Two bills that lapsed when the last parliament was dissolved are back in the Reps

The HE Support Amendment (Charges) Bill requires providers to cough-up for costs the Commonwealth incurred in administering the HELP loan scheme. Last year it was expected to recover $13.8 over the forward estimates. The HE Support Amendment (Cost Recovery Bill) sets charges for a bunch of stuff including officials taking phone calls. The Parliamentary Library estimates the charges in the bill will cost universities between $30 000 and $250 000, depending on enrolments and up to $100 000 for non-uni providers.

Funnily enough the bills weren’t popular with providers when introduced last year. The Group of Eight said the HELP admin charge, is ““the equivalent of introducing a new tax on doctors, one levied for each patient they see, to assist government pay for the administrative costs of Medicare,” (CMM November 12 2018).