{"id":"F2018L00949","name":"Higher Education (Overseas Debtor Repayment) Amendment and Repeal Instrument 2018","slug":"higher-education-overseas-debtor-repayment-amendment-and-repeal-instrument-2018","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":439689,"registerId":"F2018L00949-fast-fetch-1775955616933","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Higher Education (Overseas Debtor Repayment) Amendment and Repeal Instrument 2018","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nHigher Education (Overseas Debtor Repayment) Amendment and Repeal Instrument 2018\n\n \n\nHigher Education Support Act 2003\n\n \n\nI, Simon Birmingham, Minister for Education and Training, make this instrument under subsection 238-10(1) of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and subsection 7(2) of the Overseas Debtors Repayment Guidelines 2017.\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nDated 27 June 2018\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n                 \n\n_____________________________\n\nSIMON BIRMINGHAM\n\nMinister for Education and Training\n\n\n\n\nContents\n\n1  Name \n\n2  Commencement\n\n3  Authority\n\n4  Schedules\n\nSchedule 1—Amendments and repeal\n\nOverseas Debtor Repayment Guidelines 2017\n\nHigher Education (Occupation and Occupation Standard Deduction) Determination 2017\n\n \n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Higher Education (Overseas Debtor Repayment) Amendment and Repeal Instrument 2018.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument 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.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument 1 July 2018. 1 July 2018\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under subsection 238-10(1) of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and subsection 7(2) of the Overseas Debtors Repayment Guidelines 2017.\n\n4  Schedules\n\n  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.\n\nSchedule 1—Amendments and repeal\n\n \n\nOverseas Debtor Repayment Guidelines 2017\n\n1  Subsection 4(1) (after definition of Act)\n\nInsert:\n\nATO Occupation Code means the Salary and wage occupation codes 2018 published by the Australian Taxation Office in June 2018.\n\nNote:   In 2018, the Salary and wage occupation codes 2018 was available at www.ato.gov.au.\n\n2  Paragraph 7(1)(b)\n\nOmit “, determined by the Minister under subsection (2),”\n\n3  Subsection 7(2)\n\nOmit the subsection, substitute:\n\n (2) For paragraph (1)(b), the standard deduction for an occupation is:\n\n (a) if the occupation has an occupation code listed in the ATO Occupation Code—the median ratio of work-related expenses to employment-related income calculated by the Australian Taxation Office for the occupation with that occupation code; or\n\n (b) otherwise—nil.\n\n4  Application of amendments\n\nThe amendments to the Overseas Debtor Repayment Guidelines 2017 made by this instrument apply in respect of any simple self-assessment method chosen (for working out person’s foreign-sourced income) after the commencement of this instrument.\n\n \n\nHigher Education (Occupation and Occupation Standard Deduction) Determination 2017\n\n5  Repeal\n\nRepeal the instrument.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation maintains its original scope of governing how overseas debtors calculate repayments. The changes are procedural improvements within that scope—replacing a manual Ministerial determination process with an automated ATO data reference. No expansion of coverage or substantive new obligations introduced."},"complexity_factors":["Very short instrument (only 5 items)","Minimal defined terms (only one new definition: 'ATO Occupation Code')","Simple amendment structure: insert one definition, omit one phrase, substitute one subsection, add application provision, repeal one instrument","No nested exceptions or complex conditional logic","Straightforward repeal of entire instrument (item 5)","Single cross-reference to external ATO document"],"plain_english_summary":"This bill changes how Australians living overseas calculate HELP (and similar) loan repayments by replacing Minister-set standard deductions with ATO-based benchmarks: work-related deductions are now the median ratio of expenses to income for each ATO occupation code. It removes the separate Ministerial instrument and aligns overseas debt assessment with domestic tax data, reducing admin burden and making deductions more evidence‑based for overseas debtors using the simple self‑assessment."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Yes. The instrument narrows and alters the method for calculating occupation standard deductions by replacing ministerially determined amounts with ATO‑derived median ratios tied to ATO occupation codes and repeals the separate Higher Education (Occupation and Occupation Standard Deduction) Determination 2017; the changes apply to simple self‑assessment choices made after 1 July 2018 (Schedule 1, items 1–5)."},"complexity_factors":["Small number of targeted amendments (definition change, method substitution, repeal) keeps legal structure simple","Dependence on an external ATO dataset (ATO Occupation Code and ATO‑calculated median ratios) creates an operational dependency and potential versioning issues","Removal of ministerial determination reduces discretionary law‑making but transfers technical calculation to ATO statistics","Practical ambiguity in mapping a debtor’s occupation to an ATO occupation code can create compliance and administrative burden","Temporal application limited to self‑assessments chosen after commencement narrows retrospective complexity","Cross‑references to the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and the Overseas Debtors Repayment Guidelines require checking multiple instruments when applied"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument changes how standard deductions are set for overseas HELP debtors who use the simple self‑assessment method for foreign‑sourced income. It replaces minister‑determined occupation deductions with the Australian Taxation Office’s occupation codes and the ATO’s median ratio of work‑related expenses to employment income, and it repeals a separate occupation determination (Schedule 1).\n\nAffected debtors may pay different repayment amounts; debtors choose the assessment method, the ATO supplies the occupation medians, and administrators must map occupations to ATO codes and apply those medians for assessments after 1 July 2018."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/higher-education-overseas-debtor-repayment-amendment-and-repeal-instrument-2018","history":"/api/acts/higher-education-overseas-debtor-repayment-amendment-and-repeal-instrument-2018/history","analysis":"/api/acts/higher-education-overseas-debtor-repayment-amendment-and-repeal-instrument-2018/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/higher-education-overseas-debtor-repayment-amendment-and-repeal-instrument-2018/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/higher-education-overseas-debtor-repayment-amendment-and-repeal-instrument-2018/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/higher-education-overseas-debtor-repayment-amendment-and-repeal-instrument-2018/documents"}}