Contents
1............ Short title............................................................................................. 1
2............ Commencement................................................................................... 1
3............ Schedule(s)......................................................................................... 2
Schedule 1—Removal of up‑front payment discount 3
Higher Education Support Act 2003 3
Schedule 2—Removal of voluntary repayment bonus 5
Higher Education Support Act 2003 5
Schedule 3—Efficiency dividend 6
Higher Education Support Act 2003 6
Schedule 4—University name change 7
Higher Education Support Act 2003 7
A Bill for an Act to amend the Higher Education Support Act 2003, and for related purposes
The Parliament of Australia enacts:
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Higher Education Support Amendment (Savings and Other Measures) Act 2013.
2 Commencement
(1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.
| Commencement information |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
| Provision(s) | Commencement | Date/Details |
| 1. Sections 1 to 3 and anything in this Act not elsewhere covered by this table | The day this Act receives the Royal Assent. | |
| 2. Schedule 1 | The day after this Act receives the Royal Assent. | |
| 3. Schedule 2 | 1 January 2014. | 1 January 2014 |
| 4. Schedule 3 | The day after this Act receives the Royal Assent. | |
| 5. Schedule 4 | 1 January 2014. | 1 January 2014 |
Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.
(2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.
3 Schedule(s)
Each Act that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.
Schedule 1—Removal of up‑front payment discount
Higher Education Support Act 2003
1 Section 36‑50
Repeal the section.
2 Paragraph 90‑1(f)
Repeal the paragraph, substitute:
(f) the student *meets the tax file number requirements (see section 187‑1); and
3 Subsection 93‑15(1)
After “is a payment of”, insert “all or”.
4 Subsection 93‑15(3)
Repeal the subsection (including the notes).
5 Sections 96‑1, 96‑5 and 96‑10
Repeal the sections, substitute:
96‑1 Payments to higher education providers
If a student is entitled to an amount of *HECS‑HELP assistance for a unit of study with a higher education provider, the Commonwealth must:
(a) as a benefit to the student, lend to the student the amount of HECS‑HELP assistance; and
(b) pay to the provider the amount lent in discharge of the student’s liability to pay his or her *student contribution amount for the unit.
6 Subsection 137‑5(1)
Omit “or 96‑5”.
7 Paragraph 193‑1(5)(b)
Omit “90%”, substitute “100%”.
8 Paragraph 193‑5(1)(d)
Omit “90% of”.
9 Clause 1 of Schedule 1 (definition of HECS‑HELP discount)
Repeal the definition.
10 Application
The amendments made by this Schedule apply in relation to an up‑front payment made after the commencement of this Schedule in relation to a unit of study that has a census date on or after 1 January 2014.
Schedule 2—Removal of voluntary repayment bonus
Higher Education Support Act 2003
1 Section 129‑1
Omit “(which may attract a repayment bonus)”.
2 Subsection 140‑5(1) (example)
Omit “2011” (wherever occurring), substitute “2013”.
3 Subsection 140‑5(1) (example)
Omit “(which includes a voluntary repayment bonus of $25)”.
4 Subsection 140‑5(1) (example)
Omit “2012” (wherever occurring), substitute “2014”.
5 Subsection 140‑5(1) (example)
Omit “2010‑11”, substitute “2012‑13”.
6 Section 148‑1
Omit “In some cases these may attract a 5% repayment bonus.”.
7 Section 151‑5
Repeal the section.
8 Application
The amendments made by this Schedule apply in relation to a voluntary repayment made on or after 1 January 2014, regardless of when the debt to which the repayment relates was incurred.
Schedule 3—Efficiency dividend
Higher Education Support Act 2003
1 After section 198‑5
Insert:
198‑7 Efficiency dividend in 2014 and 2015
(1) Before an amount referred to in item 1 of the table in subsection 198‑5(1) is indexed on 1 January 2014, the amount is to be multiplied by 0.98.
(2) Before an amount referred to in item 1 of the table in subsection 198‑5(1) is indexed on 1 January 2015, the amount is to be multiplied by 0.9875.
(3) If the *indexation factor for 2015 is 1 or less, an amount mentioned in section 33‑10 is, for 2015, replaced by that amount multiplied by 0.9875.
Schedule 4—University name change
Higher Education Support Act 2003
1 Subsection 16‑15(1) (after table item dealing with Edith Cowan University)
Insert:
| Federation University Australia |
2 Subsection 16‑15(1) (table item dealing with University of Ballarat)
Repeal the item.