Australians get student loan refunds

Aussies woke up to a cost-of-living Christmas present in their bank account, after the Federal Government issued refunds to the tune of hundreds of dollars after changes to student loans.

Aussies woke up to a cost-of-living Christmas present in their bank account, after the Federal Government issued refunds to the tune of hundreds of dollars after changes to student loans.

On Thursday morning, the Australian Taxation Office issued refunds averaging $400, just days out from Christmas, after legislation was passed to change indexation on student and training loans.

Education Minister Jason Clare told The Daily Telegraph $3 billion in student debt had been wiped for more than three million Australians.

People with student loans were given $400 back

“This is welcome news as we head into Christmas,” he said. “The Universities Accord recommended indexing HELP loans to whatever is lower out of CPI and WPI.

“We have done this, and gone further. We have backdated this reform to last year.

“This wipes out what happened last year and makes sure it never happens again.”

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare. Photo supplied.

The minister pledged that if the Albanese Government was returned to power next year, “Labor will cut all student debt by a further 20 per cent and make repayments fairer.”

The government urged Australians to check their savings on their student loans on the MyGov website.

An average HELP debt of around $27,000 will see around $1200 wiped from outstanding loans, with the change applying to HELP, VET Student Loan, Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan and other student support loans.

A message from the ATO last week said anyone with student loans indexed in the last two years would be “recredited the excess” funds.

“Most people will see these credits on their accounts by the end of January, the statement said. “Some credits will take a bit longer than others to show on the accounts depending on the complexity.

“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.”