Labor eyes student loan reform ahead of election, raises repayment threshold

Graduates will not have to pay their student loans back until they earn $67,000 as Anthony Albanese nominates study debt as a key election battleground.

Cash-strapped Australian graduates will not have to pay back their student debt until they earn at least $67,000 as the Albanese government flags HELP reform as a key election agenda.

At a rally alongside South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas this weekend, the Prime Minister will announce that the threshold for paying back a HELP debt will jump from $54,000 to $67,000 in 2025-2026.

The cost-of-living benefit will apply to both university and vocational training loans.

Workers will also only pay repayments if they are earning about 75 per cent of the salary of a full time graduate salary or more in their chosen career.

The government claims the new policy will see the average HELP debt holder save $680 in repayments per year.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has flagged HECS debt reform as a key election issue. Picture: Simon Bullard

A university graduate earning $70,000 a year would see their minimum repayments cut by $1300 while those earning $80,000 a year would receive a cut of $850.

Mr Albanese said his policy will be “good for intergenerational fairness”.

“This will be the heart of the positive and ambitious agenda we take to the Australian people at the next election,” he said.

“Labor will always be the party of education. No matter where you live, no matter how much your parents earn – we will work to ensure the doors of opportunity are open for you.

“We will make it easier for young Australians to save in the future, and we are going to make the system better and fairer as well.”

The government is set to introduce legislation in parliament next year to implement the changes.

It has signalled there will be more announcements on student debt reform — building on their previous decision to reform the HELP indexation rate by tying it to the lower of either the wage price or consumer price index.

The Saturday Telegraph previously revealed that Mr Albanese was making education a priority for the election — due in May at the latest — with a major focus on childcare.

Other priority items for a second term Albanese government included Medicare reform and more jobs in regional Australia.

The announcement came at the end of a horror week for Mr Albanese, as he was forced to deny allegations he solicited free flight upgrades from ex-Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce.

The upgrades saga adds to growing accusations the Prime Minister was losing touch with struggling Australians after he purchased a $4.3m clifftop beach house with fiancee Jodie Haydon.

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