VET Student Loans (Courses and Loan Caps) Amendment Determination 2025

The central concepts in this instrument revolve around the specification of courses and loan caps that determine eligibility for VET student loans under the VET Student Loans Act 2016. Schedule 1 organises approved courses into three parts, each containing a table with item numbers, course codes such as BSB60220 or 11296NAT, and full course titles. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 appear to serve distinct categories within the overall eligibility framework, as evidenced by the separate amendment instructions for each part and the movement of the Advanced Diploma of Conveyancing from Part 1 to Part 2. Schedule 3 contains a separate table that identifies particular approved course providers, links them to specific course codes and titles, and sets loan caps, with the added entries all carrying a $15,000 cap.

Related provisions in the Student Identifiers Act 2014 establish supporting concepts. Section 53 requires that a registered training organisation must not issue a VET qualification or VET statement of attainment to an individual unless the individual has been assigned a student identifier, with exemptions possible by legislative instrument from the Commonwealth Minister. Section 18A authorises a VET-related body, the VSL Tuition Protection Director or the Commissioner of Taxation to collect, use or disclose a student identifier where reasonably necessary for performing functions in relation to the VET Student Loans Act 2016 or any Act or instrument included in the definition of this Act in that legislation. Section 52 provides a simplified outline confirming that registered training organisations generally cannot issue qualifications after 2014 without a student identifier, and that the Commonwealth Minister and Registrar may grant exemptions.

The National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 introduces the concept of conditions on registration. Section 24A requires an NVR registered training organisation that is a VET provider within the meaning of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to comply with that Act, and an NVR registered training organisation that is an approved course provider within the meaning of the VET Student Loans Act 2016 to comply with the VET Student Loans Act 2016 and any Act or instrument included in the definition of this Act in that legislation. The Ombudsman Act 1976 applies specific provisions to the VET Student Loans Ombudsman through section 20ZS, which sets out a table of how various sections of the Ombudsman Act apply to that office, and section 20ZZB provides an alternative constitutional basis by confining references to VET student loan scheme providers that are corporations to which paragraph 51(xx) of the Constitution applies.

This instrument directly affects approved course providers that offer courses listed in the amended schedules, including registered training organisations and higher education providers that deliver VET qualifications. Specific providers named in the new Schedule 3 entries include Technical and Further Education Commission of NSW (TAFE NSW), Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Seminar Ltd, Swinburne University of Technology, Edith Cowan University and Australian National Memorial Theatre Limited. Providers whose courses have been omitted, such as Melbourne Polytechnic, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, TAFE Queensland and Victoria University, lose the ability to offer new VET student loans for those courses after commencement.

Students enrolled in or seeking to enrol in the affected courses are impacted, particularly those pursuing loans for newly added courses such as 11296NAT Diploma of Crypto Assets and Blockchain Technologies or CUA50725 Diploma of Graphic Design, and those in omitted courses such as AHC50116 Diploma of Agriculture or HLT52015 Diploma of Remedial Massage. The Secretary, who approves loans under section 19 of the VET Student Loans Act 2016, must apply the updated lists when considering applications. The National VET Regulator enforces the compliance condition in section 24A of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011, which incorporates this Determination.

The Registrar responsible for student identifiers under the Student Identifiers Act 2014 is affected through the ongoing requirement in section 53 that qualifications cannot be issued without an assigned identifier. The VSL Tuition Protection Director and the Commissioner of Taxation may collect, use or disclose identifiers under section 18A of the Student Identifiers Act 2014 for loan administration purposes. The VET Student Loans Ombudsman, whose functions are detailed in the application table in section 20ZS of the Ombudsman Act 1976, handles complaints relating to the administration of loans for the courses in the updated lists. Compliance professionals within provider organisations must revise internal records of eligible courses, while lawyers advising providers on registration conditions and loan eligibility need to account for the changes. Accountants involved in provider financial planning must consider the $15,000 caps applied to the new Schedule 3 entries. Journalists and researchers examining VET funding patterns can reference the specific course code additions and omissions to track shifts in supported training areas.

Approved course providers have a duty to ensure that VET student loans are sought only for courses that remain or are added to the tables in Schedule 1 and Schedule 3 after the amendments. This duty arises because the Determination specifies the courses for which the Secretary may approve loans under section 19 of the VET Student Loans Act 2016. Providers must also comply with the condition in section 24A of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 to adhere to the VET Student Loans Act 2016 and instruments made under it. Registered training organisations carry an additional duty under section 53 of the Student Identifiers Act 2014 not to issue a VET qualification or VET statement of attainment unless the individual has been assigned a student identifier.

Students hold the right to apply for a VET student loan for any course listed in the amended schedules, subject to the Secretary's approval and any applicable loan cap in Schedule 3. The transitional arrangements in clause 5 preserve the right of students with pre-existing approvals for courses in the specified pre-amendment items to have loan payments continued. The Commonwealth Minister retains the right under section 53 of the Student Identifiers Act 2014 to specify exemptions from the identifier requirement by legislative instrument. The Registrar may grant exemptions from the general prohibition on issuing qualifications without an identifier.

The Secretary has the power and corresponding duty to approve loans only for courses that appear in the updated tables and to apply the caps set out in Schedule 3 for the listed providers. VET-related bodies, the VSL Tuition Protection Director and the Commissioner of Taxation are authorised under section 18A of the Student Identifiers Act 2014 to collect, use or disclose student identifiers where reasonably necessary for the administration of the VET Student Loans Act 2016. The VET Student Loans Ombudsman has the right and duty to investigate complaints in accordance with the provisions of the Ombudsman Act 1976 as applied by section 20ZS.

This instrument itself contains no penalty provisions or enforcement mechanisms. Enforcement of the requirements it imposes occurs through the broader statutory framework. The National VET Regulator may take regulatory action against an NVR registered training organisation that fails to comply with the condition in section 24A of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011, which requires adherence to the VET Student Loans Act 2016 and instruments made under it, including this Determination. Such action could include suspension or cancellation of registration where a provider offers loans for courses not listed in the amended schedules.

The VET Student Loans Ombudsman, operating under the provisions applied by section 20ZS of the Ombudsman Act 1976, can receive and investigate complaints about the administration of VET student loans, including issues arising from the course lists or caps in the amended Determination. Section 20ZZB of the Ombudsman Act 1976 supplies an alternative constitutional basis to support the application of the Ombudsman provisions to corporate providers. The Commissioner of Taxation and other bodies authorised under section 18A of the Student Identifiers Act 2014 must handle identifier information in accordance with the privacy and use limitations in that Act, with potential consequences for unauthorised collection, use or disclosure.

This instrument operates as a legislative instrument made under section 16 of the VET Student Loans Act 2016 and is therefore included in the definition of "this Act" for the purposes of the VET Student Loans Act 2016. Section 18A of the Student Identifiers Act 2014 expressly authorises collection, use or disclosure of student identifiers for the administration of the VET Student Loans Act 2016 or any Act or instrument included in that definition, thereby incorporating this Determination. Section 53 of the Student Identifiers Act 2014 links directly to the course lists by prohibiting the issue of VET qualifications or statements of attainment without a student identifier, subject to ministerial exemptions.

Section 24A of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 imposes a registration condition that approved course providers must comply with the VET Student Loans Act 2016 and any instrument included in its definition, making adherence to the amended course lists and caps a condition of continued registration. The Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 contains a separate power in section 96B for the Minister to specify classes of courses by legislative instrument where systemic problems exist or public interest requires, but that power operates independently of the lists in this Determination. The Ombudsman Act 1976 interacts through section 20ZS, which applies a table of provisions to the VET Student Loans Ombudsman, and section 20ZZB, which provides an alternative constitutional basis limited to corporate VET student loan scheme providers.

The VET Student Loans (Courses and Loan Caps) Amendment Determination 2025 constitutes the most recent amendment to the 2016 Determination. It updates the course eligibility framework by omitting the Advanced Diploma of Conveyancing from Schedule 1 Part 1 and adding it to Part 2, adding courses such as 11296NAT Diploma of Crypto Assets and Blockchain Technologies and 11321NAT Diploma of Applied Artificial Intelligence for Business to Part 2, adding twenty-three courses to Part 3 including multiple CUA-coded creative arts diplomas and UEE-coded engineering diplomas, and omitting twenty-nine courses from Part 3 including various AHC-coded agriculture and horticulture diplomas, HLT-coded health diplomas and TAE-coded training diplomas. Schedule 3 receives six new provider-specific entries with $15,000 caps and loses seven existing entries. All tables are renumbered after the additions and omissions.

Clause 5 sets out transitional arrangements that allow the Secretary to continue payments under section 19 of the VET Student Loans Act 2016 for students with pre-commencement approvals for courses in the referenced pre-amendment items. The instrument does not articulate reasons for the particular inclusions or exclusions of courses or for the movement of courses between parts of Schedule 1. The commencement timing, set at 1 January 2026 or the day after registration, provides a defined point at which the updated lists become operative for new loan approvals.

The text of the instrument and the related retrieval context do not reference any court challenges or controversies concerning this amendment or the principal Determination. No cases are named in the source material. As a legislative instrument, the Determination remains subject to the disallowance process under the Legislation Act 2003, and the note in section 232 of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 confirms that section 42 of that Act and Part 4 of Chapter 3 do not apply to fee determinations, but no specific disallowance or challenge is recorded here. Practitioners should monitor the Federal Register of Legislation and any subsequent judicial review applications that may arise from the removal of courses or the application of caps to particular providers.

The transitional arrangements in clause 5 refer to item numbers in the tables as they stood before the amendments, specifically items 4 or 7 of Schedule 1 and item 10 of Schedule 3. Because the instrument requires renumbering of all items after the additions and omissions, these references will no longer match the final numbering in the published version of the 2016 Determination. Practitioners must therefore consult the pre-amendment tables when determining whether a student's course qualifies for continued loan payments.

The movement of BSB60220 Advanced Diploma of Conveyancing from Part 1 to Part 2 creates a potential issue for any internal systems or guidance materials that treat the parts differently. New courses added with alphanumeric item numbers, such as 132A for CPP80221 Graduate Diploma of Building Design or 27B for 11344NAT Diploma of Applied Blockchain, are renumbered to pure numeric sequences, requiring careful cross-referencing during compliance checks. The addition of courses with similar subject matter but different codes, for example the new 11344NAT Diploma of Applied Blockchain alongside the omission of 10747NAT Advanced Diploma of Applied Blockchain, demands exact code verification to avoid incorrect loan applications.

Commencement depends on the registration date, which may push the effective date beyond 1 January 2026 and affect enrolment planning for the 2026 academic year. Schedule 3 entries impose a strict $15,000 cap for the listed providers and courses, and any loan approval exceeding that amount would fall outside the authorised scope. Providers must also ensure that student identifiers are assigned in accordance with section 53 of the Student Identifiers Act 2014 before issuing qualifications for any course in the updated lists, as the identifier requirement operates independently of loan eligibility.

Approved course providers should obtain the consolidated version of the VET Student Loans (Courses and Loan Caps) Determination 2016 as amended by this instrument and verify every course for which a VET student loan may be sought against the tables in Schedule 1 Parts 1, 2 and 3 and Schedule 3. Courses added to Part 2, such as 11296NAT Diploma of Crypto Assets and Blockchain Technologies and 11321NAT Diploma of Applied Artificial Intelligence for Business, and the numerous additions to Part 3, including CUA50125 Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing and UEE50325 Diploma of Electrical and Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, may now support loan applications. Courses omitted from the tables, including 10759NAT Graduate Diploma of Cardiac Electrophysiology from Part 2 and AHC50116 Diploma of Agriculture from Part 3, no longer support new approvals after commencement.

For any course offered by a provider listed in the new Schedule 3 entries, such as CUA51225 Diploma of Ceramics by Technical and Further Education Commission of NSW (TAFE NSW) or 11360NAT Advanced Diploma of Acting by Australian National Memorial Theatre Limited, the loan amount must not exceed the $15,000 cap. Providers whose courses were omitted from Schedule 3, including Melbourne Polytechnic's MEM50311 Diploma of Jewellery and Object Design, must cease offering loans for those courses to new students. All students must be assigned a student identifier before a registered training organisation issues a VET qualification or statement of attainment, as required by section 53 of the Student Identifiers Act 2014, and bodies may collect identifiers under section 18A where necessary for loan administration.

For students with existing loan approvals for courses covered by the transitional arrangements in clause 5, providers should continue to facilitate payments under section 19 of the VET Student Loans Act 2016. Compliance professionals should update databases, marketing materials and staff training to reflect the renumbered tables and the precise course codes. Legal advisers should review registration conditions under section 24A of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 to confirm ongoing compliance. Regular checks of the Federal Register of Legislation will identify any further amendments to the Determination.