Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

By and large, it is incumbent upon individuals with tax obligations or student loan obligations to be aware of changes, in relation to those arrangements, and to comply with the tax laws of Australia if they have a tax obligation. In the end, a student loan repayment operates just like a tax obligation, in that regard.

We want to make sure that there is a focus on communicating with those affected by the measure and informing them of new requirements where possible. We are not asking for anything onerous—simply that people are brought into line with what would be expected of them were they still living in Australia. We will be using data-matching capabilities, including data exchange, with the United Kingdom to help locate debtors who are overseas. The application of similar arrangements for reciprocal student loan debt recovery is being discussed with New Zealand. This is not unprecedented. Other countries have successful, efficient overseas debt recovery programs. There is no reason to expect that Australia could not achieve similar arrangements.

It is important to appreciate and understand that not only does the tax office have the ability to run communication strategies that may complement the standard operating procedures, regarding expectations around what Australian taxpayers or those with student loans are expected to be aware of, but also—noting where you are probably going with this issue—the ATO does have a degree of discretionary power that it can apply where people have reasonable explanations for not necessarily complying in a timely manner with any particular changes. I also draw your attention to the fact that the time line for repayment in this regard is some way down the track, so we are looking at a situation where people will not have to make contributions until 1 July 2017.