Stephen Bates (Brisbane, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

BATES () (): On 1 June this year student debt, or HECS-HELP debt, was indexed at 3.9 per cent. Last year this figure was 0.6 per cent. According to the Australian tax office, Australians are now saddled with $68.7 billion in student debt. But $68.7 billion can sound like a very abstract figure. What does that dollar value mean for someone currently pursuing higher education? The higher indexation rate means that the average increase this year to an Australian student debt is just shy of $1,000. For decades young people have been told that they need a tertiary education, be it through TAFE or university. In this place only yesterday we heard about the skill requirements for the jobs of the future and the ever-increasing role that higher education plays in attaining a place in the workforce.

My electorate of Brisbane is home to many higher education institutions and to one of the youngest populations of any federal electorate. I've had many conversations with and received countless emails from students and graduates detailing the struggles they are facing while at university, and post graduation, in servicing student debt. Countless people are now finding themselves in a situation where they are not able to pay down their debt faster than it is accruing. This is a complete failure of our education and economic systems. Students are expected to dedicate 40 hours a week to their studies. They are also expected to undertake internships and complete 40-hour-a-week placements in order to graduate, and to hold down a job that pays just enough to place a roof over their head and two-minute noodles on the table. And, after all of these sacrifices, they still end up with at least $35,000 in student debt.

With the cost of living spiralling out of control, rent stress escalating and inflation set to rise even higher, young people and students are going to be punished even further for trying to receive an education and fill the skills shortage we are experiencing in this country. Government can make people's lives easier. We can accept education as a public good. We can cancel student debt.

Looking around the world, countries such as Germany, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and France have made higher education free. New Zealand has adopted a policy of one year of fee-free higher education. Even the United States only last week took steps to cancel up to US$20,000 of student debt. Once again, Australia is left playing catch-up. We must take steps to address the financial burden that receiving an education places on people in this country. We must cancel student debt.