AIS loans

Posted on August 30, 2004 by

In a move that is sure to be as popular right now as an Irish priest in a Brazilian bar, Bruce Chapman and I make a modest proposal in today’s Age: that high-earning Australian Institute of Sport athletes be required to pay back their scholarships. We’re expecting a storm of abuse from Age readers, and would welcome some here too.

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4 Responses to AIS loans

  1. Neil Hickey says:
    August 30, 2004 at 4:56 pm

    Hi Andrew,
    I’m a journo mate of Dave’s and wanted to commend you on the idea of a HECS-style system for AIS athletes. This is something my dad’s been raving painfully about for years. Dave will tell you there’s no-one more passionate about his sport than me but I don’t see how anyone could object to the thrust of this proposal.
    I’m no accountant but I would probably hesitate at the annual salary threshold of $60,000 though. Are all AIS scholarships $23,000? And are they only ever good for one year? If so paying back two or three years worth of scholarships (or a debt of $75,000) on a salary of 60 grand or thereabouts might be a struggle.
    The essence of the plan is rock solid though. Only a question of how high (or low) you set the bar.
    Cheers,
    Neil Hickey

  2. Andrew Leigh says:
    August 31, 2004 at 7:57 am

    Neil, good to hear from you. On the repayment rate, I reckon we’d set it similarly to HECS — about 2-3% of income per year. That shouldn’t be a killer burden, though it would likely take longer to repay than most HECS debts.

    On scholarship size, we don’t know particulars. That figure was calculated by dividing total AIS grants by total AIS grant recipients. So some must get more or less. And of course, it’s only the cash component — not including coaches, physios, etc.

    Thanks for your feedback.

    Andrew.

  3. Merideth Carleton says:
    November 15, 2005 at 10:09 am

    Have you seen this before? It’s a number guessing game: http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/guessthenumber.html. I guessed 25311, and it got it right! Pretty neat.

  4. Merideth Carleton says:
    November 15, 2005 at 10:10 am

    Have you seen this before? It’s a number guessing game: http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/guessthenumber.html. I guessed 25311, and it got it right! Pretty neat.

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