PM pledges 20 per cent cut to student loans by 1 June 2025

The Prime Minister has announced over the weekend that all student loan debts will be cut by 20 per cent by 1 June 2025, an action which will wipe out $16 billion in student debt for around three million Australians.

All HELP, VET Student Loan, Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan and other income-contingent student support loan accounts that exist on 1 June next year are to be included in the measures. For someone with the average HELP debt of $27,600 they will see around $5,520 wiped from their outstanding HELP loans next year.

This measure is expected to provide significant relief to Australian students and workers with student loan debt and builds on the Government’s announcement that from 1 July next year it will reduce the amount Australians with a student debt have to repay per year and raise the threshold when people need to start repaying.

“We’re already fixing indexation and today, we are going further by taking 20 per cent off student debt – for everyone with student debt,” the Prime Minister said. 

Minister for Education Jason Clare described the measures as “a game changer” for those with student loans. 

“This is another significant reform that will help us build a better and fairer education system.”

Further information about the mechanisms through which the loans will be reduced is expected in the coming weeks.