Not So Fast, Travelbugs: Australians Living Overseas Will Have To Start Paying Off Their HELP Debt

Foiled again! The Government has figured out your plan to skip town after uni in an effort to avoid paying off your HELP debt.

On Monday night, the Australian senate passed the Student Loans (Overseas Debtors Repayment Levy) Bill 2015, which is pretty much what it says on the tin: it means any Australians living overseas will need to start paying off their student loans.

Prior to Monday, any Australian who became an overseas resident was not obligated to pay off their HELP debt until they moved back home. And, if they never moved back home, well, they just pulled off an awesome long con (except it wasn’t a con because it was completely lawful).

Those salad days are gone.

The Minister for Education and Training, Simon Birmingham, says the bill should recover $AU150 million over the next decade.

“It is estimated that around $20‑30 million each year was lost due to graduates moving overseas,” he said.

“From 1 January 2016, all Australians with current and new HELP and TSL debt who move overseas for six months or more will be required to notify the ATO via the myGov website to facilitate repayments.

“And from 1 July 2017, Australians with HELP and TSL debts who are non-residents for tax purposes will be required to assess their total Australian and foreign-sourced income in order to make income-contingent repayments, starting with the 2016/17 financial year.”