In 2022, the department identified an issue with its systems which meant that VET loan data was not sent to the Australian Taxation Office as it normally would be. This meant that accurate VET loan data was not available to VET students or former students when checking their tax records. An independent review found the main cause of the delayed loan transfer was faults in the VSL IT system. The department took a number of actions to address this including: directly contacting all affected students; extending the VET FEE-HELP Redress Measures; arranging for the waiving of historical indexation on all affected loans and waiving the entirety of pre-2017 affected debts; and commencing an upgrade of its IT systems. In 2022, the department received additional funding to commence the upgrade to a fit-for-purpose VSL IT system. The department is sorry for any concerns this issue may have caused for any affected students.
