The number of older people carrying student debt has surged in the past decade – rising 84 per cent for people in their 50s – as multiple degrees, rising fees and indexation increasingly eat into lifetime finances.

In 2023-24, there were 200,161 people in their 50s still paying off student loans – commonly known as HECS – and who owed the government a total of $3.8 billion. Just shy of 81,000 people in their 60s still have outstanding debts, totalling $1.5 billion, Tax Office data shows.