AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE
HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPORT ACT 2003, AUSTRALIAN APPRENTICESHIP SUPPORT LOANS ACT 2014, STUDENT ASSISTANCE ACT 1973
Factor to Index an Accumulated HELP, AASL or Financial Supplement Debt 2023
I, Amanda Keeble, of the Australian Taxation Office, for recalculation purposes under part 5 of schedule 1 to the Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Act 2024, HEREBY NOTIFY, pursuant to section 140-20 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003, section 34 of the Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans Act 2014 and subsection 12ZF(7A) of the Student Assistance Act 1973 that 1.032 is the new HELP, AASL and Financial Supplement debt indexation factor for 1 June 2023 to be used in recalculating accumulated HELP, AASL and Financial Supplement debts for the 2022/2023 financial year.
From 5 December 2024, as a result of changes under the Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Act 2024, the way in which the HELP, AASL and Financial Supplement debt indexation factor is calculated has changed. These changes apply from 1 June 2023.
In accordance with the amendments to section 140-10 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003, section 32 of the Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans Act 2014 and subsection 12ZF(6) of the Student Assistance Act 1973, the HELP, AASL and Financial Supplement debt indexation factor is now the lower of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) indexation factor and the Wage Price Index (WPI) indexation factor worked out to three decimal places. The HELP, AASL and Financial Supplement debt indexation factor for 1 June 2023 is calculated based on the WPI indexation factor using the formula:
the sum of the WPI index number for the March 2023 quarter and the WPI index numbers for the three immediately preceding quarters divided by the sum of the WPI index number for the March 2022 quarter and the WPI index numbers for the three immediately preceding quarters,
where WPI index number, in relation to a quarter, means the Wage Price Index number, being the quarterly index/total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses/Australia/private and public/all industries, published by the Australian Statistician in respect of that quarter.
Indexation factor for 1 June 2023 | = | Mar23+Dec22+Sep22+Jun22 Mar22+Dec21+Sep21+Jun21 |
|
= |
144.3 + 143.2 + 142.1 + 140.1 139.3 + 138.3 + 137.4 + 136.8 |
|
= |
569.7 divided by 551.8 |
|
= |
1.032 (to three decimal places) |
The indexation factor is 1.032 and the effective percentage increase is 3.2%.
Amanda Keeble
Assistant Commissioner