Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

It is a privilege to introduce the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20%) Bill.

As promised, this is the very first bill to be introduced to the Parliament after the election.

And as promised, it cuts the student debt of three million Australians by 20 percent.

Mr Speaker

On the 3rd of May Australians made their voices heard.

They voted for the tax cuts we are delivering.

They voted for free TAFE that we are making permanent.

They voted for us to build more homes.

They voted for more Medicare Urgent Care Clinics.

They voted for cheaper medicine.

They voted for the biggest investment in Medicare ever, to make it easier to see a doctor for free than ever before.

And they voted for this.

Cutting the student debt of three million Australians by 20 percent.

Most of those are young Australians.

Just out of uni. Just out of TAFE.

Just out of home. Just getting started.

Trying to save to buy a home.

Thinking about starting a family.

Nurses. Teachers. Tradies.

Doctors and Paramedics.

Engineers and Architects.

IT workers. AI Experts.

These are the Australians who will build Australia's future.

Who are already building it.

And this will take a weight off their back.

The average HELP debt today is about $27,600.

When this legislation passes it will cut that debt by about $5,520.

If you have got a debt of $50,000 it will cut it by $10,000.

All up it will cut student debt by over $16 billion.

When this legislation passes your debt will be cut by 20 per cent, based on what it was on the 1st of June this year, before this year's indexation occurred.

That will make sure you get the maximum benefit possible and that we honour our promise.

And it will all happen automatically.

The ATO will process changes at their end.

You don't have to do a thing.

It will take a bit of time for the ATO to do this work.

But once this Bill is passed the cut is guaranteed.

This is a big deal for everyone with a student debt today.

Three million Australians.

But it's not the only thing this Bill does.

It also makes important structural changes to the way the repayment system works.

To make it fairer.

And to help with the cost of living.

This Bill raises the minimum amount you have to earn before you have to start making repayments—from $54,435 in 2024-25 to $67,000 in 2025-26.

And it reduces the minimum repayments you have to make.

For someone earning $70,000 it will reduce the minimum repayments they have to make by $1,300 a year.

That's real cost of living help.

More money in your pocket—not the government's.

When you really need it.

This is an important structural reform.

We are replacing the current repayment system with a new marginal repayment system.

At the moment the amount that you pay off every year is based on your entire wage.

That means once you earn above the current minimum repayment threshold of $54,435, you pay a percentage of your entire wage as a repayment.

Under the changes in this Bill, you will only pay a percentage of your wage above the minimum repayment threshold.

So, for example, if you earn $70,000 at the moment you currently have to pay $1,750 each year.

Under these changes you will only have to pay about $450.

In other words, if you earn $70,000 a year, you will have to repay $1,300 less a year than you currently have to.

If you earn $80,000 a year, you will have to repay $850 less a year than you currently have to.

And if you earn $110,000 a year, you will have to repay $700 less a year than you currently have to.

You can still pay off more if you want to.

But what this does is make the system fairer.

It means you start to pay off your uni degree when university starts to pay off for you.

It's a recommendation of the Universities Accord.

And it's a recommendation of the architect of HECS, Professor Bruce Chapman.

When we announced this reform to create a marginal repayment system, Professor Chapman said this is:

" … the most important thing that's happened to the system in 35 years. It's a marginal collection, it's much gentler and much fairer than previously we should have done it years ago."

Mr Speaker, these are important reforms, that will help millions of Australians, now and into the future.

It's why it is the first Bill that we have introduced to this new Parliament.

As the Prime Minister said when he announced that we would cut student debt by 20 per cent and make these structural changes:

"It helps everyone repaying a student debt right now and it delivers a better deal for every student in the years ahead.

Permanent, structural reform to boost take home pay for young Australians.

This is about putting money back into your pocket and putting intergenerational equity back into the system.

Good for cost of living.

Good for this generation and for generations to come.

Good for building Australia's future."

Not surprisingly, the Coalition's immediate reaction—like everything else—was to attack this.

I suspect they now rue that decision.

They called it "terrible" and "unfair".

In the electorates they represented, people saw something different.

In electorates right across the country, where 1 in 4 voters have a student debt, they saw an opportunity to get a load off their back.

To make their life a bit easier.

And they voted for it.

As one anonymous National Party MP told the Daily Telegraph after the election:

"My kids are paying off a university debt and I reckon they voted for Labor".

Mr Speaker, when even your own family won't vote for you, you know you've got it wrong.

Now the Opposition have a chance to get this right.

Not just by voting for it.

But by actually speaking in support of it.

This is a chance for the opposition to admit they got it wrong.

And that the Australian people got it right.

Education is the most powerful cause for good.

A good education changes lives.

A good education system changes countries.

It's changed ours.

We have got a good education system today.

But the truth is it can be better and fairer.

This Bill is part of that.

So is Paid Prac that started this month for teaching and nursing students.

For midwifery students and social work students.

So are the University Study Hubs that will open up in our outer suburbs and regions over the next few months.

And so is the new Needs-based Funding system for our universities that starts next year.

It is also what the agreements we have signed with every State and Territory to fix the funding of our public schools is about.

And tying that funding to real reform to help kids who start behind or fall behind to catch up and keep up, and help more kids finish school and go on to TAFE or Uni.

It also means making our child care centres safer.

And I will introduce legislation to help do that in a few moments time.

Mr Speaker, once again, it's my privilege to make good on a promise we made last year and that we repeated every day of the election campaign.

In every seat across the country.

To cut student debt by 20 per cent.

To cut the debt of 3 million Australians.

To take a weight off their back.

To help with the cost of living.

And to help build Australia's future.

I commend this Bill to the House.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They say that in politics you don't come up with a solution until you've created the problem, and I suppose this is a prime example of exactly that age-old saying being well deployed here by the government. Of course, the legislation we have before us, the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025, is a response to a situation that university students and those who have previously gone through higher education and accrued a debt will benefit from, but one has to look at the entire landscape of situations that Australians who have a HECS or HELP debt are facing and examine exactly what they're up against here. I think it is important to point out at the beginning of this debate that this response is only necessary because of Labor's cost-of-living crisis, something that they've failed to deal with.

Life is exactly the same as it was before the election now that we've gone through the election. People are still doing it tough. People are still struggling to make ends meet, be it whether they're able to pay their power bill, put fuel in the car, put food on the table or pay the mortgage. Those issues that beset Australian households and families ahead of the election remain exactly the same as they were, so I don't think it's any cause for celebration. I don't think we should allow people to be fooled into thinking that this will fix all of their woes because of the passage of this legislation. Let's not forget that the cost of health services in this country is up 13 per cent. The cost of food is up 14 per cent. Rent is up by 18 per cent, and insurance is up by 36 per cent. So, while it is great to have measures that assist some in our community and deal with some of the issues that individuals or households face, this does not deal with the causes, and it doesn't help a great majority of Australians. Solutions to a Labor induced problem—or one that's certainly been exacerbated by this Labor government—should not be celebrated. As I've already said, life before the election is sadly continuing on in the same pattern. As it was before, it is now. There's no reason to see some of the hubris we've seen on display from the government in relation to this and other matters.

As we know, the bill proposes a one-off upfront reduction of 20 per cent on existing HELP student debts. It will also see the threshold for repayments increase from $54,435 to $67,000 from the financial year 2025-26. There'll be a change to the repayment system based on marginal rates so that repayments are calculated only on the income an individual earns above the threshold, rather than the total income earnt by that individual.

Of course, this policy has been criticised by people other than the opposition. You only have to look at some of the economists who contributed to the debate after Labor announced their policy, including Ashley Craig, an economist who described this as 'exceptionally bad policy which favours the rich, doesn't help with current cost of living, and does nothing to encourage higher education'. Chris Richardson referred to is as a reverse Robin Hood, and Andrew Norton from Monash University said:

But it is a very expensive and poorly targeted program which delivers huge benefits to those with high debt, while delivering nothing to those starting next year and those who finished earlier.

That is an important point, of course. If you have a HECS debt or HELP debt at the point in time when this legislation passes, you will benefit, as I described before, but it doesn't do a great deal for those who start accruing a debt later on, although the repayment thresholds apply from this point in time onwards. I'll come to that a little later on.

Those experts I've referred to, those economists, are not voices we should dismiss. I think when it comes to the matter of indexation, we should also note that indexation on these loans will still be applied before repayments, meaning that debt balances will remain inflated despite what the government says this legislation will do. Because inflation has remained higher for longer under this government, the amount of indexation Australians have had to cop on their HECS-HELP debt has skyrocketed. Some analysis we had done by our own Parliamentary Library found that, in real terms, this 20 per cent wiping of debt that will occur under this legislation will amount to just a 7.9 per cent reduction for some HECS debt holders based on their debt from 2022, which I think does rather put this in perspective and again goes back to that original point I made earlier on. Don't come up with the solution until you've highlighted the problem or indeed made it worse, which is exactly what has happened under this government. I am sure others, my colleagues in particular, will talk about some of the impacts of indexation and what it actually means for debt holders.

In terms of the wiping of the debt, the 20 per cent that will be taken off people's debt, I think it is important to highlight that those with bigger debts will get more relief. Twenty per cent of $100,000 is $20,000, but 20 per cent of $10,000 is only $2,000. So those who have a bigger debt because of a longer period of education—generally speaking, those who will go on to higher paying careers like doctors, surgeons, medical specialists, barristers, engineers; those who have studied for longer and therefore accrued a bigger debt but who will earn more and have greater earning potential—will receive a bigger benefit than perhaps, for example, a social worker who might have a three-year degree in a much lower cost course that will benefit them far less. Unusually, they will benefit far less from this government's policy. That is something to take into account here. It isn't really something that a lot would describe as fair. Nonetheless, there is a benefit to many in our community.

The measure is not means tested, and it does not in any way favour those who have already gone to the lengths they have to repay their debts, including those who pay their HELP debts upfront. Andrew Norton from Monash says this policy treats the symptom rather than the cause of graduates' increasingly unaffordable debt obligations. It deals with the end amount that HELP debt holders have rather than the cause, which I think is a very important point here. As we know, all taxpayers will be paying for the debts of a few, rather than it being something that everyone benefits from.

In terms of the repayment mechanism and the lifting of the threshold, we do acknowledge that the change to the threshold and the fact that it applies to the amounts above those thresholds, the marginal rates, does smooth out repayments and brings the repayment method more in line with, say, personal income tax, but there are some negative implications. Lower debt holders will take longer to pay off their debts because they may find it harder to reach the new repayment threshold and get caught up in a loop of indexation increases over time. Parliamentary Budget Office modelling showed that a graduate with a low income—that is, 50 per cent of the average graduate income upon completion of a degree—will fall below the new minimum repayment threshold, and it will take them approximately eight years to pay off their debt. That will add approximately $21,467 to their repayments. This is one of those consequences that will perhaps need addressing and may not have been considered by the government in their pursuit of this policy—something that, I think, should not go without mention in this debate.

Frankly, though, we have to look at some of the broader issues facing our education sector. To provide relief to those who hold debts is an admirable thing. It's certainly something we've said we will not stand in the way of, as a coalition, and it's something that, I'm sure, some in our community will welcome—though, it's important to note, not everyone has welcomed it, as I've mentioned before. I think we owe it to students and to our nation to focus on more than just this component of the higher education policy, the cost and affordability of it. We can't be distracted by purely this. We have to look at what's going on with our results and standards. Australian universities suffered a 70 per cent fall in the QS global rankings recently. While we stand here talking about whether or not this bill is good policy and what it might mean for people, this issue remains unaddressed. I know that the government does have legislation coming in relation to the ATEC model they're looking to deploy. Hopefully that will contain some responses to that, but I will believe it when I see it. Short-term solutions should not be a distraction from the bigger problems here.

We've said we will deploy a constructive approach—given, as stated, this government did receive a mandate from the Australian people to do many things. It doesn't mean that we will be waving through legislation without scrutiny. We opposed this measure before the election. We remain concerned about elements of it. But, as stated, we will not be standing in the way of the passage of this bill. Labor promised that they would provide this relief to holders of debt. They've won the election, and we do not want to prevent Australians from benefiting from that.

It was interesting to have the commentary from the Minister representing the Minister for Education in this place over the last couple of days—the minister who has not yet engaged with the opposition on matters pretty central to her portfolio. She's more concerned about comments made by colleagues and where the opposition might stand. We've made our position pretty clear around not opposing this bill, allowing Australians to get the benefits of this legislation, while noting the concerns and hoping that the government will do more for all Australians who hold debt and more for those who want to get the benefits of a higher education system which achieves world-best standards, rather than declining standards. So I am concerned about the approach taken by the minister who represents the education minister in this place. It doesn't bode well.

When I compare it to the approach of Jason Clare, the Minister for Education and member for Blaxland in the other place, who has been incredibly forward leaning when it comes to working with the coalition on policy, on this bill and on other legislation. He's been only too willing to provide us with the information we've asked for. So I think and I hope—especially as we approach a far more sensitive debate on another matter—that we see from the Minister for Early Childhood Education a more measured approach than some of the things we've seen here during question time in relation to this matter. Because it is a serious issue—as I've said, we've heard nothing from that minister on the next debate we will be engaging in. That said, the coalition stands ready to allow Labor to have this bill passed. We will not oppose it, and, hopefully, Australians will benefit from it, but I'm sure a number of my colleagues will provide commentary on some of the issues that have been raised as concerns, some of which I've touched on already.

Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm sure they will. But it's a pleasure to stand up and talk about the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025. University isn't for everyone, and it should not have to be. But the choice to go to university or not should never be based on whether a young person thinks it's something they can afford. I am extremely proud to rise in support of this bill—the first to be introduced in the other place by our government in this parliament. We, as a government, are delivering real cost-of-living relief by tackling student debt—a measure only possible and only happening because we have a Labor government. The average student loan sits at around $27,000. We're cutting that debt by an average of $5,000 per person.

Time after time, during the election campaign, I heard from constituents in my home state of South Australia about the difference this would make for them in the cost of living. It's a total reduction of over $16 billion in student debt nationwide, and, when combined with reforms to indexation, we are reducing student loan debt by close to $20 billion for more than three million Australians. The bill makes important structural changes to how the repayment system works. These changes apply to university students, vocational education students and eligible apprentices. The 20 per cent reduction to HECS and HELP debt comes into effect before the indexation, supporting students and graduates to avoid unnecessary compounding increases.

In my home state of South Australia, there are just over 200,000 South Australians with a student debt. Under these game-changing reforms, those 200,000 South Australians will receive an average cut to their debt of $5,000. This will make a huge difference to people in South Australia and in my community struggling with the cost of living. Of course, university is not for everyone, but, for those in whom it unlocks a life-changing opportunity, they should be given every opportunity to succeed and contribute to our community. I commend this bill to the Senate.

Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of the Greens to welcome this long-awaited and overdue relief for student debtors, the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025, and to say, clearly and unapologetically: it never would have happened without the tireless pressure from the Greens and from the student movement across this country. For years, Labor told us it couldn't be done. For years, student debt grew and student voices were ignored. It took year after year of high indexation for this government to finally act. So let's be clear. This is not the Labor Party leading the way. This is Labor scrambling to catch up. This is the direct result of persistent, principled pressure from the Greens, from this chamber, from the streets, from campuses and from every corner of the country where people are refusing to accept that education should come with a lifetime of debt.

This one-off 20 per cent student debt wipe is a hard-fought win, but it is not a gift and it is not generosity. It is only partial relief for the harm that successive governments have inflicted on a generation of young people forced to carry the financial burden of a broken higher education system. Student debt has ballooned to over $80 billion. That is a hefty $80 billion price tag on people's future and on their ability to buy a home, start a family, start a business or even take a mental health break. It's a debt that punishes people for daring to get an education and it disproportionately punishes women, First Nations people and those from working class and migrant backgrounds. It's not just debt. It's a symptom of a broken system where you can work full-time, pay off thousands and still see your debt go up, and a system that makes education a commodity and treats students as consumers and treats staff as service providers. That is what needs to change.

Let me remind this chamber of what happened in the last few years. The Albanese government allowed the largest ever student debt increase to go ahead in 2023—7.1 per cent indexation—without lifting a finger to stop it. The Greens introduced legislation to freeze indexation and lift the minimum repayment income to the median wage. We pushed for debt to be wiped entirely. We rallied students. We demanded answers. We made noise while Labor sat on its hands. The next year, student debts went up by 4.7 per cent and, again, Labor waved it through while students drowned in debt and stress. After years of delay, Labor then doubled back to tweak indexation and bring in a 20 per cent debt wipe and an increased minimum repayment threshold. We cannot keep loading debt onto the shoulders of the next generation and expect society to thrive.

So today I say to students that this fight is far from over, but this win is yours. You made this happen. Your activism, your strikes, your rallies, your pressure—that is what forced this government to act. And, with the Greens in your corner, we will keep going. We will keep fighting until every last dollar of student debt is wiped and university and TAFE are free for all.

Let me be crystal clear: wiping all student debt is not radical. It's not some utopian fantasy. It's common sense. Other countries do it. Australia used to have free university and TAFE; free education existed in this country. It was dismantled by the very parties who now expect applause for a partial repair job. It's time to bring free university and TAFE back. If we can afford stage 3 tax cuts for billionaires and we can afford $368 billion for nuclear submarines, then we can damn well afford to give people a debt-free education.

This bill is a small step forward, but we are not here to tinker around the edges; we are here to transform. We are here to rebuild a public education system that is free, fully funded and fair, and that starts with recognising that no-one should be punished with debt for wanting to learn. The Greens will support this bill, but let it be known that we support it as a step along the way, not a destination. The movement for free education is alive, it is growing, and we will not stop until it wins, because education is a right, not a debt sentence. I move the Greens second reading amendment to address some of the problems that I have highlighted:

At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate:

(a) notes that:

(i) students are being shackled by a lifetime of debt which is making the cost of living crisis worse, locking people out of the housing market, causing people to delay having families and crushing dreams of going to university,

(ii) the Government's plan to wipe 20% of student debt amounts to only 7.9% when accounting for indexation,

(iii) a one-off student debt cut is meaningless for students starting today and graduating with $50,000 degrees due to the Government's failure to reverse the fee hikes of the punitive Job-ready Graduates Package,

(iv) the student debt system cannot be fixed because student debt should not exist and higher education, like education at every level, is an essential public good that should be free, universal and provided by the Government; and

(v) all students experiencing placement poverty need urgent relief and should be paid for every hour of work they are required to do as part of their degree, at least at minimum wage, not a lesser supplementary amount; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) wipe all student debt and return to free university and TAFE for all,

(ii) urgently reverse the fee hikes of the Job-ready Graduates Package; and

(iii) pay all students doing mandatory placements at no less than minimum wage rates".

Leah Blyth (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Stronger Families and Stronger Communities) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

While the coalition is supporting the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025, I think it's important to note that Australians expect their elected representatives to make decisions in the national interest and to spend taxpayer money responsibly. Last week, Labor MPs were dancing through the halls of parliament like TikTok influencers, patting themselves on the back and celebrating a one-off 20 per cent student-debt reduction for a select few. Meanwhile, hardworking Australians are struggling to pay their rent and their power and gas bills or struggling to find a place to live, and those wanting to see a doctor are reminded that they need both a Medicare card and their credit card. What's Labor's answer? It's a sugar-hit policy for the chosen few, dressed up in spin and staged for social media. It's hard to take this seriously when the deeper problems facing students, our education system and our economy remain completely unaddressed. On the surface, a 20 per cent reduction for a chosen few with student loans sounds appealing, but it raises serious questions about long-term sustainability and the government's commitment to real reform.

It should also be pointed out that this policy is a result of the Labor government failing to manage the Australian economy responsibly. It is a direct result of surging inflation and the skyrocketing of student loans when indexation was applied to those outstanding loans. So this Labor government created the problem and is now using taxpayer dollars to try and fix it. It is a very expensive distraction, not a long-term, forward-thinking solution.

The bill offers a one-off 20 per cent cut to student debts, but it fails the tests of fairness, economic responsibility and national interest. It was never scrutinised by a parliamentary committee. That's not oversight; that's neglect. And, as the coalition has pointed out, it unfairly benefits one group—university graduates and students—at the expense of others. What about the young Australians who didn't go to university and who are working, paying rent and doing it tough? Their tax dollars are now being funnelled to fund debts that they never incurred. It also disregards the millions of Australians who paid off their HECS debt in full without any discount, and it ignores future students entirely. What message does this send? Work hard and do the right thing and you will be penalised.

Raising the repayment threshold might offer short-term relief, but it also means higher indexation and longer repayment timelines. We're not solving the problem; we're kicking it down the road, trapping more Australians in long-term debt and dependency.

This policy comes at an eye-watering cost of $16 billion. That's not saving students money; it's shifting the burden onto families, tradies, small businesses and retirees. Australians who never took out a student loan are now footing the bill. That means higher taxes, more inflation and deeper economic pain. Yes, this may help some graduates today, but it punishes others. It punishes the teachers and the nurses who paid off their debts before the cut of 1 June 2025 came in. They receive no refund and no recognition—just a sense that playing by the rules doesn't pay. Labor's handout doesn't eliminate debt; it redistributes it. From the Barossa Valley farmer to the Port Lincoln fisher, it's robbing Peter to pay Paul. And let's not kid ourselves: under Labor, nothing comes for free. Someone always pays, and it will be the next generations—our children and our grandchildren—who will foot this bill.

We must remember a simple truth. There is no such thing as public money. There is only taxpayers' money. Every dollar Labor spends it takes from someone else. That's why we must see these handouts for what they are: short-term sugar hits, not serious policy. The problem that socialism has is that eventually it'll run out of other people's money to spend. This measure fosters a culture of entitlement and fuels expectations of more handouts before every election. It encourages political stunts, not principled government. Yes, we need to support education, but we must do it responsibly, sustainably and fairly. As a parent and a former education executive, I support improving access to education and learning and reducing barriers to opportunity—I spent nearly two decades doing just that—but not at the expense of those who never went to university or those who have already done the hard work of repaying their debts. This is not a plan for the future, and Australians deserve better.

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a parent, I rise to speak in support of this critical piece of legislation from the Albanese Labor government, the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025. It is legislation that delivers on a promise that we made to millions of Australians to cut debt by 20 per cent. It's about fairness. It's about opportunity. It's about restoring confidence in a system that should be opening doors, not closing them.

Labor believes education should be the great equaliser and that it shouldn't matter what suburb you grew up in, how much your parents earn or whether your family has ever been to university. If you work hard, you should get a fair go. But, for too long, too many Australians have been shackled by a student debt system that punishes ambition. Student debt in this country has become an anchor. It weighs people down, it delays homeownership, it limits choices and for some it's the reason why they walk away from study altogether.

This legislation changes that. It will cut 20 per cent off every outstanding student debt, benefiting more than three million Australians and wiping away around $16 billion in total debt. In my home state of Tasmania, nearly 53,000 people will benefit. That is not just a number. It's thousands of lives—in Clark more than 13½ thousand people, in Franklin nearly 12,000 people, in Bass over 10,000 people, in Lyons nearly 9,000 people and in Braddon close to 8,000 Tasmanians, saving $240 million for Tasmanians. Importantly, this reduction is backdated to before the most recent indexation, because we knew that, while the parliament was preparing this legislation, peoples' debts would continue to rise. So we acted. In our first term we wiped more than $3 billion in student debt by reforming indexation, changing it so that it's now based on the lower of the CPI or the wage price index.

We are going further. This legislation also lifts the income threshold for student loan repayments from around $54,000 to $67,000. This change means people can start their working life, get on their feet and gain financial stability before they are asked to repay a cent. This is practical, sensible reform. It's about improving cash flow for working Australians. It's about reducing financial stress. The result is that someone earning $67,000 will now pay around $1,300 less each year. That's a little bit more for the household budget, because education should come with opportunity, not a lifetime price tag.

This belief that education is a public good, a national investment, is a thread that runs through the proudest moments of Labor's history. We have fee-free TAFE, with over 300,000 places—and counting—already delivered, and the Commonwealth prac payment, a cost-of-living payment for over 68,000 teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students. This is the difference between a government that invests in people and one that leaves them behind. The legislation before us today is a key part of that. It's a bill that will directly improve people's lives, remove barriers and deliver on a promise that we took to the Australian people.

I want to finish by sharing my story of Emily, a young woman from Glenorchy, who graduated from her teaching degree a few years ago. She is passionate about education. She has already given back to her community, but like so many others she has been burdened by student debt that keeps growing faster than she can pay it down. Emily told me that this legislation will take thousands of dollars of that debt away. That will give her a sense of progress and a belief that government can still make a difference to people's lives. And that's why we are here. I'm proud to support this bill, I'm proud to be a part of a government that puts people first and I'm proud to carry forward the Labor legacy of lifting people up through education.

Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

University student debt is a weight on the backs of millions of people at a time when so many are already carrying so much. Young people often carry the highest HECS debts and are the hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis. HECS repayments cut into their take-home pay right when they need it the most. So, while the 20 per cent reduction in HECS put forward by the government is welcome, we must acknowledge that this is shaving a bit off the edges and calling it a day. But here's the truth: for so many, the mountain of debt will still be there. The burden is still there. The injustice is still there.

Labor had, and still have, the opportunity in this parliament to finally lift that weight, to enable a generation to no longer have this ever-increasing student debt looming over them, and yet they are choosing not to. Wiping student debt and making university free is possible. At the very least, making the current system fairer is definitely possible. The only thing in the way is political will.

Back in 1974, the Australian government abolished university tuition fees, with a goal of opening up access to higher education regardless of a person's income or background. Then, in 1989, HECS was introduced, a deferred payment system where people repay through the tax system once they have started to earn enough. Now, I know that many in my generation deeply appreciate access to HECS. Without it, university wouldn't have been an option for them. But what we did not see coming was how that debt would spiral; how, even after making regular repayments, many would find that their debts had grown. At the end of the year, you would look at that balance and sit there in shock that it had grown larger. This is simply not fair.

If this government made gas corporations pay their fair share of tax, that one change would raise billions. It would raise enough to cancel all student debt, enough to make university free for all, enough to lift the weight of student debt from everyone. The cost of the entire HECS debt—all of it—is just a fraction of what this country gives away to fossil fuel corporations and tax avoiders. So don't tell us that it's impossible. Don't tell us that it's too hard. Let's talk in real terms about what this actually means. Going to university used to be an opportunity available to all Australians. It used to be about aspirations, interests and a path to building a better future. Now it is a conversation about debt. It is a calculation about how much debt you are willing to accumulate if you think the financial risk will pay off in the end. That's not a fair system. That's a broken promise. Free education isn't a radical idea; it's a fair one. It's a policy that opens doors, levels the playing field and recognises that education is a public good, not a personal debt.

In the meantime, there are many other steps that we could take towards fixing inequities, like wiping out indexation altogether or, at the very least, no longer waiting until the end of the financial year to deduct compulsory repayments from your HECS debt balance, ensuring people are charged the least indexation possible. It's time to give people back the freedom to choose the higher education pathway that works for them without the threat of a decades-long financial hangover.

On the topic of university, we know that disabled people are underrepresented in higher education. Governments have received report after report that action is needed to make our universities more inclusive. We need to change the system. We need to build a system that focuses on the whole of the student; where we support people in their learning and in finding affordable student housing; and that provides assistance with finding employment and adequate income support, as opposed to simply enrolling disabled students into a course and hoping they succeed. I have heard from disabled people across the country about the immense barriers they face in accessing university education. These aren't isolated incidents. They reflect systemic failures by both institutions and governments. These failures have real and often devastating consequences for our community.

Here are just some of the experiences that have been shared with me. A deaf student requires captioning to support their learning. The university's solution? Inaccurate AI generated captions riddled with errors or, in some cases, no captions at all. Others were told at the time of applying to university that AUSLAN interpretation would be provided, only to find that those supports never materialised. Some students who require note taking didn't receive that support until weeks into the semester, putting them at an immediate and unfair disadvantage. Wheelchair users have been unable to access classrooms because ramps have been blocked off for construction or lifts were out of order. In one case, a student was forced to take a 40-minute detour across campus just to get to class. Neurodivergent students are constantly having to advocate for themselves against staff who are poorly trained and unwilling to implement approved access plans. This is not just a failure of policy; it is discrimination.

There must be a change in this system. There must be inclusion. I know that many in our community are pleased to have some relief through the government's HECS changes, but we have a lot of work to do to make universities inclusive, accessible and affordable.

Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill is an admission of abject failure by the Albanese government—failure to control inflation, failure to protect young Australians from Labor's shocking cost-of-living crisis, failure to deliver a student loan scheme which is fair for all and failure to show any regard for the 24 million Australians who don't have a student debt. This measure is only necessary because, under Labor, student debt has skyrocketed out of control since the Albanese government was elected. In 2022, HELP indexation was up 3.9 per cent. In 2023, student debts rose a staggering 7.1 per cent. In 2024, the increase was 4.7 per cent. In three years, it was up nearly 16 per cent. For the average loan holder, this was a hit of more than $4,000. Labor's failure to control inflation drove sky-high increases in student debt. So I say this: why should three million Australians with a student debt pay the price for Labor's gross economic mismanagement? The three million Australians with a student loan should not be paying this price.

It was only after the coalition pressured the government to act on, in particular, its crippling 7.1 per cent rise in 2023 that they finally changed the way indexation is calculated to the lower of CPI and the wage price index. That had the effect of lowering indexation from 7.1 per cent to 3.2 per cent in 2023 and from 4.7 per cent to four per cent in 2024. That relief was backdated, at a cost of $3 billion. But the fact remains that, under Labor, student debt has gone up in total by 14.3 per cent. This is in stark contrast to the former coalition government, under which annual indexation averaged just 1.7 per cent.

Of course, we know that this bill proposes a one-off upfront reduction of 20 per cent on all existing HELP student debts. It will also increase repayment thresholds from $54,435 to $67,000 from 2025-26, but this is deeply flawed policy and, as I say, deeply unfair.

Australians expect the coalition to fight every single day for better policies in the national interest. That is why I will be moving an amendment to this bill—which has been circulated—that would, if passed, provide greater certainty and fairness to every young Australian with a student debt. So many young people have been hit so hard by Labor's cost-of-living crisis. For three million Australians with a HELP loan and for future students enrolling in tertiary education who are currently denied Labor's 20 per cent discount, my amendment would provide much-needed certainty and would be an important safeguard both now and into the future. What it would do is to change HELP indexation, which would be calculated as the lower of the consumer price index and three per cent. Capping indexation at three per cent would mean that tertiary students would no longer be forced to pay the price of Labor's failure to control inflation. This is a commonsense proposal for a HELP loan inflation guarantee, which makes it clear the coalition takes its responsibility to manage inflation very seriously.

While I will join with my coalition colleagues in not opposing Labor's student debt discount bill, I do commend my amendment to the Senate and I do hope that it receives support. While this will involve crossing the floor and being on the so-called wrong side of the chamber, I believe I will be on the right side of history. With inflation forecast to be three per cent or under over the forward estimates and into the medium term, this HELP loan inflation guarantee is a very low-cost measure. It is with regret, as I have said, that we did not take this policy to the last election. This is a policy that would have been in stark contrast to Labor's 20 per cent student discount.

If the amendment is passed, it would have the effect of decreasing HELP indexation from the current rate of 3.2 per cent to three per cent, which, of course, represents a fairly modest saving for most borrowers. But, very importantly, what this does is to deliver certainty now and into the future. Never again would tertiary students be strangled with Labor's debt noose. As I say, frankly, this has been a shocking noose around the necks of so many young Australians because, as we know, the higher the debt, the more impact this has on the ability of debtors to borrow money. That includes the ability of young Australians to buy their first home. We are seeing debts running out of control, and they will continue to run out of control. The risk is that they will continue to run out of control unless there is an inflation guarantee so that young Australians, when they are deciding what to do with their lives—whether they go for vocational education or to university—and they are looking to take out a HELP loan, will have the certainty that they are never again going to face the risk of these sky-high indexation rates.

I want to reference the media release which was put out by former shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor and me, when I was the shadow minister for education, after Labor announced its student HELP debt discount. As Mr Taylor made very clear:

There are no free lunches in economics. Under this policy, every Australian will continue to pay the price for Labor's high interest rate, high inflation environment—but only a few will see the benefits.

At $16 billion—the cost of this to each Australian household is around $1600.

And, as I said, it is really unfair that 24 million Australians see no benefit. Even students commencing in semester 2 of this year see no benefit from the discount. Students who've exercised responsibility by paying off their debts as quickly as possible, who've made voluntary payments—they too have been left behind, because those who have paid off their debts receive nothing.

One of the most egregious parts of the student discount is that it really is the high-flyers who benefit the most, because some debtors, including those who may have done multiple degrees or their PhD, will benefit from very, very high reductions in their debt, reductions of an average of perhaps $25,000 or $30,000. There are other young Australians—tradies and those who decided not to go to university—who are literally struggling every week to pay the rent. As I said at the time—and this may have altered slightly, but I'm speaking in general terms—more than 55,000 people, as at last year, had a HELP debt of between $100,000 and $200,000, meaning that, under this policy, Labor will be delivering them an average pay cheque of $25,000. How is this fair, when so many young Australians who aren't or haven't been students are struggling to pay the rent or put food on the table because of Labor's cost-of-living crisis?

The economic experts have been scathing. Leading economist Chris Richardson said:

… handing $16bn to graduates is a reverse Robin Hood: it's a tax cut targeted to the big end of town, with money going from the less well off to the better off.

It's a fairness fail.

Worse still, that $16bn does nothing for the nation's future.

Ashley Craig said:

This is an abominable idea that gives precious tax dollars to rich Australians while doing nothing to help with the currently elevated cost of living.

If it is popular, it is because people don't understand this, and are being misled.

…   …   …

This is exceptionally bad policy which favours the rich, doesn't help with current cost of living, and does nothing to encourage higher ed.

Peter van Onselen, the political editor of Daily Mail Australia, said:

… this is just transferring their debt to all taxpayers. What's next, cutting home mortgage debts. It's so profoundly economically irresponsible …

The coalition agrees with those experts. It is a poorly targeted sugar hit, which won't touch the sides when it comes to young people dealing with the cost-of-living crisis, and, of course, indexation on HECS-HELP loans will still be applied before repayments, meaning that debt balances will remain unnecessarily inflated. I will also reference the recent Parliamentary Library analysis which found that, in real terms, Labor's 20 per cent HECS cut would amount to a reduction of just 7.9 per cent for some borrowers, based on their debt from 2022. So there's a lot of spin in this 20 per cent discount.

I mentioned before that, as a result of those huge increases in student debt, the hit on the average loan was more than $4,000. Labor is saying this measure will save the average debtor $5½ thousand. There's not a lot of difference. It's actually not 20 per cent, because, in order to get the 20 per cent discount, Australians with a student debt have had to pay a very, very heavy price. And I do note that this is in stark contrast to the performance of the former coalition government—and I mentioned this before—when, under the coalition, on average, the indexation was nearly two per cent lower than what debt holders have had under the Albanese government.It was 1.76 per cent under the coalition during those nine years, compared with 3.58 per cent under this government between 2022 and 2025. It is regrettable that it's got to this, because if Labor had managed the economy responsibly and taken the control of inflation seriously—because, of course, HECS-HELP indexation is directly linked to CPI—then we would not have seen this skyrocketing debt which caused a lot of grief for so many young Australians.

I look forward to discussing my amendment, which I think will improve this bill. Capping indexation to give certainty to future students and those three million Australians with a student debt is a good thing. I regret that this has not been endorsed by shadow cabinet, though I've had some very good responses by many of my colleagues, but I do commend this amendment because it is common sense, it provides certainty, it's responsible and it builds confidence in the HELP loan scheme. At a time when the HELP loan scheme has been under a very black cloud, we need this confidence, and my amendment will help to deliver that.

Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am thrilled to speak to the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025, which is a bill that will deliver real cost-of-living relief to over three million Australians. At the election, Labor made a promise to cut student debt by 20 per cent. Now, with this bill, we are delivering on that promise. The Prime Minister said that it would be the first bill introduced to the House of Representatives upon returning to parliament. We said that it would be our top priority, and that's what we're doing. While the Liberals and Nationals are yet again standing in the way of real cost-of-living relief for Australians who need it, the Albanese Labor government is turning promises into progress.

For anyone with a student debt, this means you will be thousands of dollars better off. It's a one-off reduction, automatically applied—no forms, no applications, no paperwork, just a lighter debt load for millions of Australians. For Western Australians, some 264,000 of them will save a total of over $1.3 billion—an average saving of $5,500. It's reducing pressure on people when they can least afford it. This bill also, as others have said, raises the repayment threshold, which goes towards reducing that pressure. It means repayments won't kick in until people start earning more. This comes on top of Labor's earlier moves to cap indexation on student loans so they can no longer rise above wages.

We are doing what we said we would do, taking pressure off the cost of living and making the student loan system fairer, because we know that people are doing it tough. Seventy per cent of people repaying a HELP debt are 35 years of age or younger. They're just starting their careers and getting into the housing market. Perhaps they're thinking about starting a family. For many of them, a growing student debt has been a source of stress and anxiety. Labor is fixing the mess that we were left by those opposite. We believe education should be a ladder of opportunity, not a burden that you carry with you for decades. That is why this bill matters.

Fatima Payman (WA, Australia's Voice) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

():  I rise to express my support for the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025. We support any relief that eases the crushing weight of student debt on young Australians. Any form of relief is welcome. However, I must point out that this measure comes across as quite tokenistic, where it's designed to win votes rather than to provide value for money and support to those who need it most. While cutting student debt by 20 per cent across the board sounds good—in fact, even generous—we must ask ourselves who benefits most. It is those with the highest debt and with the greatest capacity to take on a debt in the first place. Research from e61 Institute found that a more equitable method of distributing this relief would be a flat $5,500 cut helping 15 per cent more people clear their debt sooner. That's value for money. This doesn't appear so. I have heard countless horror stories from countless students in WA, and the eye-watering amount of debt they have accrued is completely unjustifiable. If the government were serious about tackling student debt, they would start with the timing of indexation. Students are being charged interest on debts they've already paid. Senator David Pocock has rightly called this out and argued that fixing it could save students $704 million over four years. That's $704 million over four years. That's the kind of urgent and fair relief we're demanding.

Debts are not the only problem affecting university students. For many students who complete a placement, the issue of placement poverty has made completing a degree while working an unpaid part-time job a very difficult balancing act. The recent implementation of the Commonwealth prac payment is a welcome reform, but students in degrees that are excluded from the payment, such as medicine, psychology and radiography, have been left out in the cold by this government. President of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Danielle McMullen, said:

Medical students are required to undertake about 2000 hours of unpaid clinical placements … The costs associated with this unpaid placement are a significant barrier to participation among current and potential students from low socio-economic and rural backgrounds.

So, in a time when medical services, particularly in rural areas, are under serious pressure, we need to be doing as much as we can to support the students and increase the resilience of our healthcare workforce.

Then, again, there's the elephant in the lecture theatre, university fees. Under the government's so-called Job-ready Graduates scheme, student debt has exploded by more than $10 million. Government senators on the other side don't seem to believe me. Well, the PBO confirmed it, the Universities Accord confirmed it, and still the government seems to be stalling. Students are paying more, but the quality of tertiary education they're receiving is decreasing. Overworked tutors, pre-recorded lectures, declining ranks—these are the serious issues that I keep hearing from those learning and from those teaching. Research from the Australia Institute has found that the average HECS debt for a student in their 20s has more than doubled since 2006 from $12,600 to $31,500. Despite our international reputation as an education superpower, a poll found 83 per cent of Australians are concerned about universities focusing on profit over providing quality education, and it's easy to see why when we have universities across Australia cutting jobs for tutors and lecturers while vice-chancellors rake in around $1 million a year. Australia's international university rankings have been slipping in recent years, with 70 per cent of Australian universities suffering a fall in ranking this year. The Director of Strategic Insights at RMIT, Angel Calderon, has said:

Over the past five years, we have seen the reputation of Australian universities gradually decreasing.

Organisational restructuring, staff movements, operational deficits and any kind of disruption are likely to influence institutional perceptions everywhere.

Upon graduation, you would think students would have something to look forward to, but many students face a brutal job market and are struggling to secure employment. Many large-scale recruiters like the big four accounting firms, for example, are cutting back on graduate recruitment. In IT alone, despite the Australian Computer Society predicting a need for 52,000 new workers a year until 2030 to meet demand, most graduates can't land an entry-level job. Why? Everyone is asking, 'Why is that?' Because only one per cent of employers rated Australian graduates as job ready, and 65 per cent reported having to reskill their new hires. The rat race for certificates and other qualifications leads many graduates to question, 'What was the whole point of the degree?' This bill, in addition to cutting debts, increases the repayment threshold, allowing more students and graduates to hold onto more of what they earn at the beginning of their career, and that is definitely a welcome reform.

As with so many government bills that come before this chamber, it is a good start. The government has got good intentions, but we could be doing much, much more. Australians are calling for structural reform, not tokenistic gestures or one-off policies. That means fixing the timing of HECS indexation so students aren't charged interest on money they have already paid. It means scrapping the failed Job-ready Graduates Package that has only driven up debt without delivering outcomes. It means properly funding and expanding paid placements across all critical professions, not just a select few. Above all, it means ending the treatment of students as cash cows and restoring education as the public good it's meant to be. We've had the reviews, we've had the reports. It's time for action, so let's get on with it.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak on Labor's Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025. This is really important legislation because it gives another avenue for this government to emphasise our belief in how important education is for Australians. Education should be a pathway to opportunity, not a financial burden that limits a person's future. Tonight I highlight one of the most significant student debt reforms in Australia's history, the Albanese Labor government's decision to cut 20 per cent of all student loans, wiping $16 billion in debt from more than three million Australians. Wiping $16 billion of debt from three million Australians—that's good economic policy, it's very good education policy and it actually has health benefits as well.

This is more than just an education policy, as I said. It's more than an economic policy. It's about addressing the cost of living challenges that these students are facing. We know the Australian workforce, and we know the stress that is placed on all of us when we are under financial strain. Therefore, the impact on people's health and mental health is also being addressed by this piece of legislation. It is also helping to give financial security. For too long, student debts have weighed heavily on Australians striving to build a future. It has forced young people to delay major life milestones such as buying a house, starting a business and having children because of that financial obligation inherited from a broken education system under the former Liberal government. The Liberals had plenty of time to address this issue around student debt, but they decided to ignore it and to do nothing. They have been dragged, kicking and screaming initially, to support—I hope they will end up supporting it—this piece of legislation.

Now, we know that over their period in government our economy was dragged down, wages stagnated and debt rose. Excessive indexation forced millions to repay more—without earning more—of their debt, trapping graduates in deepening debt as living costs surged. The former government had every opportunity to fix this system, but they chose to do nothing, just as they did in so many other policy areas. We are here to fix their mess and address their failure.

By June next year, every Australian with a HELP or VET student loan, or an Australian apprenticeship support loan or other income contingent loan will see 20 per cent wiped from their balance. As I said, that's $16 billion in relief, giving millions of Australians real financial breathing room. That's what it is. For those with an average HELP debt of $ 28,000, this policy erases around $5,500. For larger debts, reductions could exceed $12,000. Australians will have greater financial freedom to invest in their future rather than being held back by repayments. This initiative will strengthen the economy, reduce student debt and free up household spending, allowing Australians to spend their income on goods and services and investments. With more money available, graduates and workers will contribute more actively to economic growth, stimulating industries and supporting businesses.

I want to acknowledge the work of Minister Jason Clare and his leadership in this area. I think he has been an outstanding Minister for Education. I've seen the passion. It doesn't matter whether you are visiting a primary school or you're going to an early childhood centre; his passion is as profound as it is when he is sitting down with university chancellors. He knows the true value of having an education, of having that opportunity, one that has not always been available. Can I just say that, in my home state of Tasmania, I meet so many young Tasmanians that are the first in many, many generations of Tasmanians to have the opportunity to go to university. So this will have a profound impact on those individuals. It will strengthen our economy. It will make us a brighter, smarter country, which is what we should be striving for every single day in this chamber.

I want to see my grandchildren have the opportunity to go on to university. I might add that my eldest granddaughter is applying to universities now, and I am very delighted that her strengths in numbers, in mathematics, come from me and my side of the family, but I also have to admit that my son-in-law's family are doctors. He is an industrial chemist. So she has a scientific background, so she's going into science. I wish her every success. To see a young woman aspire to and have those opportunities enriches all our lives, in my view, and I am immensely proud of her—whatever direction she wants to go in—as I am of the other six grandchildren that I'm very grateful to have.

We've heard a lot from those opposite, bleating about how the cost-of-living challenges are all due to this Labor government—after three years in government, one term in government—while neglecting to take any responsibility for the time they were there, for 11 very long years. With this legislation, like so much that we did in our first term, we're looking out for people who just need a helping hand. We've invested in education. We've brought all the states and territories to the table, to ensure that those starting school have the best opportunities, that they get help when the need is identified in the first three or four years of being at school. We've invested in that. Now we're investing in those who have qualifications or are aspiring to go to university to give them hope for the future.

We talk in this place about our motivations or what brings us to this place as senators. Education has to be the cornerstone of that. With a piece of legislation like this, you can see not only the educational benefits but the economic benefits. It's about lifting Australians up. It's about lifting up young people to know that they can aspire—not because they have rich parents who can pay for them to go to university. I wasn't able to do that for my daughter when she went to university. She's probably still paying that debt off, but she had the support at home to know that she could actually do that. She worked full time and studied part time. We want to give everyone that opportunity so that it's not about your credit card or your postcode and so that every young Australian can aspire to go to university and get that opportunity because it will set them up for a lifetime.

I talked earlier about the benefits from a health point of view. There are also benefits around mental health because of the burden of debt. I'm sure most people in this chamber at this very moment understand the anxiety and depression that is caused when people are under financial stress. That then implicates and has an effect on your physical health and your relationships. The community is so much poorer when you're going through those circumstances. I've lived there; I've done that and been there. So I am immensely proud to be able to stand in the chamber here tonight and support this legislation, because I think it's really important.

It's also critically important not only to Australia as a nation but to our urban centres and, very importantly to me as a Tasmanian, to regional areas like my home state of Tasmania. Tens of thousands of Tasmanians will see almost $250 million wiped from their collective debt. This is what education reform is about. This is a Labor government delivering on their election promises. It's a Labor government delivering on the things that we value as being important because they give the opportunity for equality in this country. With a good education, you can have a good job, you can earn money, you can invest, and you can start your business. You can go on and study the subjects that you really want to do, not choose a degree that you can afford. You can have a degree for which you are going to have passion, so you are going to make a greater contribution.

We know that, when those on that side were in government, they ran down our TAFE right across this country. They didn't invest in skills. They didn't value TAFE. We're addressing that as well—we've already done that, as I said. There is so much more I could say about this, but the important thing is that Labor have delivered on their election promise. We're investing in our young people. We're investing in those who want to go to university and those who want to study and get a decent education. I commend the bill.

Corinne Mulholland (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025, the Albanese Labor government is delivering on our commitment to cut student debt by 20 per cent. This will benefit more than three million Australians. In fact, in my home state, over 600,000 Queenslanders have a HECS debt and will benefit from this bill. We have a combined HECS debt in this country of $16.3 billion, with the average national debt being $27,000. This legislation will cut each person's student debt by about $5,520, helping their borrowing capacity and delivering cost-of-living relief. It will put more money in the back pockets of those with a student debt when they need it the most.

We didn't just listen when university students, vocational students, apprentices and graduates told us that their debt was growing too high, was too difficult to repay and was locking them out of housing and other initiatives. We acted, because that's what Labor governments do. That is why I think it is really important to reiterate that this legislation makes it clear that the 20 per cent student debt cut will be backdated to 1 June 2025—before this year's indexation.

Recently, I had the pleasure of going down to and speaking to students at Griffith University's campus in Nathan. I spoke to Shay, who was studying a bachelor of forensics and criminology. Shay told me that her group chat had been blowing up with a mixture of excitement and relief as her friends discussed how many thousands of dollars they would be saving under Labor's student debt bill. I know Shay has been waiting for this legislation to pass so she can see the benefits of that 20 per cent cut to student debt. In fact, every student I spoke to on campus, including Archie, Emma and Olivia, all shared Shay's excitement.

But I also need to apologise to Shay and all the students I met at Griffith University, because, while we are working to get this legislation through ASAP for you, we are, sadly, having to work around the usual politicking of those opposite. Before the most recent election, the coalition attacked this policy. In doing so, they attacked three million Australians with HECS debt. Those opposite called this measure 'elitist' and 'unfair'. They said Australians would see no benefit from this policy. Well, the Australian people and, in particular, Australian students disagreed with the narrow view of the world of those opposite. Australians instead elected Labor, with its positive agenda for a more educated, fair and innovative future.

This initiative builds on the significant reforms the Albanese government has already implemented to help more Australians obtain higher levels of qualifications and education—no matter their field of study or work. Last year we wiped $3 billion of HECS debt and fixed the system so that the indexation on HECS debts can never increase faster than wages. From 1 July 2025, the Labor government established a Commonwealth prac payment. This will support 68,000 eligible teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students while they are completing their compulsory prac training at university. The Albanese government has also locked fee-free TAFE into law. This landmark policy has seen more than 650,000 enrolments across the country, with 170,000 of those courses already completed. Free TAFE is a pivotal part of the Albanese government's plans to address the skills shortages in Australia—skills shortages in fields such as agriculture, aged care and health care, construction, early childhood education, manufacturing and so much more. Labor believes that a rising tide lifts all boats.

From 1 January 2025, the Labor government massively expanded fee-free university-ready courses, which are life-changing courses that help more students from disadvantaged backgrounds to get a chance to access university. Every dollar of this initiative will multiply in benefits to our nation, creating more skilled workers, innovative thinkers and problem solvers who will lift the industry into the future.

I say to the nurses, teachers, engineers and scientists—in fact, to any Australian who has backed themselves by pursuing higher education: the Albanese government is here to back you as Labor has always done and always will do.

Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Albanese Labor government is selling students a con job. This isn't a HECS refund; it's taking students back to where they started, before the government caused the inflation crisis. I will say that again: this isn't a HECS refund; it's just taking students backwards to where they started before the government caused the inflation crisis.

On the original HECS indexation rates, HECS debts would have been indexed 23 per cent since COVID, or 2020. Accounting for recent cuts, this figure is still 18 per cent. While Labor keeps posting TikToks saying, 'You're getting a 20 per cent cut,' the reality is you're only getting a two per cent discount on the 2020 balance, at best. The Albanese government's student debt reduction is fiscally irresponsible, lazy and vote-buying and does nothing to address underlying issues in university education.

These changes are reported to cost $16 billion in forgiven debt, which adds to roughly $3 billion in forgiveness from changes to indexation rates in relation to high COVID inflation that came into effect in December 2024. This $19 billion goes onto the national debt, on which all taxpayers pay a far higher amount of interest than HECS debt indexation. Those who've got university degrees and those who haven't all pay. Taxpayers, who are more likely than not going to be people with degrees, are going to have to pay back that national debt and then some. It's just shifting the debt from your HECS account to the tax you'll have to pay in the future.

When it comes to HECS debt, many young people have signed up to take on a huge amount of debt, often for degrees that failed to deliver on the university's promise of a high-paying job in the future. That is what universities promise. Standards of tertiary education have continued to deteriorate. Indoctrination has become more important than education, and promised job prospects have failed to materialise for many students.

Meanwhile, the universities and their extravagantly paid vice-chancellors are laughing all the way to the bank. In 2020, the heads of 16 of Australia's 41 universities each earned more than $1 million a year, more than the head of the world's best university, Oxford. A number of Australia's universities generate more than $2 billion a year in revenue. The universities face no accountability for the quality of teaching they pump out. Under the HECS system, the government pays the university upfront, while the student pays the debt back to government for rest of their life.

Tertiary education has turned into an extremely lucrative government guaranteed cash cow, with students holding the debt for degrees that fail to deliver quality teaching or the promise of a good, stable job. Many courses are being delivered with prerecorded lectures that are many years old. Delivering degrees is getting cheaper, so course fees should be getting cheaper too, but they're not. One Nation would cut the fees for subjects that use repeated prerecorded lectures and large numbers of group assignments.

The increasing use of group assignments so that universities can pay for fewer assessors per course is another real issue. In these group assignments, students are frequently grouped with foreign international students, on whom universities rely for even more income. English standards are not being strictly enforced, so Australian students find themselves having to do the entire group's work or watch their grades suffer as a group result. One Nation will strictly enforce English standards for international students so that universities aren't sacrificing Australian educations to increase profit from international students, to the detriment of Australian students. Our universities should be focused on delivering a good education for Australian students first. That's the first priority.

There are still big problems with the way HECS debts are indexed, though. Employers withhold extra tax from HECS debtors on every pay under the pay as you go withholding scheme. While extra tax has been withheld every pay cycle, the extra tax paid is only deducted from the study debts once the person's tax return has been lodged. The earliest someone can do this is 1 July. HECS debts, however, are indexed earlier, on the larger balance, before the payment on 1 June. This means that, despite the student paying extra tax for their HECS all through the year and the government holding that money for HECS at the time, the indexation rate is applied to the larger balance, without that withheld tax being applied, which would reduce the interest added on top of at indexation. This is grossly and inherently unfair and deceptive. If the government is holding someone's money for HECS repayments, that money should be applied to the balance before indexation is applied. To do otherwise, which is what the government's doing, is theft. Nothing in this bill fixes this unfair situation. We've raised this issue of theft before, and still the government continues to steal from students.

Finally, One Nation believes universities should be made accountable for the degrees they deliver. One Nation believes universities should publish the average salaries of graduates from their degrees one year, five years and 10 years after graduation so that future students know what they're signing up for. Is doing the degree going to be worth the debt? This could be done per university and per individual course, anonymously and in aggregate, giving everyone clear data on what future job prospects they can expect, without divulging identities. This is possible already. Simply link the unique student identifier and their course with the student's tax file number and their salary reported to the Taxation Office.

In summary, the government's HECS bill is a con job. It only returns balances back to where they were right before COVID arrived. That's all. The debt is just transferred to the national debt, which taxpayers, like uni graduates, will have to eventually pay down with higher taxes. This bill does nothing to make sure Australian university students get an education that's actually worthwhile. It does nothing. One Nation will vote against this bill because we do not want a con job reduction. We want a better life for university students, and this bill does not do that. We want a life that doesn't mean a forever debt for a degree that never lives up to its promises. One Nation wants students to get education and value.

Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank all senators for their contributions to this debate. As promised, this is the very first bill to be introduced to the parliament after the election. The Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025 cuts the student debt of three million Australians by 20 per cent. It cuts the average HELP debt by about $5,520. All up, it will cut student debt by over $16 billion.

This bill also makes important structural changes to the way the repayment system works. It raises the minimum amount you have to earn before you have to start making repayments, from $54,435 in 2024-25 to $67,000 in 2025-26. It replaces the current repayment system with a new marginal repayment system. At the moment, the amount that you pay off every year is based on your entire wage. That means that, once you earn above the minimum repayment threshold, you pay a percentage of your entire wage as a repayment. Under the changes in this bill, you will only pay a percentage of your wage above the minimum repayment threshold—for example, if you earn $70,000 a year, you will have to repay $1,300 less a year than you currently have to, but can you still pay off more if you want to.

This is a bill that helps with the cost of living. It delivers structural reform for generations to come. It builds on higher education reforms that the Albanese Labor government has already delivered. This includes a fairer HELP system, 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. I commend the bill to the chamber.

Debate adjourned.

Senate adjourned at 20:02