Photo of Glenn Sterle

Glenn Sterle voted very strongly for making Australians working overseas repay their student debts

How Glenn Sterle voted compared to someone who believes that the Federal Government should make Australians working overseas repay their Higher Education Loan Programme debts (known as HELP or HECS debts) and their Trade Support Loan debts (known as TSL debts) under the same compulsory repayment system that applies to citizens working in Australia

Division Glenn Sterle Supporters vote Division outcome

9th Nov 2015, 8:57 PM – Senate Education Legislation Amendment (Overseas Debt Recovery) Bill 2015, Student Loans (Overseas Debtors Repayment Levy) Bill 2015 - Third Reading - Pass the bill

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The majority voted in favour of passing the bills (in parliamentary jargon, they gave the bills a third reading). Since the bills have already been passed in the House of Represenatives, they will now become law.

What do the bills do?

The bills require Australians living overseas and earning over the threshold (which was $54,126 in 2015–16) to repay their Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) debt or Trade Support Loan (TSL) debt under the same compulsory repayment scheme that applies in Australia.

The bills will also require Australians with HELP or TSL debts to notify the Commissioner of Taxation if they plan to be overseas for at least 183 days or if they have been overseas for at least 183 days over any 12 month period. The notification will have to occur either:

  • no later than seven days after leaving Australia; or
  • no later than seven days after the end of those 183 days.

See StudyAssist for information about when these changes will come into effect.

Previously, Australians with HELP or TSL debts who moved overseas didn't have to make any repayments, regardless of how much they earned. Nor did they have to notify the Commissioner if they went overseas.

For more information, read the bills digest. Also see ABC News.

Disclaimer: Don't rely on this information to determine your new tax obligations - seek government information (a suggested starting point is below).

What should I do now?

A good starting point is to visit the Government's StudyAssist website, which gives an overview of the changes and what they mean for you.

 Yes Yes (strong) Passed by a modest majority

How "voted very strongly for" is worked out

The MP's votes count towards a weighted average where the most important votes get 50 points, less important votes get 10 points, and less important votes for which the MP was absent get 2 points. In important votes the MP gets awarded the full 50 points for voting the same as the policy, 0 points for voting against the policy, and 25 points for not voting. In less important votes, the MP gets 10 points for voting with the policy, 0 points for voting against, and 1 (out of 2) if absent.

Then, the number gets converted to a simple english language phrase based on the range of values it's within.

No of votes Points Out of
Most important votes (50 points)      
MP voted with policy 1 50 50
MP voted against policy 0 0 0
MP absent 0 0 0
Less important votes (10 points)      
MP voted with policy 0 0 0
MP voted against policy 0 0 0
Less important absentees (2 points)      
MP absent* 0 0 0
Total: 50 50

*Pressure of other work means MPs or Senators are not always available to vote – it does not always indicate they have abstained. Therefore, being absent on a less important vote makes a disproportionatly small difference.

Agreement score = MP's points / total points = 50 / 50 = 100%.

And then