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Student Financial Supplement Scheme:

Please Note: The Student Financial Supplement Scheme (SFSS) closed on 1 January 2004. Financial Supplement loans are NO longer available. This does not impact on the loan contract or repayment arrangements in place for loans taken out in 2003 and previous years.

In the 2005-06 Federal Budget, the Australian Government announced a change to the administrative arrangements for the Student Financial Supplement Scheme. The current arrangements between the Australian Government and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia will end on 30 November 2005.

Voluntary repayments from 1 December 2005 must be made to Australia Post. Any Financial Supplement loan repayments made to the Commonwealth Bank on or after 1 December 2005 will be returned to you.

Information for previous years loans from 1993-2003.

You can find further information about how the Student Financial Supplement Loan was administered between 1993-2003 by selecting from the following options:


Repaying your Financial Supplement Loan.

  • Repayment is voluntary during the loan contract period (which ends on 31 May of the fifth year after the year you received the loan). For example, compulsory repayments for a Financial Supplement loan taken out for 2003 are not required until June 2008.
  • Customers receive a bonus on repayments made during the loan contract period.
  • From 1 December 2005, voluntary repayments need to be made to Australia Post, which offers a number of options for you to make a repayment. You will need your Financial Supplement loan statement to register your repayment. You can pay:
    • in person at any Australia Post retail outlet
    • by telephoning 13 1816
    • by making one-off payments or setting up periodic direct debit deductions to make automatic regular repayments on the Australia Post Billpay website.
  • At the end of the loan contract period, details of the outstanding loan balance are transferred to the Australian Taxation Office and the repayments are collected through the taxation system.
  • Repayments are compulsory once your taxable income reaches $39 218 for the 2005-2006 financial year.
  • Repayment levels increase when your income increases above the level of average weekly earnings.

Previous Year SFSS repayment thresholds and rates: 2004–05

Year
Taxable Income (TI) Thresholds
Repayment Rates
2004-05 Below $37 667 Nil
  $37 667 - $42 805 2% of TI
  $42 806 - $59 929 3% of TI
  $59 930 and above 4% of TI

Current Year SFSS repayment thresholds and rates: 2005–06

Year
Taxable Income (TI) Thresholds
Repayment Rates
2005-06 Below $39 218 Nil
  $39 218 - $44 567 2% of TI
  $44 568 - $62 396 3% of TI
  $62 397 and above 4% of TI

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Financial Supplement Loan - Annual CPI Adjustments

On 1st June every year after the loan is taken out, any outstanding loan balance is adjusted due to changes in the cost of living, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This occurs for the period of the contract (ie 5 years), at the end of which the loan is transferred to the ATO.


The annual CPI rates back to 1994 are as below:

Year
CPI Rate
Year
CPI Rate
1994 1.02 2000 1.90
1995 2.50 2001 5.30
1996 4.60 2002 3.60
1997 2.00 2003 3.10
1998 -0.10 2004 2.40
1999 1.20

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Financial Supplement loan recipients are advised of the annual CPI adjustment on their annual statement from Centrelink, which is issued each July after the year the loan is taken out until transfer to the ATO.

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