2023-04-26
CPI figures released this morning confirm that millions of Australians will be slugged with a 7.1% increase in their student debts on 1 June.
Someone with an average student debt of $24,770.75, will see that debt increase by $1,758.72.
For more than half a million people with debts of around $40,000, it will add another $2,840 to your debt.
Australian Greens Deputy Leader and Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi, who introduced a bill to freeze student debt last year, has demanded the Government urgently intervene to stop the unprecedented and deeply unjust increase.
Senator Faruqi said:
“More than 3 million Australians have student debt and each one of them will be hit with a student debt avalanche on June 1. The average student debt will go up by $1,758.72, with many debts increasing by much more.
“The clock is ticking for Labor to take action to stop this devastating blow.
“Nurses, teachers and other essential workers face the double whammy of low wages and ballooning student debt. Corporate profiteering is driving inflation, students are paying the price and Labor is doing absolutely nothing about it.
“When starting uni, students have no idea that they will end up in a debt spiral because student loans are described as interest free. It is dishonest to index a loan that has been marketed as interest free. A shop selling products under interest free promotions would not get away with indexing the cost of the product annually in line with inflation.
“Indexation should be abolished, but at the very least, Labor could pause indexation for at least the next two years while inflation remains high and the cost of living crisis rages. To do nothing at all is just plain cruel.
“There’s absolutely no doubt that we can afford to act on student debt, given that Labor has hundreds of billions to splurge on dangerous war machines and tax cuts for the rich.
“Soaring student debt is already locking people out of the housing market, making it harder to get personal loans, crushing dreams of further study and causing people to rethink starting a family.
“Abolishing indexation is an important and pressing step towards the Greens’ aim of wiping all student debt and making university and TAFE free."