Summary
Amends the:
Higher Education Support Act 2003
and
Income Tax Assessment Act 1936
to: allow higher education providers to impose an annual capped compulsory student services and amenities fee of $250 from 1 July 2009; establish the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP): Services and Amenities-HELP (SA-HELP) to enable eligible students to access a loan for the fee; require higher education providers that receive funding for student places under the Commonwealth Grants Scheme to implement National Access to Services Benchmarks; and
Higher Education Support Act 2003
to: broaden the guidelines-making powers to vary the VET FEE-HELP debt; allow different requirements to apply to different students undertaking VET units of study; and provide that officers of Tertiary Admission Centres have the same status and duty of care as those of higher education providers in relation to processing student information.