Concerns have been raised that some training colleges are using new government loans to sign up low-income earners to large debts.

The ABC has learned some private colleges are targeting areas of Sydney with high rates of public housing and residents whose first language is not English.

They offer costly training qualifications and sign people up to expensive government loans, sometimes without their knowledge.

The Government has this year received 17 reports of students being signed up to debts without knowing.

There is particular concern colleges are using incentives such as laptops and cash-back offers to encourage students to sign up.

The Government said it had this year received 13 complaints about aggressive marketing by agents working for training colleges.

Education Department materials suggest offering incentives is unethical and such practices could potentially break the law.

In recent years, the Government has extended HECS-style university loans to all diploma courses and some Certificate IVs.

The new scheme is now called VET FEE-HELP and has led to many new private training colleges opening their doors.

Students who sign up to the debts do not have to make repayments until they earn more than $53,345.

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Many students in disadvantaged areas do not realise the debt will affect their capacity to take out loans, such as mortgages, in the future.

With some qualifications, many students are unlikely to earn enough to ever repay the debt, costing taxpayers.

In addition, many colleges use a network of affiliations with other training schools to boost their enrolments.

It means some students unsuspectingly sign up with one college only to study under another.

An Education Department spokesman said the Government was aware of some cases of "unscrupulous behaviour" among education brokers.

They said new standards would be in place from January next year and that the Department was considering further measures.

The new standards will make colleges more responsible for the behaviour of their brokers and give the Government power to prosecute.

Courses cost twice as much as TAFE

In a sparsely furnished office space above a grocery store on Cabramatta Road is Aussia Training Centre.

Aussia opened its doors in August and is not a registered training organisation.

It advertises only three courses: early childhood, business and management.

Aussia charges $11,000 for a Diploma of Early Childhood.

Thuy Tran (R) and her sister were recruited to Aussia from a student at Miller TAFE Campus who was also working as a marketer for Aussia and handing out fliers among students. ( ABC )

By comparison, TAFE charges $1,500 for its subsidised course and $5,000 for one of its commercial versions of the course.

Aussia encourages students to defer their course costs to the Government's VET FEE-HELP scheme, meaning students do not make repayments until they earn $53,000.

In Australia, the median wage for a childcare worker is $49,000, meaning many are unlikely to repay the debt.

The federal Education Department says it is against the rules for unregistered providers to claim they offer VET FEE-HELP debts under their own name.

Thuy Tran and her sister were recruited to Aussia from a student at Miller TAFE Campus who was also working as a marketer for Aussia and handing out fliers among students.

Her Australian husband, Paul Abela, said Ms Tran's English was limited.

When she signed up she was under the impression the course was free.

"Thuy's grasp of English might have been a bit of a challenge for her at Diploma level,'' Mr Abela said.

The sisters were told they would get a laptop and $1,000 for doing the course.

Thuy said she thought it was a government program to help her get a job and is worried other students are also being misled.

When Mr Abela realised the couple were in for $11,000 in debt, he raised the alarm.

The couple have been trying to get out of the debt without success.

"I started to question how they could target Asian people for this course," he said.

Mortgage brokers have warned training debts are not a no-debt situation.

They affect lending capacity in the future for personal loans, home loans and credit cards.

Mortgage broker Richard Windeyer said as a person's income rises above the repayment threshold, employers must withhold VET FEE-payments.

This reduces the potential borrower's income and could put them at risk of loan default or inability to service the loan.

"Different lenders will calculate loan serviceability in different ways and this may depend on the chosen loan product," he said.

Laptops for learning

The ABC has learned of a number of registered and unregistered training organisations offering laptops as incentives to sign up to courses.

In doing so, students sign up for as much as $13,200 in debt after the government debt fee has been included.

Within five years, that debt can grow to more than $15,000 as a result of annual indexation.

Aussia offer a laptop valued at up to $700 through a store voucher.

They also offer $500 if students finish a 12-month course and $1,000 if they finish two courses.

Students are also encouraged to refer friends to receive $250 or $500 if their friend does two courses.

Department circulars suggest offering laptops and cash incentives are considered unethical practices and potentially break the law.

The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) reviewed the marketing and advertising practices of training colleges last year.

It found almost half were marketing and advertising using misleading information, potentially deceiving consumers and undermining the training system.

"At the extreme end of this practice, it appeared that some organisations were gathering data from sources such as the National Training Register, creating lists of RTOs to attract students."

Company denies links with Aussia

Aussia offers students paperwork that indicates they will study through the Dubbo-based Access Group Training.

Access Group Training managing director Jim Jane said he had never heard of Aussia.

However, Access Group Training have a business arrangement with a company called Future Academy, which has an agreement with a company called Comsec.

Comsec have an agreement with Aussia.

Neither Comsec nor Aussia are registered training organisations.

The ABC has learned it is common for providers to use third party companies to help recruit students, market courses and increase their market share.

Mr Jane said Aussia did not have permission to use Access Group Training's name.

He said Access Group Training abided by all regulations and wrote to students when they learned of complaints.

"I don't know who Aussia are," he said.

Mr Jane said they did have a commission-based agreement with Future Academy for each student recruited.

"We have relationships with people who are marketers - that's the nature of this activity - yes we're using people who market to people in the community," he said.

He said they had recently been made aware of Thuy and her sister's situation.

"I don't know where the paperwork went but we certainly don't have paperwork for those people. They're certainly not enrolled with us."

Access Group Training have made a formal complaint to the Education Department.

"I don't know who's out there who thinks they're enrolled with us and they're not,'' Mr Jane said.

Companies must be a registered training organisation to receive VET FEE-HELP funds.

He said while the majority of colleges were helping people get jobs, there were some "cowboys" out there.

"This is a good program and it's being besmirched by activities of people who are not Registered Training Organisations," Mr Jane said.

"People who are out in the marketplace who are looking for people to enrol through RTO's that are prepared to hand out cash and it should be stopped."

Aged care homes targeted

Industry figures suggest there are also reports of other colleges targeting public housing areas and aged care homes.

One man in a public housing area in Warwick Farm in western Sydney told the ABC he was encouraged to sign up to a loan just to get the free laptop, and he need not attend classes.

However, because he was only 15 he was ineligible.

In a circular sent to training providers, the Education Department said it had received many complaints about aggressive marketing tactics.

It included:

Signing up people to debts without their knowledge

Signing up people to debts without their knowledge People unable to get out of debts

People unable to get out of debts Targeting people who are retired or left the labour market

Targeting people who are retired or left the labour market Offering incentives

Offering incentives Misleading claims about a students' ability to get a job and earn money

"We continue to receive complaints about sales agents targeting students (including non-English speakers) who do not necessarily have the capacity, commitment or intention to study or an understanding of the HELP debt they will incur," it stated.

"Unethical and misleading marketing of courses that come to the attention of the department may be investigated as part of compliance activities and may be reported to ASQA for further investigation."