The Australian Government is profiting from HECS-HELP debt that people have already paid.

The 20% cut is a welcome change. But, anyone with a student debt knows this is a really really pretty looking band-aid.

Presently, the compulsory repayments people make every year are not deducted from their HECS-HELP loans prior to indexation being applied. The issue with this is that by applying indexation to a sum that is higher than it should be (as it ignores the repayments already made), hundreds of additional dollars are added to an individual's debt each year!! 

No other loans operates in this way. If banks did not deduct mortgage repayments from the principal/remaining sum prior to interest rates being applied, there would be immediate intervention! 

Let’s hope this petition gets the Australian Government to treat us as fairly as banks!! 

This issue highlights the inequity young people face, left behind without a voice and operating within a system that unduly increases costs and blows out repayment timelines, as highlighted by the Australian Universities Accord Review that the Australian Government has been considering since December 2023. 

Recommendation 16c of the Review provides that HELP repayment times should be reduced by “changing the timing of indexation for HELP loans so that amounts withheld for compulsory repayment can be accounted for before indexation is applied."

Why hasn’t this happened yet? 

Not to mention - the reforms just passed mean that the way repayments are calculated will change. This means more take home pay… Great in theory but what it also means is that people will take longer to pay off their loans (see text above how the Australian Government profits each year from HECS-HELP loans). 

This is ridiculous. We want a fair system.

Other ironies that keep me awake at night:

• HECS-HELP is labelled as an interest free loan, making students and their parents think what you borrowed is what you pay. While indexation is not inflation, it conceptually behaves in a similar way - it is an additional sum to be paid. 
• Job Ready Graduates.... real talk about profiting from Education. 
• Grateful for the 20% cut, but a sobering reminder that many politicians received free tertiary education and weren't in the economic and housing crisis we're experiencing now. 
• There is no longer a voluntary repayment bonus i.e. the Australian Government does not incentivise people to pay off their debts earlier (see points above how the Australian Government profits from our education). 
• HECS-HELP repayments (neither compulsory nor voluntary) are tax deductible, yet many of us required the education we are taking decade(s) to pay off to be in employment. 

WE NEED MORE ACTION.