November 13th 2024.
The issue of student debt is expected to be a major topic leading up to next year's federal election, as Education Minister Jason Clare has hinted at possible changes to the HECS-HELP system. During a speech at the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency conference, Clare announced that he plans to reveal more details about university funding reform before the end of the year.
According to Clare, there is still much to be done in terms of improving the way universities are funded. This includes uncapping the number of places available for students from disadvantaged backgrounds who have the necessary grades for their desired courses. It also involves implementing a new needs-based funding system to provide additional support for these students to succeed in their studies. Additionally, there are plans for a new Australian Tertiary Education Commission, with more information on all of these changes to be released by the end of the year.
The motivation for these changes, as stated by the education minister, is that students are now paying a higher percentage of the cost of their degrees compared to when HECS was first introduced. At that time, students only covered about 24% of the cost, which increased to 36% in the late 1990s, and now stands at approximately 45% due to previous government decisions.
In the recent federal budget, the government reduced the indexation rate on outstanding HECS-HELP debts, and they have also announced plans to decrease all student debt by 20% if they are re-elected. This would result in around $20 billion in savings for the almost three million Australians who currently have student debt. However, the Coalition has opposed this measure, with Nationals leader David Littleproud calling it a "profoundly unfair policy."
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