Student Start-up Loan (SSL) 010-07030080

The Student Start up Loan (SSL) replaced the Student Start-Up Scholarship (SSS) from 1 January 2016. The SSS ceased from 1 July 2017.

Customers may qualify for an SSL when they are:

• studying an approved scholarship course, and
• receiving a qualifying student income support payment

SSL is optional, eligible customers may apply for, or decline the loan. SSL must be repaid through the tax system once the recipient's taxable income reaches a threshold determined by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). (A similar repayment arrangement currently applies to HECS-HELP loans).

Note: SSL is not subject to Income Management (IM).

SSL payments are made in 2 relevant loan periods each year:

• 1 January to 30 June, and
• 1 July to 31 December

Eligible customers are entitled to one loan per loan period. Each loan is paid as a tax-free lump sum.

Note: a customer cannot apply for a partial loan.

See Rates and thresholds for the current amount of the loan.

Customers may qualify for the SSL if they are eligible for and receiving any of the following payments:

• Youth Allowance (YA) as a student
• Austudy
• ABSTUDY Living Allowance

To be eligible, they must also:

• be undertaking full-time study (or an approved concessional workload) in an approved scholarship course
• submit their claim:
• before the end of the loan period, or
• at least 35 days before their course end date if it ends in the loan period
• not be eligible for, or receiving a Commonwealth Education Costs Scholarship (CECS) for the same period
• not received a SSS from Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) under the Veterans' Children's Education Scheme (VCES) or Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act Education and Training Scheme (MRCAETS) in the previous 6 months
• provide a valid Tax File Number (TFN) which is verified by the ATO, and
• be receiving at least $1 of YA, Austudy, ABSTUDY Living Allowance, Youth Disability Supplement (YDS) or Energy Supplement

Customers who only receive ABSTUDY Incidentals, Rent Assistance (RA) and/or Pharmaceutical Allowance (PhA) (or other supplements) in the loan period will not qualify.

The following time limits and conditions apply:

• There are 2 loan periods each year
• 1 January to 30 June, and
• 1 July to 31 December
• The SSL claims must be submitted before the end of the relevant loan period. Applications can be submitted up until midnight through online services
• If the course ends within the loan period, the SSL claim must be submitted at least 35 days before the course end date
• Customers can apply in advance for one or more future loan periods. Where a customer applies before the start of the relevant loan period, the SSL application is deemed to have been submitted on the first day of that loan period, not the submission date. Note: this may affect a customer's eligibility for the loan period in which their course ends
• Customers cannot apply for the SSL for a loan period that has ended

The application and payment of the SSL is an automated process. Customers can use the following channels to claim SSL:

• as part of the online claim for YA (student), Austudy or ABSTUDY Living Allowance for tertiary students
• using the 'Apply for/Manage Student Start-up Loan' service via their Centrelink online account through myGov
  Note: this service is only available to customers who are currently receiving Youth Allowance (YA), Austudy or ABSTUDY Living Allowance. The service is not available where:
• Youth Allowance (YA), Austudy or ABSTUDY Living Allowance claim has not yet been granted, or
• Youth Allowance (YA), Austudy or ABSTUDY Living Allowance payment is cancelled
• by phone in limited circumstances. Self service options are the preferred channels. Customers can apply by phone when:
• they are not eligible to register for self service, or
• a service officer deems self service is not appropriate

A correspondence nominee will be able to access this service on behalf of their principal.

Eligible customers applying for a student income support payment are presented with the SSL claim option if they indicate they will be studying an approved scholarship course.

Customers have the option to accept or decline the loan offered. The loan periods offered are based on the start and end dates of their course and their student payment.

Customers who add or edit an approved scholarship course using the Manage study details online service can claim SSL during the update.

Before a loan can be issued, the customer must:

• accept the Terms and Conditions for the loan
• acknowledge they must repay the loan, and
• have their Tax File Number verified by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)

If a customer declines the SSL in their claim or new course update, they cannot use the 'Apply for/Manage Student Start-up Loan' online service until their claim or update is processed and their course has started.

Customers can use the 'Apply for/Manage Student Start-up Loan' service at any time to change their decision as long as a loan has not already been paid for the period.

For more information about self service for customers, see How users create a myGov account and link services.

Each SSL payment has a 'qualification test day' (QTD).

Note: the QTD for SSL is not the same as the 'qualification date' used for other types of payment.

For each SSL payment, the QTD is the earliest of the following dates:

• the day the claim for SSL for the loan period was determined
• the last day of the approved scholarship course if the approved scholarship course ends in the loan period
• the last day of the loan period

The customer must meet all the eligibility criteria for SSL on their QTD.

For each loan, the QTD type will be A, B, or C, depending on which of the three options above applies to the QTD date for that loan.

For each loan, the system will record both the QTD:

• date for that loan, and
• type for that loan

The QTD date and QTD type (QTT) are displayed on the Student Start-Up Loan Summary (!SSLS) screen.

The QTD type may affect the SSL study requirement that applies to a customer in a loan period. If two QTD types have the same date, the QTD type that is most beneficial under the SSL study requirements will apply:

• If the QTD type is 'A' and 'B' then QTT type is 'A'
• If the QTD type is 'A' and 'C' then QTT type is 'A'
• If the QTD type is 'B' and 'C' then QTT type is 'B'

The Resources page contains examples to assist with determining the QTD type and QTD date. See Student Start-up Loan (SSL) Study requirements for more information.

Customers will not qualify for the SSL if they:

• receive/are entitled to receive Commonwealth Education Costs Scholarship (CECS) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in the six months before or after the QTD for SSL
• received a Student Start-Up Scholarship (SSS) from Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) under the Veterans' Children's Education Scheme (VCES) and Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act Education and Training Scheme (MRCAETS) in the 6 months before or after the QTD for SSL

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customers should be advised to apply for CECS prior to claiming SSL, as CECS is more beneficial. If they investigate CECS and still wish to claim SSL, they can record their preference using the Apply for/Manage Student Start-up Loan online service.

Note: customers who qualify for CECS in a particular loan period but who do not receive their full CECS entitlement because that scholarship is suspended (e.g. due to poor study results), cannot qualify for SSL for that loan period.

An SSL cannot be paid until the customer has provided their TFN and it has been verified by the ATO. TFN verification is done automatically by the system.

If a customer applies for SSL as part of a new claim for a student income support payment, their payment may be paid pending the provision of a TFN at a later time. The SSL will not be paid until a validated TFN is supplied.

If a customer does not provide a valid TFN with their claim for SSL, or the TFN is not verified by the ATO, their SSL claim will be rejected. A letter will be issued explaining that they must supply a valid TFN before SSL can be paid.

If within 13 weeks of their SSL claim being rejected for this reason, a valid TFN is provided and verified by the ATO, eligibility for SSL is automatically reassessed. The customer does not need to reapply for SSL.

If the customer provides a valid (and verified) TFN more than 13 weeks after their loan application is rejected their eligibility for SSL will not be reassessed automatically. They must apply again.

They can apply using the 'Apply for/Manage Student Start-up Loan' online service if the loan period has not ended.

If the loan period has ended, the customer cannot reapply for that loan period even though their original loan application was submitted before the loan period ended.

Each SSL must be repaid to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) when the recipient's taxable income reaches the threshold at which Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debts become payable.

The accumulated balance of SSL owed to the ATO is subject to indexation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases.

Loans are transferred automatically to the ATO 6 months after they are paid, unless the SSL has been raised as an overpayment because the customer was not eligible.

Customers who have questions about how the CPI adjustments are applied, how much they owe, or repayment arrangements must contact the ATO. The customer can visit the ATO website for more information.

If a customer receives a Student Start-up Loan (SSL) and is found to have been ineligible for it, the loan amount must be raised as an overpayment. These overpayments must be repaid to the agency like any other debt.

An overpayment of SSL for a Youth Allowance (YA) or Austudy customer becomes a Social Security debt. An overpayment of SSL for an ABSTUDY customer becomes an ABSTUDY debt.

If an SSL payment is raised as a debt, it will be repaid to Services Australia, not through the tax system.

SSL debt raising is an automated process – SSL debt shells are not reviewed by the Debt Raising team prior to raising. Ensure SSL outcomes are correct before finalising activities, particularly when creating or offsetting debts.

SSL debts cannot be offset against any other payment type.

When making an unfavourable decision, speak to the customer:

• explain the decision
• give them a chance to provide more information, and
• advise their review and appeal rights