HECS debts to be cut by 20% after the bill passes the Senate

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Australians with student debts will have their HECS cut by 20 per cent, after the government's bill passed the senate. The bill also raises the repayment threshold so students can earn up to 67-thousand dollars a year before the minimum HECS payment kicks in.

Transcript

00:00It is really, really exciting to see.

00:05Obviously, everyone who's got a HECS debt is going to be pretty happy to have 20% taken

00:11off the top of that.

00:12I think it's around $5,000 off the average HECS debt, so that's super exciting.

00:19And it's also just really, really great to see that the government made this their top

00:24priority for the 48th Parliament, you know, really putting young people first.

00:31What does what happened with this issue at the election highlight about the electoral

00:36impact now of addressing student issues?

00:40Well, obviously, the most recent federal election was the first election where Gen Z and Millennials

00:47were the largest voting bloc.

00:50So obviously, the parties needed to focus their policies on that voting bloc.

00:58And I think that, you know, the 20% HECS cut really spoke to current students, but really

01:06more so Millennials who have recently graduated, who are trying to, you know, save for a mortgage.

01:14And that relief is really going to be felt for them.

01:16OK, now let's move on to what else you would like to see happen.

01:20So another element you'd like addressed is that that change in fee structure that was

01:24introduced in 2021 under the Morrison government, making some courses more expensive.

01:30What impact has that had over the last four years?

01:33And what do you want done with that now?

01:35Well, really, the reason that the 20% HECS cut was done and why it was necessary was because

01:42student debt was so high in the first place.

01:44And the reason that is, is because under the job ready graduates package introduced by the

01:49Morrison government, some degree prices increased by as much as 117%.

01:55So our big concern at the moment is that the 20% HECS cut, because it's just a one off cut,

02:02isn't doing anything to address those incredibly high fee prices that are still in place.

02:09And even though last year, the University Accords final report did say that the job ready graduates

02:16package needs to be scrapped and reversed.

02:19We still haven't seen any change on that.

02:22And how disappointing is that for you?

02:24Like you do, you do get this cut today, but how disappointing is it for you that it didn't

02:29go further?

02:31It is quite disappointing because we haven't heard anything about what the next steps are.

02:36It kind of feels like the 20% cut is the be and all, you know, be and end all, I guess.

02:43And so not like hearing anything about what's going to happen next and what else is on the

02:50table for students and young people, it's quite concerning that we haven't heard anything

02:54about that.

02:55And considering what happened at the last election, no doubt you're warning the federal government

03:00that you'll be campaigning on that during the next election if they don't do something

03:03on it.

03:04Absolutely.

03:05And what about this on the subject of indexation of the Hex debts, that annual increase on the

03:11debts?

03:12What's the situation with that?

03:14Well, quite recently, the way that indexation is put in place was changed.

03:22So it used to be connected to the CPI, but because we saw such high inflation over the

03:29last couple of years, that has now been changed.

03:33So it's either the higher of the CPI or the WPI, but really it is concerning that there

03:40still isn't a cap on indexation because it still feels like you're accumulating debt

03:46faster than you're paying it off.

03:48Yeah.

03:49So still a way for the government to go to leave the student cohort in Australia happy?

03:54Yeah.

03:55There's a lot more that needs to be done.

03:58And I think something that we're hearing from students a fair bit is obviously talking

04:04about Hex debt is fabulous, but, you know, most students are more concerned about whether

04:12or not they're able to afford their rent or their groceries.

04:15You know, there's so many students all around the country who have to go to work instead of

04:21going to their classes, because otherwise they just can't afford to live.

04:26And so we'd really like to be seeing some more done around youth welfare.

04:31You know, it's really hard to access youth allowance as it is.

04:35And even for those students who are able to access it, it is well below the poverty line.

04:40And hopefully that's going for me.

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