As parliament returns this week for the first time since the election, the top item of business for Labor is its election promise to reduce student loans by 20 per cent.
Legislation will be introduced on Wednesday and is likely to become law soon after, with both the Coalition and the Greens appearing likely to support it.
It means about 3 million Australians will see an automatic adjustment applied to their loans later this year, and also see changes to the repayment rules. Here’s how it works.
The current HELP system
The reduction applies to the various student loans offered by the federal government under the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP).
That includes HECS-HELP for university degrees (commonly shortened to HECS), but also…