‘Game changer’: Three million Aussies ‘better off’ with massive HECS debt relief, leading accounting firm claims

One of Australia’s biggest tax accountancy groups has called the government’s proposed amendments to reduce Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) payments a “game changer” for anyone with a HECS debt. About three million Australian workers with a HELP debt will get some level of relief in the next financial year should the government’s legislation passes through parliament. The government wants to increase the amount people earn before they need to repay their debt by more than 20 per cent seeing the minimum threshold increase from $54,435 in 2024-25 to $67,000 in 2025-26. They also plan to introduce a new system so repayments are only made on income above $67,000 rather than a person’s total income. H & R Block Australia Director of Tax Communications Mark Chapman said it would be a game changer for people with a HECS debt. “Firstly, with the indexation rate going down, your loan balance will go down and secondly, with the repayment thresholds going up, you potentially won’t have to pay anything at all,” he said. “Together, they are quite a substantial measure.” According to the Department of Education, Australian workers with an annual income of less than $180,000 will be better off under the changes and there will be no change to repayments for anyone earning over that amount. “People on lower incomes will benefit the most from these changes as increasing the minimum repayment threshold will mean people will have more disposable income and only start repaying their loan when they can afford to do so,” the website states. A person who earned $70,000 would repay $450 seeing their repayments reduce by $1300, a person who earned $80,000 would repay $1950 seeing their repayments reduce by $850. In a statement Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government would make sure Australia’s education system was fairer and affordable for everyone. The opposition spokesman for education has been contacted for comment.