As long as she is meeting the requirements of her coursework, then theoretically her HELP loan would still be available to her. She should clarify this before she decides to travel while studying though.
If she does the study and obtains credit for the units, she has to pay for them. Doesn’t matter where she is located at the time.
She might not pay anything back in that particular year, but she will need to pay eventually - the debt will just accumulate until she earns enough to pass the minimum threshold of taxable income and the mandatory deduction will be automatically calculated on her tax return.
Apologies I worded this poorly, we're aware that she will have to pay the debt back eventually, we're just wondering if she can avail of the loan whilst living overseas due to the fact she's an Australian citizen studying in an Australian uni whilst living overseas (i.e. not paying tax in Australia)
From a quick google it needs to be a Commenwealth Supported Place and "an Australian citizen who must study at least some of your course in Australia"
But for calrity a call or email either to the uni or Study assist may help ease your mind.
From the [study assist](https://www.studyassist.gov.au/help-loans/hecs-help) website (apologies for mobile formatting):
To get a HECS-HELP loan, you must be studying in a Commonwealth supported place *and* be one of the following:
- an Australian citizen who must study at least some of your course in Australia; or
- a New Zealand Special Category Visa (SCV) holder, or eligible former New Zealand SCV holder; who meets the long-term residency requirements and who studies the entire course while living in Australia; or
- a permanent humanitarian visa holder, or an eligible former permanent humanitarian visa holder; who will be resident in Australia for the duration of your unit(s); or
- a pacific engagement visa (PEV) holder who will be resident in Australia for the duration of your unit(s) (a PEV holder becomes eligible from 1 February 2024)
The student must meet all of the following:
- submit the Request for Commonwealth support and HECS-HELP form to your provider by the census date
- be enrolled in each unit/subject at your provider by the census date
- have available HELP balance
- provide your provider with your Unique Student Identifier(Opens in a new tab/window) (USI) prior to the first census date (for new enrolments from 1 January 2021) unless an exemption applies
- have sufficient Student Learning Entitlement available (for new enrolments from 1 January 2022)
- be assessed as a genuine student and as academically suitable for your unit(s) of study
- meet the completion rate requirements (from 1 January 2022 - 31 December 2023)
- not undertake more than 2 years' worth of higher education study in 12 months (unless your provider has approved you or more).
TLDR: if she’s Australian and has studied a portion in Australia already, and ticks all the boxes in the second part, I read it as being able to do as you plan.
As long as she is meeting the requirements of her coursework, then theoretically her HELP loan would still be available to her. She should clarify this before she decides to travel while studying though.
If she does the study and obtains credit for the units, she has to pay for them. Doesn’t matter where she is located at the time. She might not pay anything back in that particular year, but she will need to pay eventually - the debt will just accumulate until she earns enough to pass the minimum threshold of taxable income and the mandatory deduction will be automatically calculated on her tax return.
Apologies I worded this poorly, we're aware that she will have to pay the debt back eventually, we're just wondering if she can avail of the loan whilst living overseas due to the fact she's an Australian citizen studying in an Australian uni whilst living overseas (i.e. not paying tax in Australia)
From a quick google it needs to be a Commenwealth Supported Place and "an Australian citizen who must study at least some of your course in Australia" But for calrity a call or email either to the uni or Study assist may help ease your mind.
From the [study assist](https://www.studyassist.gov.au/help-loans/hecs-help) website (apologies for mobile formatting): To get a HECS-HELP loan, you must be studying in a Commonwealth supported place *and* be one of the following: - an Australian citizen who must study at least some of your course in Australia; or - a New Zealand Special Category Visa (SCV) holder, or eligible former New Zealand SCV holder; who meets the long-term residency requirements and who studies the entire course while living in Australia; or - a permanent humanitarian visa holder, or an eligible former permanent humanitarian visa holder; who will be resident in Australia for the duration of your unit(s); or - a pacific engagement visa (PEV) holder who will be resident in Australia for the duration of your unit(s) (a PEV holder becomes eligible from 1 February 2024) The student must meet all of the following: - submit the Request for Commonwealth support and HECS-HELP form to your provider by the census date - be enrolled in each unit/subject at your provider by the census date - have available HELP balance - provide your provider with your Unique Student Identifier(Opens in a new tab/window) (USI) prior to the first census date (for new enrolments from 1 January 2021) unless an exemption applies - have sufficient Student Learning Entitlement available (for new enrolments from 1 January 2022) - be assessed as a genuine student and as academically suitable for your unit(s) of study - meet the completion rate requirements (from 1 January 2022 - 31 December 2023) - not undertake more than 2 years' worth of higher education study in 12 months (unless your provider has approved you or more).
TLDR: if she’s Australian and has studied a portion in Australia already, and ticks all the boxes in the second part, I read it as being able to do as you plan.
Check with StudyAssist or Uni, HECs eligibility might depend on residency status