The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has finalised changes to how authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) treat Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debt repayments when assessing home loan applications.
The new reporting standard and regulations (ARS 223.0) come into effect from 30 September 2025. As such, ADI reporting will be under the new reporting standard for the September 2025 quarter.
The regulator said that HELP debts must be excluded from the credit limit of all debts held by the borrower for the purposes of calculating the debt-to-income ratio (DTIs).
APRA expects an ADI to consider a borrower’s HELP debt obligations alongside other debt commitments when assessing their borrowing capacity. That is…