Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Faruqi for her amendment. The government is not in a position to support this amendment at this time.

The government is currently responding to a range of recommendations from the Universities Accord. We have implemented or are in the process of implementing 31 of the 47 recommendations of the accord in full or in part. This includes making the indexation of HELP debts fairer, cost-of-living relief for students, support for people from the outer suburbs and regions to go to university, and structural reforms to our tertiary education system.

Last year the government wiped $3 billion of HELP debt for three million Australians and fixed indexation on HELP debt so that it will never increase faster than wages. For an individual with an average HELP debt of $26,500, around $1,200 has been wiped from their outstanding student loan.

Commonwealth prac payments started on 1 July 2025 for the first time. These will support about 68,000 eligible teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students while they are completing their compulsory practical training at university.

From 1 January 2025, the government massively expanded fee-free uni-ready courses to help more students from disadvantaged backgrounds get a chance to access university. We've also established the interim Australian Tertiary Education Commission, ATEC, from 1 July 2025. The Minister for Education has said we'll keep working through the accord's recommendations and we'll take advice from the Australian Tertiary Education Commission.

This bill cuts student debt by 20 per cent and delivers important structural reforms to repayments, which will benefit generations to come. This is the commitment the Australian people supported at the last election.