In Tuesday’s budget, the federal Labor government included a so-called “wipe out” of $3 billion dollars of university student debt to counter inflation which has seen loan repayments balloon in recent years.
But the “relief” is a tiny fraction of the crippling debts incurred by university students amid the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
An estimated 3 million Australians have student debt, under the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) and the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP).
HECS-HELP debts are repaid through the tax system, with payments required once an individual’s annual income is more than…
