Ahead of the May budget Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is being urged to clean out the HECS-HELP system

In short: Changes to the way HECS-HELP debt is calculated have been recommended after a review of Australia’s universities. Banks are being urged to change the way they assess HECS-HELP debt when people apply for home loans. What’s next?: The federal government is considering the university review recommendations. The head of a review into Australia’s universities has urged the government…

HECS reform “not a material change”

Student debt was previously just indexed to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate, but the 2024 budget will change this to the lower of the Wage Price Index (WPI) or CPI. This will be backdated to retroactively apply to last year’s indexation (7.1%), which the government estimates could wipe more than $3 billion from…