55Payments

55  Payments  (1) If a student is entitled to an amount of *VET FEE‑HELP assistance for a *VET unit of study with a *VET provider, the Commonwealth must:  (a) as a benefit to the student, lend to the student the amount of VET FEE‑HELP assistance; and  (b) pay the amount lent to the provider in discharge of the student’s liability to pay his or her *VET tuition fee for the unit. Note: Amounts of assistance under this Part may form part of a person’s HELP debts that the Commonwealth recovers under Chapter 4.  (2) However, the Commonwealth must not pay an amount to a provider under paragraph (1)(b) in respect of a *VET unit of study unless the provider has given the Minister notice of the student’s liability to pay his or her *VET tuition fee for the unit, including the amount of the liability, before the reporting deadline for the unit.  (3) The amount paid to a provider for a unit under paragraph (1)(b) must not exceed the amount notified for the purposes of subclause (2) before the reporting deadline for the unit.  (4) If the Commonwealth does not pay an amount to a provider because of the operation of subclause (2), the student is discharged from all liability to pay or account for so much of the student’s *VET tuition fee for the *VET unit of study as is equal to that amount.  (5) For the purposes of this clause, the reporting deadline for a unit is:  (a) for a unit with a *census date before 1 January 2018—before 1 July 2021; or  (b) for any other unit—before 1 January 2022.