Paying back your student loan

Tracking your loan

Register for Inland Revenue’s online services to see your balance and repayments.

Check your student loan balance online

Get an estimate of when you’ll pay off your loan and see how extra repayments might help you pay it off faster.

Student loan repayment calculator

Making payments

You must make repayments if you’re earning over a certain amount and aren’t on a repayment holiday.

Once you earn over $19,760 a year, you’re required to start paying off your loan — even if you’re still studying. You’ll need to change your tax code so your repayments will come out of your pay automatically. Automatic repayments are 12% of everything you make over $19,760.

Paying off your student loan if you’re employed

Paying off your student loan if you’re self-employed

Find out about making extra repayments, paying your loan off in full and what you can do if you’ve overpaid.

Making extra repayments to your student loan

If you have two jobs and the student loan payments from your second job are too high, you can apply for a special repayment rate.

Special repayment rates for other income

Find out your options if you’re having problems making repayments and what happens if you don’t make compulsory repayments.

If you can’t repay your student loan

Travelling or living overseas

You’ll be charged interest on your student loan if you go overseas for more than 6 months.

Going overseas for 6 months or more

You can make a payment from overseas by credit or debit card, international money transfer or foreign cheque. If you live in Australia you can set up a PayWay direct debit from your Australian bank account — IR will pay the currency conversion cost. You can call IR to set this up.

Freephone: 1800 559 653 (Australia only)

Paying off your student loan when you’re overseas

You can apply for a repayment holiday if you’re going overseas for more than 6 months which means you won’t have to make payments for up to a year. If you’re not on a repayment holiday, you’ll need to make at least 2 payments a year on your student loan. You can apply for a repayment holiday through myIR, IR’s online services.

myIR Secure Online Services