The complicated system means that,for example,a student who paid off $2000 from a $20,000 balance would have their indexation levied on the $20,000 figure rather than the actual remaining debt of $18,000.
Crossbench MPs including North Sydney MP Kylea Tink met earlier this week with Education Minister Jason Clare to discuss the matter,and on Friday the minister announced he had directed thegovernment’s universities review panel to examine the issue.
“That strikes me as not right,” Clare said.
But Clare hosed down what he described as a misguided debate about HECS amid a Greens campaign to scrapthis year’s indexation,which came in at an elevated 7.1 per cent,mirroring therecent spike in consumer prices.
Inflation has been low for much of the past decade,meaning student debt indexation had been lower than bank interest rates for many years until inflation spiked.
The minor party has been calling for student debts to be waived and rent freezes in a pitch to younger voters,prompting Clare to put a spotlight on the cost of Greens policies.