Millions of Australians wake up to early Christmas gift as student loan refunds roll out
Christmas has come early for millions of Australians after the Federal Government returned hundreds of dollars to graduates’ bank accounts after issuing refunds to their student loans.
On Thursday morning, less than a week out from Christmas, the Australian Taxation Office issued refunds to millions of Australians’ study debts after the Albanese Government passed legislation to change indexation rates. The average refund totalled $400.
A total of $3 billion in student debt is set to be wiped from the HECS-HELP scheme, benefiting three million Australians ahead of the Christmas season— for some, the relief amounts to thousands of dollars.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.For example, someone with an average HELP debt of around $27,000 will have roughly $1200 shaved off their loan.
The reform is backdated to June 2023 and will also refund former students who repaid their student dept in 2023 or 2024.
The legislation, passed in late November, aims to address last year’s spike in the indexation rate of 7.1 per cent — an eye-watering spike, triggered by a surge in inflation, that caused widespread uproar among loan-holders.
HECS indexation was previously based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Universities Accord Bill 2024 now caps the indexation rate to the lower of either the CPI or the Wage Price Index (WPI).
Labor has also pledged to cut HECS debt by a further 20 per cent, wiping out $16 billion in HELP and other students loans if they win the next federal election.
With the first lot of refunds issued on Thursday, the government said most people would see credits on their MyGov accounts by the end of January.
“Some credits will take a bit longer than others to show on the accounts depending on the complexity,” the statement read.
“We will not know exactly who will receive a refund until we process all recredits, so we are unable to provide a list of your clients who will receive a refund.”
To see if your debt reduction has been applied, log into your Australian Taxation Office (ATO) account via MyGov.
