MILLIONS OF AUSSIES GET A $1,200 BOOST

Millions of Aussies to get $1,200 boost
University students with HECS/HELP debt to benefit

Millions of university students across Australia will save $1,200 on their debt repayments under measures to reduce the cost of living.

The federal government announced the changes on Sunday, which will cut the indexation of the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) and the Higher Education Loan Program (HELPS).

The cost savings are set to be announced in the budget on Tuesday, after it is introduced to parliament, and will help more than three million people reduce the cost of their loan repayments.

The move could mean that up to $3billion in student debt would be wiped off, helping university students, apprentices, and trainees to pay off their debt.

On average, the amount of money students owe to the ATO will be cut by $1,200 on their HECS and HELP debt.

Indexation rates are added to loans students take out to pay for their higher education.

The rate is added to a HECS or HELP debt to take into account changes to the price of goods and services, which is measured in Australia by the consumer price index.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare, said the government will change the way indexation to student loans are calculated.

'The Universities Accord recommended indexing HELP loans to whatever is lower out of CPI and WPI. We are doing this, and going further,' he told Newscorp.

The government has also backdated the change to June 1 last year which means repayments on student loans during 2023 will only rise by 3.2 per cent.

The rate of indexation this year which is 4.75 per cent will be cut to 4 per cent and the combined savings take $1,200 from a average HELP loan of $26,500.

More to come

2024-05-05T00:24:22Z dg43tfdfdgfd