Graduates from Australian universities will still have to repay their HECS debts if they work overseas.
Education Minister Christopher Pyne said for the first time ever, Australians who have moved overseas for more than six months will be required to repay the same amount of their HECS debt as they would if they were residing in Australia.
The government will introduce legislation requiring all Australian graduates living offshore to start making HECS payments, based on income beyond the $53,000 threshold in the 2016-17 tax year.
Under current arrangements, graduates living overseas don't have to submit an Australian tax return, so there's no way for the government to know if they are earning above the HECS repayment threshold.
Many get off scot-free while others come home to a debt that's been accruing interest at CPI rates while they are away, he said.
"There is no good reason why someone working as a banker in London or New York and earning over the threshold shouldn't pay back what they owe Australia," he said in a statement.
Mr Pyne said no government had tackled this obviously unfair situation which had been in the too-hard basket.
"Our plan will enforce the same HECS repayment obligations on Australians living overseas that apply to those who remain on our shores," he said.
The proposed plan will include repayment obligations from July 1, 2017 based on 2016-17 income. The government estimates this will produce $140 million more HECS repayments in a decade.
Labor higher education spokesman Kim Carr said the government actually announced this crackdown a year ago and Mr Pyne had done nothing.
"Instead he has been fixated on trying to cut university funding by 20 per cent and Americanise our world-class university system. This government has completely lost the plot when it comes to higher education," he said in a statement.
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