The VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025 retrospectively authorises approved VET Student Loans (VSL) providers and relevant Commonwealth officers to handle students’ tax file numbers (TFNs) from 1 January 2017 until 1 October 2025 for the sole purpose of administering VSL applications and loans. It also confirms that no further TFN disclosure or handling by providers will be permitted after 1 October 2025.
The Bill amends the VET Student Loans Act 2016 to validate, on a retrospective basis, any requiring, requesting, collecting, recording, storing, using or disclosing of student TFNs by approved VSL providers, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, the Commissioner of Taxation and other relevant officers between 1 January 2017 and 1 October 2025. Clause 4 deems such dealings to have been authorised by the VSL Act and necessary for performance of statutory functions, thereby engaging exceptions in the Taxation Administration Act 1953 and the Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015 and protecting relevant persons from civil or criminal liability for that period. Clause 5 provides for just-terms compensation where retrospective authorisation would otherwise constitute an acquisition of property under section 51(xxxi) of the Constitution. The Bill also confirms that, following final IT system changes on 30 September 2025 which mask TFNs from providers, no prospective authorisation for TFN handling by VSL providers remains.
Legal certainty is a cornerstone of the rule of law. Retrospectively authorising TFN handling corrects a technical oversight in the VET Student Loans Act 2016 and eliminates the risk of litigation or clawbacks against providers and officers who acted in good faith to deliver student loans. Without this clarification, providers and government officers could face civil or criminal exposure for historic practices that were necessary to administer the VSL program.
From a utilitarian perspective, this measure protects the integrity and continuity of the VET Student Loans program, ensuring that students who relied on those historical processes for loan approval and debt recording are not disadvantaged. It imposes no new compliance burden on providers after 1 October 2025 and imposes no additional cost on students, while removing legal uncertainty that could disrupt access to vocational education finance [Judgment].
Even granting that providers needed TFNs to administer loans, creating a retrospective authorisation undermines legal certainty by rewriting the rules after the fact. It sets a precedent for parliament to retrospectively excuse non-compliance rather than ensuring clear legislative drafting from the outset.
Retrospective laws can erode the integrity of statutory frameworks and impair individuals’ rights to seek redress: students or third parties who might have had grounds to challenge the historical handling of their TFNs are now barred from doing so if their complaint was not finalised by commencement of this Act. This effectively extinguishes accrued causes of action without explicit consent, raising concerns under section 51(xxxi) of the Constitution [Judgment].
Furthermore, personal data protections—and the right to privacy—are weakened when Parliament retrospectively legitimises what may have been unlawful processing of sensitive information. Individuals are entitled to equal protection under privacy laws and should not have their right to pursue complaints removed by a backward-looking statutory fix [Judgment].
2025-10-29
Passed Both Houses
Unspecified
Employment and Workplace Relations
Education, Social Support / Welfare