Repayment of Financial Supplement loan (FSL) after transfer to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) 102-15010020

SFSS was a voluntary loan scheme which gave eligible tertiary students the option of borrowing money to help cover their expenses while they studied.

The term 'Student Financial Supplement Scheme (SFSS)' refers to the program name of the Scheme. 'Financial Supplement Loan (FSL)' is the product of the Scheme. In other words, students applied for the product (FSL) and received this through the program (SFSS).

The funds for FSL were provided by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). When the student applied for a FSL, at any branch of the CBA, the student entered into a loan contract with the CBA. The contract period commenced on the day the CBA accepted the FSL application and ended on 1 June of the fifth year after the year the loan was taken out.

Students are liable for the full amount received from the CBA. Interest on the loan was paid by the government, but the student is liable for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustment that is applied to the loan on 1 June each year.

All loans were administered by Centrelink (now Services Australia) until the end of the contract period. At the end of the contract period, the outstanding loan was transferred to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The loan then becomes a debt to the Commonwealth and is repayable through the taxation system.

CPI adjustments continue to be applied every year (on 1 June) while there is an outstanding FSL balance with the ATO.

After transfer to the ATO, Services Australia no longer kept records of any repayments or CPI adjustments made to the debt balance. The customer should be advised of the amount that was transferred to the ATO. The final balance on all outstanding loans will now show as zero on Services Australia's system. This does not mean that the loan has been zeroed off, just that the balance has now been transferred to the ATO for recovery through the taxation system.

The customer can continue to make voluntary repayments. Repayments must be made to the ATO and will not attract an early repayment bonus.

The customer should be referred to the ATO website for accurate information regarding their debt. Customers can visit the ATO website for further information on requesting information on their FSL.

Note: enquiries concerning loans that have been transferred to the ATO should generally be referred to the ATO. In some cases, customers may dispute the balance of their loan that was transferred or have general requests for information (such as details of repayments within the contract period). These enquiries can be dealt with by Services Australia Service Officers.