Prepare to pay your Uni debt back quicker than expected

Words by Jack Foster

It has been confirmed yesterday that from the 1st July 2019, the HECS and HELP repayment income threshold will be lowered to $45,881 per year.

Currently, the threshold is up at $52,000, which means that there has been an approximately $6,000 fall.

This drop means Australians with debt from student loans will have to begin paying back their money owed sooner rather than later.

The threshold has already been lowered once earlier this year, coming down from $56,000 to $52,000.

Australians earning $45,881 need to give 1% of their income to the tax man, with the rate progressively increasing up to 10% for people earning $134,000 and more.

The changes weren’t passed by a huge margin, with only 34 votes in favour compared to 33 against, recorded in the Senate on Monday night.

The Minister for Education and Training, Simon Birmingham, has argued that the changes have been made in order to keep the Australian student loan system accessible and sustainable.

“We’re delivering a record $17 billion in funding for higher education this year and setting the system up to ensure Australian students can continue to take advantage of one of the most generous student loan schemes in the world,” Minister Birmingham said.

Currently student debt amounts to over $54 billion – a huge sum, which Minister Birmingham hopes will start to lower after these changes come into action.  

Shadow Minister for Education, Tanya Plibersek, argued that Malcolm Turnbull’s “priorities are all wrong”.

These changes have been made on the same day as it has been revealed that 1 in 7 students are going without food due to struggling finances.