to other persons with the contact type of Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Senior Authorised Officer (SAO) and Primary Contact – HE.
Providers received their 2025 HELP Levy invoice on 11 November 2025, with payment due by 11 December 2025.
Please note, the three domestic tuition protection levies – the HELP Levy, the Higher Education Up-front Payments Levy, and the VET Student Loans Levy – are calculated and collected separately, but concurrently.
If providers have any questions regarding the 2025 HELP, please contact the TPS using the online contact form.
Commonwealth Prac Payment (CPP) Update
The department continues to closely monitor the implementation and delivery of the CPP program, which commenced on 1 July 2025. Early feedback from higher education providers indicates a strong level of student interest, with data collection identifying over 50,000 applications have been received in the program’s first three months.
The department has responded to more than 1,500 enquiries from students and providers since June 2025, reflecting the program’s popularity. Social media engagement has also been significant, with CPP-related posts achieving the highest interaction rates among departmental programs. As such, efforts to enhance program materials are ongoing which includes the development of a dedicated student guide to support awareness and understanding of CPP eligibility and application processes. The department is working in close collaboration with communications and student experience teams to ensure information is accessible and up to date.
A formal 12-month checkpoint of the CPP program is scheduled for 2026 to assess progress and appropriateness of program settings.
Further information regarding the Commonwealth Prac Payment.
Racism Study Update
The $2.5 million Australian Human Rights Commission ‘Racism@Uni Study’, led by the Race Discrimination Commissioner (RDC), is examining the prevalence, nature, and impact of racism in Australian universities.
The RDC is developing recommendations for Government to consider that can contribute to reducing racism and creating safer, more respectful and inclusive learning environments for students and staff.
As part of the Racism@Uni Study, a survey was distributed to close to two million students and staff. Over 76,000 students and staff completed the survey which ran from 11 August to 25 September 2025.
The final report of the Racism@Uni Study will be provided to Government by 22 December 2025. There is a Communications Strategy in place for the report’s release in January 2026 including a media release, social media posts, newsroom and intranet articles, and website announcements.
Further information on Racism at Universities Study
Support for Students Policy
The Support for Students Policy commenced on 1 January 2024 and responds to Priority Action 2 of the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report to immediately cease the 50% pass rule and require increased reporting on student progress.
Higher education providers are required to submit a report to the department to articulate and describe the mechanisms in place to support students to succeed and the quality assurance processes to ensure these supports meet the needs of students, both academic and non-academic.
The department is finalising the 2025 reporting packs which include the reporting template, reporting instructions, policy intent and FAQs and will send out to contacts in the week commencing 24 November 2025.
myHELPbalance website updates
20% debt reduction – Homepage banner and updated FAQs
The myHELPbalance website has been updated with information relating to the 20% student loan reduction and subsequent re-credit to students HELP balances. The update includes a new homepage banner and updated FAQs regarding the measure.
These updates went live on 7 November 2025 and will remain on the site until the end of 2026.
myHELPbalance Digital Identity Authentication – myID Project
To align with the Government’s Data and Digital Strategy, the department is implementing a new voluntary authentication option for students accessing myHELPbalance. The project will introduce myID, Australia’s Digital Identity application, as an optional login method for students. This enhancement aims to provide a secure and streamlined user experience, leveraging a platform already adopted across more than 150 Government services.
The project is scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2026.
A communications pack will be distributed to providers early next year, offering guidance and materials to support student awareness and transition.
Enhancing the Government eCAF System
The department is undertaking a project to implement new and enhanced features to the Government eCAF system to improve system functionality and increase provider administrative control over their enrolments and eCAFs. The project seeks to expand providers self-service ability and reduce the requirement of the department to intervene in administrative tasks.
The project implementation schedule includes five releases between now and the end of June 2026, the first release was delivered on 27 November 2025. Some key features include enabling providers to delete eCAFs, increase revisable fields, enable password reset reminders, restrict submission of eCAFs for future years, overhaul of the User Guide and enhanced TFN verification error messaging.
Communications for each release will be provided via the eCAF developers’ group and directly to our eCAF primary contacts. Aside from direct communications, the department is exploring eCAF webinars for releases that include new functionality or processes for providers. If you have any changes to your eCAF primary contacts, please inform the department via email to HEenquiries@education.gov.au.
2026 FEE Free Uni Ready (FFUR) Government eCAF
The FFUR Government eCAF was released the eCAF training environment on 24 November 2025 and to the production environment on 27 November 2025.
Providers can now use the FFUR Government eCAF or alternatively can continue using the FFUR Smart-PDF CAF or their non-Government eCAFs. Providers have until 1 March 2026 to update their non-Government eCAFs with any changes included in the FFUR eCAF release.
From 1 March 2026, the FFUR Smart-PDF CAF will no longer be an approved form and must not be used.
If you have any questions regarding the FFUR eCAF or obligations in regard of replication for non-Government eCAFs, please contact the team at HEenquiries@education.gov.au.
Updates to eCAF gender options to align with TCSI gender codes
The department can confirm that the eCAF gender options will be updated to align with recent Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI) gender codes. These updates are scheduled to be delivered within the first quarter of 2026.
The recently released 2026 eCAFs, as well as the upcoming FFUR Government eCAF, will retain the existing gender codes until early 2026. All eCAF definition templates will then be updated collectively and released to production.
HELP Information and Explainer Video Updates
The Government eCAF HELP information video and Study Assist HELP explainer videos are being revised to remove case studies and to reflect the recent introduction of marginal repayment thresholds.
Following these updates, the department will consolidate both resources into a single HELP explainer video. This unified video will be available across the eCAF platform and StudyAssist website, ensuring consistent messaging and improved accessibility for students.
Further communication will be issued once the updated materials are available.
2026 HELP Communications Provider Working Group
Beginning in 2026, the department will be offering a new approach to higher education provider engagement via webinar. While the HELP Communications working group originally focussed on the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) and related student communications, its scope has expanded over time in response to growing sector demand for timely policy or program specific updates. The department has decided to transition from quarterly webinars to single issue webinars from next year. This change will allow the department to deliver targeted updates as needed, rather than on a fixed quarterly schedule.
The department will publish upcoming webinar topics, allowing providers to register their interest in advance. Each webinar will be delivered by the relevant policy or program team, and recordings will be made available after the event. If you are currently on our subscription list and receive an invitation to this working group or the HELP provider updates, you will be contacted in 2026 seeking your consent to be contacted in relation to upcoming webinars in the series. A webinar on special circumstances applications, presented by the higher education legal team, is anticipated for late February/early March 2026. Further details will be provided closer to the date.