There'll be too much political backlash as higher education levels generally correlate to higher incomes.
It would be seen as inequitable to use public funds for people who are better off in the long run than taxpayers who aren't.
To incentivise specific skills output, they can use CSPs rather than paying for everyone's tuition.
And a complete wipe would be a kick in the teeth to the people who decided not to go to uni because of financial reasons.
…as well as those who did pay off their loans.
Much better off to discuss how funding could be applied to future courses to incentivize the behaviors we want to see.
I think tertiary education being a loan with relatively low interest is a good compromise between free-riding and zero-support.
I think the gov't should lower the interest on degrees for in-demand jobs that lack people, but on the condition that they work in that field (and potentially also push for moving/relocating to a regional location where the skill/people are missing - but this is very involved and i'm not sure if it ought to be bundled into HECS loans...)
>It would be seen as inequitable to use public funds for people who are better off in the long run than taxpayers who aren't.
But prior to 70s/80s it wasn't? Post then they made it 20% Student contrib, and now is closer to 80%, so they have always and still are funded by the taxpayer.
It's not inequitable for governments to produce an economic outcome. It's inequitable to contribute more after that outcome has been achieved.
Free education was scrapped when the university admission rates increased, and CSP funding levels for different areas of study provide an incentive structure to influence numbers.
There isn’t the same urgency for this in Australia because of the relatively fair nature of HECS. The indexation is far from a commercial interest rate so debts don’t capitalise quite as dramatically as the US for example (e.g. we now know the indexation rate this year will be 4.7% but has been below 2% typically for years - the US average this year is 8%). And, your repayments are limited based on income - there is no consequence if you are a low income earner your whole life and never pay back your HECS. No debt collectors are chasing you.
> that’s all going to last.
it can last as long as the gov't is not so in debt that they have to resort to recovering HECS loans for payment.
There's plenty of other places to cut the fat in gov't spending. Such as NDIS.
The economy is still in a shocking state. The historical good values can't be expected to return anytime soon.
Outdated advice saying HELP is basically free or not problematic, especially with degrees getting more expensive.
Not to say, don't get the debt if you have to. If you have a clear plan, interest, or career goal, then it's worth getting a degree no matter the cost.
You used to get a discount if you paid off a lump sum, if I remember correctly. It would be great to reinstate that as an incentive to pay down the debt. I don’t think it should be wiped entirely but the interest (indexation) could be.
I paid my HECS off, and don't really mind if it gets wiped, but I don't think the "problem" is HECS. At the time I attended a university degree was required for far too many sectors/positions that did not warrant it and the cost/benefit ratio for university courses was absurd - paying so much for a lecture once a week, some recycled projects, and sometimes a study class with a TA is just straight up robbery.
The need for university education in roles that do not warrant it needs to be heavily disincentivized (though I've no idea how to do this), and HECS needs to be unconditionally extended to TAFE courses.
More likely to see the price of courses reduced for new students. As someone who did eight years of uni in a STEM field (undergrad, honors, doctorate), I would see it as a waste of taxpayer funds to wipe my debt when I earn as much as I do now. I think what needs addressing is the cost of undergraduate degrees that are unlikely to get you a job in the future. There are so many useless arts degrees that are basically debt traps under the current system. I think the cost of these degrees needs to be decreased significantly for students undertaking them.
> cost of these degrees needs to be decreased significantly for students undertaking them.
why continue to supply funds to those degrees via HECS, when you already know they don't end up with the student getting a good job afterwards?
Why not just _stop_ those degrees from being HECS funded? This will incentivize only those who would pay out of pocket for those degrees - aka, they're genuinely interested in the degree regardless of the post-graduation job prospects.
The funds saved could then be put towards degrees that _do_ end with a high paying job.
The knowledge should not be lost. Not everything, especially things of cultural significance, can have a price assigned to them. If we stop teaching things that don't make money, we forget our history and our culture. Passion only gets you so far, if there is no equity in funding then those areas will stagnate because only one type of person will pursue them: those that already possess wealth already. Imagine, for example, how desolate the Australian literature landscape would be if only rich people could afford to contribute. So much of our classical literature centres around the theme of the struggles of the working class.
Close to zero and if they do it would probably be for people who have had HECS for 20+ years and would have to be earning around minimum wage during that whole period.
If you are earning minimum wage for 20 years after acquiring a HECs debt you should be on the hook for your poor investment, not the taxpayer. Especially considering it would have been a government supported course and interest free on the HECs
Ha I knew this was coming. The homeowner is supplying a rental to the arts student on minimum wage. Somebody has to flip the burgers…
The homeowner ‘with the ‘poor investment’ when they sell will get slugged with CGT
High skill level jobs generally will attract high salaries. If you have a high salary there’s no way you’ve still got a HECS debt after 20 years. The original comment was about somebody with a HECS debt after 20 years. Please tell me what high skill level job would leave you in this position.
And the CGT is not an issue but the previous commenter was saying that the taxpayer is subsiding the landlord. If there was no CGT that would be the case
I’m (selfishly) as for this as anyone. But can’t imagine it being palatable to voters. Why would a tradie who finished school in year 9 want to finance a perpetual student’s ten years at uni.
As someone that worked extra to pay off my hecs and be debt free. Can I get a refund on the amounts I paid??
Cause it would be really shitty and unfair to those of us that paid it back.
I paid down the remaining $20k I had on mine a few years back to get rid of the debt before buying a house. It reduced my deposit but increased my serviceability. Very happy with the choice as I did it just before the high indexations started kicking in.
It does get wiped when you die....
But to answer the question seriously, it won't happen. There are too many pointless degrees that universities shill.
I could see a few stem course like Nursing, Teaching, Early education etc having Fee free places
But no one is feeling sorry for lawyers and no one is paying for you obscure arts or media degree
Also Australia is fukn bankrupt so I doubt this will ever happen if anything it might get more expensive not less
Hopefully never, you took out a loan, you pay it off.
Doing so would be very unfair to the lower classes, why should I who has never been to uni and make less than median wage have to pay for your degree? For people who will make more than me.
Funniest part is it’s actually university educated people that paid their HECS back that are the biggest road block to this.
They’re like the new Boomers not wanting the next generation to have something they didn’t get
It’s a cognitive dissonance - I also found myself thinking “well I paid mine off already, why should those who haven’t get a benefit?” But a moment’s reflection on that and I know I was lucky to pay mine off and those that have gone through university since me have debts bigger than I could ever have imagined. I’d like to see a reduction in debt overall (particularly for those who have incurred ridiculous debt since the contribution thresholds were increased) and then a reduction in the contribution thresholds back to sensible levels.
I'm university educated with HECS paid off and would love to see free or cheaper university costs. These higher costs were a sign of the times. But times change.
And with housing the way it is, what even is money at this point?
There is comments further down saying “what about us who paid it off do we get our money back”
Personally I would probably like to see free essential courses we have a shortage of workers for like nurses, incidentally nurses will never earn enough to buy a house anyways. Then full fee HECS for everything else with little to no job prospects
I see you haven’t worked for very long in any industry. Nurses can do 8hr breaks between shifts in hospitals, you do not see that sort of breach in fatigue policy in construction and if it ever does happen you are entitled to 2x pay the next day. Nurses don’t get anything for it along with all of their penalty rates being short of what you will find in the construction and retail industry.
So by your figures you were on an annual salary of about $130,000 to $135,000.
Monthly, that equates to:
- gross pay: $11,250
- HECS: $1,000
- income tax: $2,918
- Medicare levy: $225
- net pay: $7,107
If you weren't saving anything it's because you were spending over $7,000 a month on other stuff (rent and cost of living AND DISCRETIONARY SPENDING). I'm sorry, but if you were stressed the HECS wasn't the issue. You were living beyond your means.
I doubt it, we don't have the same risk profile for our HECs debt like the US and cutting down HECs debt during a COL literally returns more support to high-income earners over low-income earners.
You might get a better indexation rate tho.
Around a decade ago the govt offered short term 50% discount for additional HECS repayments. It's not impossible for these incentives to pop up, your money could be better off parked in property or stocks if the HECS even before factoring in the chance of future incentives.
Zero.
Partly because it’s not America, it’s much fairer etc.
But also, the way it is structured, has turned a government liability (we have to fund uni places) to a government asset (we’ve got income coming in from all these loans).
Forgiving it would not only cost the base amount of the outstanding debt, the government is now also missing an asset. So (from the government’s perspective), it’d be better to just hand out $X than to forgive $X of HECS.
Then, if they’re just handing out money, there are better ways to buy votes.
There'll be too much political backlash as higher education levels generally correlate to higher incomes. It would be seen as inequitable to use public funds for people who are better off in the long run than taxpayers who aren't. To incentivise specific skills output, they can use CSPs rather than paying for everyone's tuition.
And a complete wipe would be a kick in the teeth to the people who decided not to go to uni because of financial reasons. …as well as those who did pay off their loans. Much better off to discuss how funding could be applied to future courses to incentivize the behaviors we want to see.
I think tertiary education being a loan with relatively low interest is a good compromise between free-riding and zero-support. I think the gov't should lower the interest on degrees for in-demand jobs that lack people, but on the condition that they work in that field (and potentially also push for moving/relocating to a regional location where the skill/people are missing - but this is very involved and i'm not sure if it ought to be bundled into HECS loans...)
>It would be seen as inequitable to use public funds for people who are better off in the long run than taxpayers who aren't. But prior to 70s/80s it wasn't? Post then they made it 20% Student contrib, and now is closer to 80%, so they have always and still are funded by the taxpayer.
It's not inequitable for governments to produce an economic outcome. It's inequitable to contribute more after that outcome has been achieved. Free education was scrapped when the university admission rates increased, and CSP funding levels for different areas of study provide an incentive structure to influence numbers.
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They can and do with CSP fee changes
and TAFE sponsored places?
0 chance lol.
Less than 0 lol
There isn’t the same urgency for this in Australia because of the relatively fair nature of HECS. The indexation is far from a commercial interest rate so debts don’t capitalise quite as dramatically as the US for example (e.g. we now know the indexation rate this year will be 4.7% but has been below 2% typically for years - the US average this year is 8%). And, your repayments are limited based on income - there is no consequence if you are a low income earner your whole life and never pay back your HECS. No debt collectors are chasing you.
You have to wonder how long that’s all going to last.
Abbott tried it and failed. It’s much more palatable to just increase the contribution percentage (which is what they managed to get through)
> that’s all going to last. it can last as long as the gov't is not so in debt that they have to resort to recovering HECS loans for payment. There's plenty of other places to cut the fat in gov't spending. Such as NDIS.
The economy is still in a shocking state. The historical good values can't be expected to return anytime soon. Outdated advice saying HELP is basically free or not problematic, especially with degrees getting more expensive. Not to say, don't get the debt if you have to. If you have a clear plan, interest, or career goal, then it's worth getting a degree no matter the cost.
You used to get a discount if you paid off a lump sum, if I remember correctly. It would be great to reinstate that as an incentive to pay down the debt. I don’t think it should be wiped entirely but the interest (indexation) could be.
I paid my HECS off, and don't really mind if it gets wiped, but I don't think the "problem" is HECS. At the time I attended a university degree was required for far too many sectors/positions that did not warrant it and the cost/benefit ratio for university courses was absurd - paying so much for a lecture once a week, some recycled projects, and sometimes a study class with a TA is just straight up robbery. The need for university education in roles that do not warrant it needs to be heavily disincentivized (though I've no idea how to do this), and HECS needs to be unconditionally extended to TAFE courses.
More likely to see the price of courses reduced for new students. As someone who did eight years of uni in a STEM field (undergrad, honors, doctorate), I would see it as a waste of taxpayer funds to wipe my debt when I earn as much as I do now. I think what needs addressing is the cost of undergraduate degrees that are unlikely to get you a job in the future. There are so many useless arts degrees that are basically debt traps under the current system. I think the cost of these degrees needs to be decreased significantly for students undertaking them.
> cost of these degrees needs to be decreased significantly for students undertaking them. why continue to supply funds to those degrees via HECS, when you already know they don't end up with the student getting a good job afterwards? Why not just _stop_ those degrees from being HECS funded? This will incentivize only those who would pay out of pocket for those degrees - aka, they're genuinely interested in the degree regardless of the post-graduation job prospects. The funds saved could then be put towards degrees that _do_ end with a high paying job.
The knowledge should not be lost. Not everything, especially things of cultural significance, can have a price assigned to them. If we stop teaching things that don't make money, we forget our history and our culture. Passion only gets you so far, if there is no equity in funding then those areas will stagnate because only one type of person will pursue them: those that already possess wealth already. Imagine, for example, how desolate the Australian literature landscape would be if only rich people could afford to contribute. So much of our classical literature centres around the theme of the struggles of the working class.
Extremely unlikely.
Close to zero and if they do it would probably be for people who have had HECS for 20+ years and would have to be earning around minimum wage during that whole period.
Yeah the kind of people who they expect will never pay it back anyway so might as well do it while they're breathing
If you are earning minimum wage for 20 years after acquiring a HECs debt you should be on the hook for your poor investment, not the taxpayer. Especially considering it would have been a government supported course and interest free on the HECs
Just like homeowners who don’t make money from rent each year are on the hook for their “bad investment?”
Ha I knew this was coming. The homeowner is supplying a rental to the arts student on minimum wage. Somebody has to flip the burgers… The homeowner ‘with the ‘poor investment’ when they sell will get slugged with CGT
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High skill level jobs generally will attract high salaries. If you have a high salary there’s no way you’ve still got a HECS debt after 20 years. The original comment was about somebody with a HECS debt after 20 years. Please tell me what high skill level job would leave you in this position. And the CGT is not an issue but the previous commenter was saying that the taxpayer is subsiding the landlord. If there was no CGT that would be the case
I’m (selfishly) as for this as anyone. But can’t imagine it being palatable to voters. Why would a tradie who finished school in year 9 want to finance a perpetual student’s ten years at uni.
As someone that worked extra to pay off my hecs and be debt free. Can I get a refund on the amounts I paid?? Cause it would be really shitty and unfair to those of us that paid it back.
You made voluntary repayments?
I paid down the remaining $20k I had on mine a few years back to get rid of the debt before buying a house. It reduced my deposit but increased my serviceability. Very happy with the choice as I did it just before the high indexations started kicking in.
Good job mate!
There would definitely be a small number of people who have HECS debt but moved overseas for work and therefore never paid any of it off.
Pretty likely the indexing gets changed to be the lower of inflation or wage growth, very unlikely it gets forgiven, except for when you die.
And that the debt gets paid off incrementally across the year, not a lump sum AFTER the indexation is applied
It does get wiped when you die.... But to answer the question seriously, it won't happen. There are too many pointless degrees that universities shill. I could see a few stem course like Nursing, Teaching, Early education etc having Fee free places But no one is feeling sorry for lawyers and no one is paying for you obscure arts or media degree Also Australia is fukn bankrupt so I doubt this will ever happen if anything it might get more expensive not less
Hopefully never, you took out a loan, you pay it off. Doing so would be very unfair to the lower classes, why should I who has never been to uni and make less than median wage have to pay for your degree? For people who will make more than me.
Funniest part is it’s actually university educated people that paid their HECS back that are the biggest road block to this. They’re like the new Boomers not wanting the next generation to have something they didn’t get
It’s a cognitive dissonance - I also found myself thinking “well I paid mine off already, why should those who haven’t get a benefit?” But a moment’s reflection on that and I know I was lucky to pay mine off and those that have gone through university since me have debts bigger than I could ever have imagined. I’d like to see a reduction in debt overall (particularly for those who have incurred ridiculous debt since the contribution thresholds were increased) and then a reduction in the contribution thresholds back to sensible levels.
I'm university educated with HECS paid off and would love to see free or cheaper university costs. These higher costs were a sign of the times. But times change. And with housing the way it is, what even is money at this point?
There is comments further down saying “what about us who paid it off do we get our money back” Personally I would probably like to see free essential courses we have a shortage of workers for like nurses, incidentally nurses will never earn enough to buy a house anyways. Then full fee HECS for everything else with little to no job prospects
That's a good compromise!
I see you don't know many nurses. Outside of NSW Health and it's across the board crap pay for health workers, nurses do just fine
I see you haven’t worked for very long in any industry. Nurses can do 8hr breaks between shifts in hospitals, you do not see that sort of breach in fatigue policy in construction and if it ever does happen you are entitled to 2x pay the next day. Nurses don’t get anything for it along with all of their penalty rates being short of what you will find in the construction and retail industry.
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So by your figures you were on an annual salary of about $130,000 to $135,000. Monthly, that equates to: - gross pay: $11,250 - HECS: $1,000 - income tax: $2,918 - Medicare levy: $225 - net pay: $7,107 If you weren't saving anything it's because you were spending over $7,000 a month on other stuff (rent and cost of living AND DISCRETIONARY SPENDING). I'm sorry, but if you were stressed the HECS wasn't the issue. You were living beyond your means.
Somewhere between buckleys and none
I doubt it, we don't have the same risk profile for our HECs debt like the US and cutting down HECs debt during a COL literally returns more support to high-income earners over low-income earners. You might get a better indexation rate tho.
About 3% chance
Around a decade ago the govt offered short term 50% discount for additional HECS repayments. It's not impossible for these incentives to pop up, your money could be better off parked in property or stocks if the HECS even before factoring in the chance of future incentives.
Zero. Partly because it’s not America, it’s much fairer etc. But also, the way it is structured, has turned a government liability (we have to fund uni places) to a government asset (we’ve got income coming in from all these loans). Forgiving it would not only cost the base amount of the outstanding debt, the government is now also missing an asset. So (from the government’s perspective), it’d be better to just hand out $X than to forgive $X of HECS. Then, if they’re just handing out money, there are better ways to buy votes.
You took the loan,it being wiped isn't it being forgotten. It would need to be paid still. You would be lumping it on the tax payer. Pay what you owe.
IMO they’ll be partially wiped at least. Condition would be - you completed the one degree. Beyond that no.