A new set of repayment thresholds
From 1 July 2019, the new minimum HELP repayment threshold will be $45,881, with a 1% repayment rate.
There are a further 17 thresholds and repayment rates, up to a top threshold of $134,573, at which 10% of income is repayable.
Please see the paying back your loan section on the Government's StudyAssist website for more information on:
- new repayment thresholds
- how much you owe for HELP debts which are managed by the ATO
- when you have to repay your HELP debt
- your repayment amounts
- interest and indexation
- how to make voluntary repayment.
Combined HELP limit
From 1 January 2020, a combined HELP loan limit will replace the the FEE-HELP limit and will include:
- FEE-HELP
- VET Student Loans
- VET FEE-HELP
- HECS-HELP.
Only new HECS-HELP borrowing from 1 January 2020 will count towards your HELP limit. Any existing FEE-HELP, VET FEE-HELP or VET Student Loans taken out prior to 2020 will count towards your new HELP balance.
This means that any HECS-HELP loans taken out before 2020 will not count towards your new HELP limit.
Note: From 1 January 2020, you can top up your HELP balance by making repayments on your loan. Repayments starting from the 2019-20 income year will top up a person’s HELP balance. Any compulsory or voluntary repayments can be re-borrowed in the future, up to the current HELP loan limit.
FEE-HELP loan limit for 2019
From 1 January 2019, there will be a substantial increase in the FEE-HELP loan limit.
The loan limit will increase from $127,992 to $150,000 for students studying medicine, dentistry and veterinary science courses. The loan limit for all other students will be increased to $104,440.
