Government snubs Senate order to reveal HECS changes

‘A cover up of government failure.’’ The federal government has copped a caning for its refusal to comply with a Senate order relating to student loan reforms.

The Federal Government has defied a Senate order to produce documents relating to its review of HECS debts.

Secrecy over federal government reforms to the HECS student loan scheme has been slammed as a “cover-up’’.

The Albanese government has defied a Senate order to produce documents relating to the Australian Taxation Office review of the Higher Education Contribution Scheme and Higher Education Loans Program, after three million graduates were slugged this year with a 7 per cent indexation charge.

Graduates face another 5 per cent increase to their outstanding debts unless the government changes the repayment scheme, which is pegged to the rate of inflation. Indexation added $4.5bn to students’ outstanding loan amounts, adding $1500 to the average $25,000 debt this year.

Students pay off their loans through the tax system once they earn $51,550 per year.

Banks take the outstanding debt into account when approving loans – making it even harder for young Australians to buy their first home.

Mr Clare on Friday said the Universities Accord panel is “looking at the issue of affordability, including the operation of the HELP system and the amounts students are contributing to the cost of their degrees through the HELP system’’.

“I look forward to receiving the Accord final report by the end of the year,’’ he said.

The Senate ordered Mr Clare to produce “all correspondence, directions, notes, briefs and other communications’’ relating to the ATO’s review of the student loan scheme. But he refused, invoking a claim of “public interest immunity in relation to documents related to cabinet deliberations’’.

Federal opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson wrote to Mr Clare on Friday demanding he comply with the Senate order.

“Your refusal to disclose all of the documents is not only disrespectful to the Senate, but suggests you are attempting to cover up the government’s failure to act on escalating student debt which is hurting three million Australians,’’ she wrote.

“The antiquated HECS ATO payments system … does not account for repayments in real time. This has resulted in higher student debts, made worse by the skyrocketing indexation of student loans and cost-of-living crisis so many Australians are suffering since the election of the Albanese government.”