The Albanese government’s 20% cut to student debt is the first bill introduced to the new federal parliament. It is clever politics.
In the government’s first term, the 3 million Australians with a student debt turned high indexation of their loan balances into a major issue. The proposed 20% cut flipped a political negative into a positive ahead of the May 2025 federal election.
The 20% cut legislation, introduced on Wednesday, will also change how student debt is repaid. All the 1.2 million people currently repaying student loans will pay less per year as a result.
How does the cut work, and what does it mean in practice for current students and people with student debt?
Beware the fine print
These changes come with…