On Friday night the federal government announced plans to change student loan repayment rules, spruiking cost of living savings.
If the changes pass parliament, people paying their university fees via the government’s Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) won’t have to pay as much each year.
Here’s a quick look at what the changes could mean for you.
Who could these changes impact?
The federal government says it will benefit “everyone who has a student debt,” including people with the following loans:
- HELP — which includes people on the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS)
- VET Student Loan
- Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan
What are the changes?
The government is raising the threshold people can earn before they start having to pay off their loans.
It’s also changing the way these mandatory payments are calculated.
They will be worked out according to what is called a “marginal repayment system”, which was recommended by the Australian Universities Accord.
Here’s how ABC political reporter Nicole Hegarty puts it:
“Under the proposal, repayments would operate similar to income tax thresholds where you pay a set rate per dollar above a certain level.
“That rate per dollar increases as you move along the income scale.”
But these changes won’t make degrees cheaper — they’ll just mean people will have to pay less off their loans each year.
What will be the new HECS threshold?
People won’t have to start paying off their debts until they earn about $67,000.
However, these changes won’t kick in until July next year.
At the moment, the threshold is $54,435.
How much will people have to pay each year?
The proposal is about reducing the mandatory repayments that are taken out of people’s pay packets each financial year.
This doesn’t take into account voluntary payments people may decide to make on top of their mandatory payments.
Won’t this mean it will take longer to pay off?
The changes will mean people will have to make lower mandatory payments.
But paying less each year means it may take graduates longer to pay off their debt.
Some may be concerned this will result in them paying more in the long run because debts will keep increasing due to indexation.
Here’s what Education Minister Jason Clare said when he was asked about that during a press conference earlier on Saturday:
“That’s not necessarily the case. It’s not the advice that we’ve been given.
“But that will be impacted by a range of reforms that the government is implementing, and we’ll have more to say about that in the coming days.”
The federal opposition said the government’s proposed changes risked consigning students to a lifetime of debt.
Shadow Education Minister Sarah Henderson said the plan would dramatically increase the time taken to repay a student loan.
“Labor’s HELP repayment proposal means a person earning $70,000 with an average student loan of $27,000 will pay just $450 a year off their loan. Putting aside the impact of indexation, this would take a staggering 58 years to repay,” Senator Henderson said.
“Currently, a graduate earning $70,000 a year takes around 13 years to repay their debt at an average rate of $2,106 per year.
“Higher student debt makes it harder for young Australians to secure a bank loan and buy their first home.”
When will I start seeing these savings?
A joint press release from Mr Clare along with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth and Skills and Training Minister Andrew Giles said the changes will give “significant and immediate cost of living relief to Australians with student debt”.
But the changes won’t take effect for eight months — specifically, on July 1, 2025.
And that is only if they pass parliament in their entirety.
“This change will be subject to the passage of legislation,” the federal government’s press release said.
Is it enough?
Here’s what a few students had to say about the changes:
Andrew Owng spoke to ABC about the changes. (ABC News: Nicole Hegarty)
“Good idea but I do think more needs to be done.”
— Andrew Owng, Queensland University of Technology student
Natavan Wilson is a student at Queensland’s University of Technology. (ABC News: Nicole Hegarty)
“I think like most people we’re not aware of the impacts until we’re in that threshold.
“Any spare money is obviously going to be nice.
“The spare money would be good but I’ll probably just use it to just keep repaying it anyway.
“I think it would just ease the pressure a little bit, especially people living out of home and with the cost of living increasing it would be good to have any financial pressure eased off.”
— Natavan Wilson, Queensland University of Technology student
Emma Watson is a student at the University of Western Australia. (ABC News: Ruby Littler)
“There’s so much more you can do with that extra money, especially when you’re young and trying to start up your life.”
— Emma Watson, University of Western Australia student
Leni Campbell-Claus was asked what she thought about the changes. (ABC News: Ruby Littler)
“I think it would be a huge difference. I think it would really open up a lot of opportunities for people who might not have that money behind them to start with.
“I think it would really help with housing. Also, in the industry that I’m going into there’s a lot of work going into startups, so being able to invest that money into your work, your career going forward would be really beneficial.”
— Leni Campbell-Claus, University of Western Australia student
