The prime minister has promised to ease HECS-HELP debt but now former students caught in a separate 1990s ‘debt trap’ want their outstanding payments wiped.
About 140,000 Australians still owe $2.1 billion from the Student Financial Supplement Scheme, which ran from 1993 to 2003.
Under the Keating government scheme, students on welfare payments such as Austudy or Youth Allowance could trade in their entitlements in return for twice the amount as a loan to pay for everyday expenses.
The Student Financial Supplement Scheme was introduced by the Keating government in 1993. (Getty/Impressions)
They could effectively double their money by giving back their welfare payments, but had to pay back double.
The Howard government continued the scheme…