{"id":"F2024L01632","name":"Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Transitional Rules 2024","slug":"universities-accord-student-support-and-other-measures-transitional-rules-2024","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":442665,"registerId":"F2024L01632-fast-fetch-1775957623046","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Transitional Rules 2024","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nUniversities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Transitional Rules 2024\n\nI, Jason Clare, Minister for Education, make the following rules.\n\nDated 9 December 2024    \n\nJason Clare\n\nMinister for Education\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1  Name\n\n2  Commencement\n\n3  Authority\n\n4  Definitions\n\n5  Transitional rules for the recalculation of debts or amounts owing where a person received a waiver or partial waiver of that debt or amount\n\n \n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Transitional Rules 2024.\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 Immediately after this instrument is registered.\n\n\nNote:  This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made.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 subitem 1(1) of Schedule 6 to the Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Act 2024.\n\n4  Definitions\n\n (1) In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Act 2024.\n\nnew law means a relevant Act as in force upon commencement of the Act.\n\nold law means a relevant Act as in force immediately before commencement of the Act.\n\nRAnew law is what a relevant amount would have been for the financial year if it had been calculated under the relevant new law without taking account of this instrument and on the basis that there had not been a relevant waiver.\n\nRAold law is what a relevant amount would have been for the financial year if it had been calculated under the relevant old law without taking account of this instrument and on the basis that there had not been a relevant waiver.\n\nrelevant Act has the meaning given by subsection (2).\n\nrelevant amount has the meaning given by subsection (2).\n\nrelevant waiver (RW), in relation to a relevant amount and a financial year, means an amount attributable to the indexation of a person’s relevant amount that was waived under section 63 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 in relation to that financial year.\n\nNote: RW is expressed as a positive number.\n\n (2) In this instrument:\n\n (a) each relevant Act is specified in column 1 of the following table; and\n\n (b) for each relevant Act, a relevant amount is an amount specified in the corresponding row of column 2.\n\n \n\n- Relevant Acts and relevant amounts\n- Column 1 Column 2\n- Item relevant Act relevant amount\n- 1. Higher Education Support Act 2003 a person’s accumulated HELP debt\n- 2. Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans Act 2014 a person’s accumulated AASL debt\n- 3. Social Security Act 1991 each of the following:(a) a person’s accumulated FS debt;(b) the amount outstanding under a person’s FS contract;(c) a person’s accumulated SSL debt\n- 4. Student Assistance Act 1973 each of the following:(a) a person’s accumulated FS debt;(b) the amount outstanding under a person’s FS contract;(c) a person’s accumulated ABSTUDY SSL debt\n- 5. VET Student Loans Act 2016 a person’s accumulated VETSL debt\n\n\n (3) Any other expression used in this instrument that is used in the Act has the same meaning in this instrument as it has in the Act.\n\n5  Transitional rules for the recalculation of debts or amounts owing where a person received a waiver or partial waiver of that debt or amount\n\n (1) This section is made for the purposes of subitems 1(1) and 1(3) of Schedule 6 to the Act and subitems 56(3), 59(3), 62(3), 65(3) and 68(3) of Schedule 1 to the Act.\n\n (2) If a person had a relevant waiver in relation to a relevant amount and the financial year ending on 30 June 2023 or the financial year ending on 30 June 2024, the person’s recalculated relevant amount for the financial year is given by:\n\n (a) if, for the financial year, ![Start formula RW is greater than RA old law minus RA new law end formula](image.002.png):\n\n![Start formula RA re-calc equals RA old law minus RW end formula](image.003.png)\n\n (b) if, for the financial year, ![Start formula RW is less than or equal to RA old law minus RA new law end formula](image.004.png):\n\n![Start formula RA re-calc equals RA new law end formula](image.005.png)\n\nwhere:\n\nRAre-calc is the person’s recalculated relevant amount for the financial year.\n\n (3) If the person had a relevant waiver in relation to the financial year ending on 30 June 2023 and the financial year ending on 30 June 2024, this section is to be applied first in relation to the financial year ending on 30 June 2023.\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument performs a narrow, technical function as authorised by the parent Act. It does not expand beyond the transitional purpose specified in Schedule 6 of the Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Act 2024."},"complexity_factors":["Mathematical formulas with conditional logic (two-branch formula in section 5(2))","Cross-references to 6 different provisions across 2 Schedules of the parent Act","8 defined terms in the interpretation section, including nested definitions (e.g., 'relevant amount' defined by reference to a table)","Requires understanding of indexation calculations under both old and new law regimes","Sequential application rule for people with waivers in both 2023 and 2024 (section 5(3))","References to 5 separate Acts covering different student loan schemes"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument fixes a technical accounting issue for people whose student loan indexation was waived in 2023 or 2024. It sets the formula to apply the later recalculation rules to those cases and ensures the individual receives whichever outcome — the original waiver or the recalculation — is more favourable.\n\nIt affects borrowers with HELP, VET Student Loans, Australian Apprenticeship Support, Student Start‑up, and ABSTUDY Start‑up loans."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument does not expand the categories of debt to which transitional treatment applies. It limits its operation to specified relevant Acts and to indexation waivers for the two listed financial years, prescribing a conditional formula and processing order. It therefore narrows the procedural detail for recalculation rather than changing the substantive range of covered debts under the Act."},"complexity_factors":["Technical conditional calculation comparing waived indexation (RW) to the difference between old‑law and new‑law amounts (RAold − RAnew).","Multiple debt schemes covered (HELP, VETSL, AASL, FS, SSL, ABSTUDY) requiring different data sources and account types.","Dependency on definitions drawn from the principal Act (old law, new law, relevant amount), so implementers must reference and reconcile both legislative regimes.","Narrow temporal scope (only financial years ending 30 June 2023 and 30 June 2024) with an explicit order of application (2023 before 2024), adding sequencing requirements.","Administrative burden to identify prior waivers, calculate RAold and RAnew absent the waiver, and apply the chosen formula to update account balances.","Relatively short instrument but precise numeric thresholds increase legal-technical risk if data or indexation records are incomplete."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument sets transitional rules for recalculating certain student-related debts when indexation was waived for the financial years ending 30 June 2023 or 30 June 2024. Mechanically, it tells administrators whether a person’s recalculated debt equals the new‑law amount or the old‑law amount reduced by the waived indexation, using a numeric comparison, and requires the 2023 year be processed before 2024.\n\nIt affects people with HELP, VETSL, AASL, FEE‑HELP/FS/SSL/ABSTUDY debts who received an indexation waiver. Debtors’ final balances and future repayment obligations change; agencies must apply the formula and rely on records of waived amounts."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/universities-accord-student-support-and-other-measures-transitional-rules-2024","history":"/api/acts/universities-accord-student-support-and-other-measures-transitional-rules-2024/history","analysis":"/api/acts/universities-accord-student-support-and-other-measures-transitional-rules-2024/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/universities-accord-student-support-and-other-measures-transitional-rules-2024/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/universities-accord-student-support-and-other-measures-transitional-rules-2024/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/universities-accord-student-support-and-other-measures-transitional-rules-2024/documents"}}