Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025

Mr KHALIL (Wills—Assistant Minister for Defence) (11:12): My electorate of Wills is home to many students. Wills, and the suburbs in the Wills electorate, is actually a choice for many students, because they can get to Melbourne uni and RMIT by tram, to La Trobe University by bus and to Victoria University, Swinburne and Monash University by train. When you're walking around Brunswick, North Fitzroy or North Carlton in my electorate, these suburbs are right at the heart of where the university sector is. There are a lot of young people walking around in Doc Martens—apparently they're still a thing; I remember them from when I was young—

Ms Price: They never go out of fashion.

Mr KHALIL: They never go out of fashion; that's correct, Member for Durack.

According to the last census, 12.6 per cent of people in Wills are students, and they're students in tertiary education; 44.2 per cent of the people in Wills have a bachelor's degree or above. It is a very highly educated electorate, being one of the highest in the country on both measures. People don't deserve to be burdened by a lifetime debt because of their choice to study. They deserve to be supported by their government, by this government. That's what we're doing. We're supporting those people by cutting 20 per cent off student loan debts, increasing the minimum repayment threshold and introducing a marginal repayment system for student debt.

But what does this legislation really mean for someone in my community? Let's take the example of James. There is a real James here, one of the young people I've spoken to about the HECS debt that they have. James is 27. He has a HECS debt of $68,700 and earned just above $82,500 last financial year. This bill that we're passing here will cut $13,700 from James's HECS debt and he will have around an extra $800 a year in his pocket from our reduction in the compulsory repayment amount. This is thousands of dollars more in people's pockets, providing necessary cost-of-living relief while allowing them to save and invest more in what they want and what they need.

It also means James will repay his HECS debt sooner. He says to me he'll put it towards his savings for a home deposit, which he noted will become much more achievable thanks to our government's Help to Buy shared equity scheme. Thank you, James.

This bill is just one part of what the Labor government has done for education in Australia. Many of my constituents knew what was at stake at the last election. If the Liberals had won government, they would have scrapped all of this. None of this would have actually materialised. Our government is providing $2.5 billion for all Victorian public schools over the next decade as part of the Gonski reforms. That means more individualised support for students.

Meanwhile, we have the Liberal Party's former leader saying that school funding 'isn't an issue'. That's surprising! The Liberals went to the last election opposing this 20 per cent cut to student debt. In fact, their party and members of their party labelled it 'elitist' and 'profoundly unfair'. That's what they said about this 20 per cent cut. They said—and this is the irony of this—that they'd rather wipe off $20,000 for bosses' lunches! Please tell me, Deputy Speaker, which of those is 'elitist' or 'profoundly unfair'? I know which one is. Earlier this year, the Liberals opposed making free TAFE courses permanent. They opposed Labor delivering half a million fee-free TAFE places—the fee-free TAFE program that is delivering more nurses, childcare workers, tradies and workers for other high-demand industries. They gutted TAFE last time they were in government. During the election, the Liberals released costings showing they planned to cut our expansions to the Commonwealth Prac Payment that were done in our first term, which would've forced student teachers to give up paid work to complete teaching placements. We put those prac payments in place because we knew how important it was for their cost-of-living relief in doing their work and their study. Last time the Liberals were in government, they increased university fees. They wanted younger Australians to be straddled with more debt as they were starting out their lives. They made humanities degrees more expensive, as if studying humanities should only be for the wealthy.

A lot of people know that I grew up in a Housing Commission home. I'm a houso, like the Prime Minister and like the Minister for Agriculture. There are probably a few more in this House. But because of the visionary policies of successive Labor governments, I got the opportunity to study arts and law at Melbourne university, even though I grew up in a Housing Commission home. Those policies by the Hawke and Keating governments gave me a pathway, like they did for millions of Australians, because education is so critically important. It opens up the door to opportunity for so many Australians, and it's because of education that I've been able to make my contribution, as millions of other Australians have done, whether in the public sphere or in the private sector. It has given me a pathway to having this honour of representing the people of Wills in this place. I know that the Minister for Education, my friend Jason Clare, has spoken of his story about being the first member of his family to get a higher education. That's because of those policies. That's what makes a difference, because we believe in education as an investment in the Australian people.

My mum and dad, who migrated from Egypt over 50 years ago, worked so hard—and this is not a unique story; migrants have this in common—to give my sister and I a better life. The one thing they kept saying to us is: 'Get a good education. Make sure that you get a good education. We don't care what you do—you can work in a factory, you can be a tradie, or you can be a professor; do whatever you want to do in life—but make sure you get an education and get a degree. Fulfil your potential and give yourself that pathway.' That's what dad used to say to me all the time: 'Get a good education.'

This bill to cut 20 per cent of student debt represents real cost-of-living relief for millions of young Australians. It's money they'll see more of in their take-home pay. It's money they'll put in their saving accounts as they save up for a house deposit, a down payment on a new rental or another major purchase. But, more importantly, it is an investment in them. It is an investment in their future, their education, their potential, their pathway to being able to make their contribution to change their community for the better, to change lives for the better. That's what education gives us. It is a precious gift that we all are very, very fortunate to be given, and we, as a government, invest in that precious gift with this bill. I commend it to the House.

Mr BURNS (Macnamara) (11:20): When you think about the great leveller in this country that allows people to have social mobility and allows migrants the ability to change the destination and the journey of generations, it is education. It gives people the ability to create skills and qualifications, to learn and to finish their studies with the opportunities of making a better life for them and their family.

We know that the HECS system has meant, over time, that thousands more Australians have been able to go to university. My parents' generation went to university for free, but the HECS generation—my generation and the generations that follow—are part of a generation that has a pact with each and everyone of us that says: 'We will contribute to education because it will mean more of us can go and get an education. It will mean the HECS system that we are all buying into enables more people from right around the country, regardless of where we come from, to access high-quality Australian education, whether it be at our universities, our TAFEs, as apprentices or any of the other incredible higher education services and institutions that we have in this country.'

But we also know that the balance, over time, has meant that people are leaving university with higher debt. They are leaving university with debt that has meant that it's having an impact on how they can borrow, it's having an impact on how much they have to pay each and every pay cycle. It's a debt that is having a real impact on the lives and the journeys of Australian students and young people.

That's what this bill, the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025, addresses. Cutting 20 per cent off student HECS debt is something that we took to the election. We said we were going to do it. I remember the countless stories of young people lining up, going in to vote. I asked them a simple question: 'What matters to you? What do you care about?' Often the response was, 'Well, you know, I'm a student' or 'I just finished university.' I said, 'Have you heard about our 20 per cent off HECS?' And they said, 'Yes; actually that's one of the things I'm weighing up right now.'

There was an amazing moment I shared with a lot of students and former students: 'If you give us this opportunity, we'll get this done for you.' I'm extremely proud to be standing here in this place keeping up our end of the deal, because so many of those young people and so many people who have a HECS debt gave us this opportunity. They said that they needed a bit of help, they needed some meaningful change, and that is what this bill is all about.

It does not wipe every part of student debt. What it says is actually there is a meaningful amount of student debt that we're going to take off, as well as how those repayment systems are calculated so that at each and every pay cycle, you're going to pay a little bit less than you otherwise were before.

This builds on the reforms we made to HECS which changed the indexation system. Traditionally HECS was set up in a way that meant we were always calculating the HECS repayment system with the lowest interest loan available; but with the high inflation that presented itself to Australians recently it meant the indexation on HECS was extremely high and students were accumulating more and more debt. We fixed that. We also wiped off the differentiation between the higher repayments verse the recalculated repayments.

This bill takes it a significant step further. This bill says that if you have a HECS debt of $27,600, which is the average HECS debt, you're going to have $5,520 wiped off that debt. That is a meaningful amount for that person with the average amount of HECS debt. It isn't just for university debts. It also includes debts from TAFE courses and apprenticeship loans.

In my community of Macnamara, we have a real commitment and passion for education. We have a very high number of people who go to university and we also have a very high number of people who have higher educational qualifications from other institutions, especially from our incredible TAFEs in Melbourne, which give people these amazing skills. We know there is no substitute for learning on the job, and some of the closest people in my life have started their careers as apprentices and have gone on to do amazing things in construction and in other parts of our community. I know that they have worked extremely hard to get where they are and that being an apprentice meant they were able to start their journey.

To the 26,948 people who live in Macnamara who have a HECS debt: this bill is for you. This is the bill we committed to at the election, and this is the bill we said we were going to deliver for you. I just want to say that I am so grateful to everyone who gave us the opportunity to implement this policy. I know there are young people who have a whole range of competing interests in their lives and there are a whole range of issues that confront them. But I think the last election was about the simple things that were going to create meaningful change for people in my community and communities right around the country. Ultimately, that's what the election was about: those practical things that people knew were going to make a difference in their lives.

Being representatives in this place is a huge honour, and I know each and every one of us feels that. But to be able to repay the awesome gift of being in this place and representing our communities by making meaningful policies such as this is something I'm incredibly proud of. It's one of the reasons to get up in the morning: to be a part of this team and to work extremely hard for the communities we are privileged to represent.

There are a few changes in this bill, as I said. It's about reducing the overall amount of HECS debt. It's about changing the repayment system so people are paying less in each and every pay cycle and can keep more. It is also part of our broader reform package to HECS to make it fairer, to make sure students aren't penalised and to make sure more Australians can access world-class education. That's because, ultimately, pathways to education mean pathways to prosperity. They mean having social mobility.

This wonderful country that we are all part of is a country of opportunity, and that is something I'm incredibly proud of. It changed my family's life and trajectory. That is why I'm so proud to support this bill, and I commend it to the House.

Ms CAMPBELL (Moreton) (11:27): Recently I had the great pleasure of visiting the Nathan campus of the highly regarded Griffith University in my electorate of Moreton on Brisbane's south side. I asked students there a simple question: what is 20 per cent of $27,000? The responses were mixed. There was a bit of head scratching, some puzzled looks, some valiant guesses and a number of correct answers: $5,400. When I explained to the students that $5,400 is the average amount that will be cut from HELP debts based on an average debt of $27,000, they were all unanimous in their excitement. Today I rise to make a statement on the provisions of the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025 so that Labor can deliver its promise to the students and the graduates of Griffith University and to every student across the breadth and depth of our nation.

In its first term, the Albanese Labor government acted on the need to implement reforms in education, recognising the urgency to develop a long-term plan that would make our education system both better and fairer. Labor commissioned the first review into the Australian higher education system since 2008. If we cast our minds back, 2008 was the year The Dark Knight was the highest-grossing movie, and it was the year Low, by Flo Rida, was in the charts—and I was still at university in ra-ra skirts and double Bond singlets! The review was conducted over 12 months and it resulted in the Universities Accord.

The accord's purpose is to focus on the recommendations and outcomes of the review to achieve improved quality, accessibility, affordability and sustainability in higher education. The accord's final report summarises that need for modernisation of the HELP system and the need for the system to have the capacity and ability to respond to changing circumstances to support increased participation in higher education. Recommendation 16 of that final report highlights student contributions that are fairer and that better reflect the lifetime benefits students will gain from studying, as well as HELP loans that have fairer and simpler indexation and repayment arrangements.

The Albanese Labor government knows that it is vital to break down the barriers to further education or training. We are committed to every Australian getting the higher education and training that they need for secure, well-paid jobs. A key part of this is Labor's commitment to making student loan programs both more affordable and fairer when it comes time to pay the loans back. This sits in absolutely stark contrast to what we have seen from those opposite. What we have seen from the Liberals is that, at every moment, at every turning point, at every decision-making opportunity, they have chosen to vote against cost-of-living measures that will give people who need it the most the support that they need at an incredibly tough time. In this tough time, it is those across the aisle who have said that said student debt should not be cut, pracs should not be paid and TAFE should not be free. This is the difference between a Labor government and a Liberal-National or Liberal government.

Over 26,000 people in my electorate of Moreton have an outstanding HELP debt. That is nearly 20 per cent of my electorate. The average amount owed on those debts is $31,000. This legislation will help every single one of those people. Cutting student debt was an election promise, and the Albanese government is delivering. The Prime Minister has said from the outset that this is a government that is about delivering on the commitments that it has made. In the weeks since, we have seen over and over again us delivering on the commitments that we made at the election.

This bill helps make the HELP system fairer and firmly focuses on easing those cost-of-living pressures that are so critical right now. During the campaign, we promised that this would be our first order of business. It will deliver a debt cut to over three million Australians—those with a student loan debt as at 1 June this year. This is direct cost-of-living relief. It is relief that hits the hip pocket. Less to pay back means people having more choice on how to spend their income.

This $3 million includes the almost 280,000 students in the vocational education and training sector. This cohort alone will see half a billion dollars of student debt cut from their vocational education and training student loans and Australian apprentice support loans. We are lucky enough in my local electorate to house the largest trade training centre in the entire Southern Hemisphere. It is TAFE Queensland's SkillsTech at Acacia Ridge. I recently took the Deputy Prime Minister there. While we were there, we had the great opportunity to meet carpenters, people who will build the homes of the future, the homes that we so desperately need. This is what's making sure that we have reduced barriers to student debt is all about. It's not just about addressing cost of living; it's also about investing in the skills that we need to drive our nation forward and to deliver those critical promises, like on housing, that the Albanese government has committed to. The total amount of student debt wiped is around $16 billion.

I mentioned earlier how excited the students of Griffith University were to learn about receiving a 20 per cent cut to their HELP debt. They were also relieved. They were relieved because, for the majority of students, the prospect of paying off a large debt once they have graduated is daunting. The impact that this debt can have on their capacity to borrow money for other reasons, such as housing, can be discouraging. This legislation also raises the minimum amount that you have to earn before you need to start pay offing your debt. It is increasing from $54,435 in the 2024-25 FY to $67,000 in 2025-26. After this bill is passed, people will only have to pay a percentage of the part of their income that is above the minimum repayment threshold. This is a reform that not only directly responds to recommendation 16 of the Universities Accord final report; it's also a reform that will have a significant impact on people who are just entering the workforce.

I know from speaking to people with HELP debt on Brisbane's south side that they have too often encountered difficulties with accessing financial loans. In February this year the Treasurer requested banking regulators review that system. APRA and ASIC have now concluded this process, and it is more positive news for those with student debt. APRA is now advising banks to remove HELP debt from debt-to-income reporting, and ASIC has amended its regulatory guidance, signifying that HELP debts are different to other forms of debt, as the repayment amounts are dictated by an individual's income. These measures will assist those with student loan debt to access critical finance for things like housing.

As the child of two teachers I know how important education is. Labor is the party of education. The government's achievements in education in its first term speak to that. Labor has implemented reforms in the early childhood education and care sector, in primary and secondary education and throughout the tertiary education sector. At every stage of education, it is Labor that's investing. From January this year we've expanded the fee-free uni-ready courses which support even more students from disadvantaged backgrounds to access university. Around 68,000 nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work students now receive a payment for their compulsory pracs thanks to Labor. Free TAFE has inspired 650,000 enrolments across Australia, and 170,000 courses have been completed. These newly qualified workers will become the backbone of our workforce and the lifeblood of our economy.

I am proud that in my first two weeks in this place our focus has been on taking action on the cost of living and driving the Albanese Labor government's education agenda with 20 per cent off student debt. I will finish with the words of a constituent and current Griffith University student, who told me, 'I'm so happy about getting 20 per cent off HELP; I'm less stressed about money and I'm less stressed about post-grad study that I want to do.' Breaking down barriers to further education; supporting our nation to grow and prosper; and building a better and fairer education system benefits us all. Today we will leave a lasting legacy for our students of tomorrow.

Ms PAYNE (Canberra) (11:37): Yesterday this parliament delivered on a promise we made to students, to young people, to workers retraining for the future and to every Australian who took on a student loan and pursued an opportunity. This bill, the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025, is the first piece of legislation that was introduced into the 48th Parliament, just as the Prime Minister said it would be, and I am so proud that this was a key priority for us in the new parliament. This bill is about fairness; it's about making our student loan system more just, more affordable and more humane; and it's only happening because the Australian people put their faith in the Albanese Labor government on 3 May. More than three million Australian will see their student debts cut by 20 per cent overnight, and this includes 22,126 people in my electorate of Canberra. For someone with an average student debt, which is now around $27,600, that's a reduction of over $5,520. For someone with a $50,000 HELP debt that's $10,000 wiped away. That's a real relief for young people who feel like the system was working against them.

Canberra is a university town. My electorate is home to five university campuses, and this bill will make a huge difference to the students who have studied in Canberra's universities, who are now contributing to our local economy as graduates. Importantly, this cut will be backdated to 1 June this year, before indexation kicked in. We know how much anxiety the annual indexation of HELP debts caused for students and graduates across the country. That's why this year our government capped indexation so that it will never outpace wage growth again. This is so important.

This legislation goes even further. We are fundamentally reshaping how the repayments work. Under the current system, once you've earnt above the threshold—currently just $54,435—you start paying a percentage of your entire income. That can be punishing. For someone earning just over the threshold, it's like falling off a cliff. We are raising the minimum repayment threshold to $67,000 next year and indexing it to wages. Repayments will be based on what you earn above that threshold, not your entire income. That's a fairer, more progressive system. Let me give one example. Right now, someone earning $70,000 pays around $1,750 a year in HELP repayments. Under our changes, that same person will pay around $450, a saving of $1,300 every single year. That's money for rent, for groceries and for saving for a home. That's the kind of relief that we need in a cost-of-living crunch.

This is not just a Canberra issue, but it matters deeply to my community. We are home to a large number of public servants, early career professionals and students—many of them carrying student loan debts—and it's something they talk to me about often. This bill will lift that weight. It's also a boost for women, who are more likely to take time out of paid work and more likely to carry their student debts for longer. And it isn't just about uni students. These reforms also apply to vocational education students and some apprentices. Labor values education in all its forms, not just what happens in lecture theatres, but in TAFE, in trade schools and on job sites. These reforms are just one part of a broader coherent vision for higher education. We've locked free TAFE into law, with more than 650,000 enrolments so far. We've introduced paid prac placements for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students. We've expanded FEE-FREE Uni Ready courses to give more people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, a pathway to university, and we've established an independent Australian Tertiary Education Commission to drive long-term reform and equity across the sector.

Finally, we've listened to young Australians and first-home buyers, who told us that student debt was locking them out of the property market. That's why the Treasurer worked with APRA and ASIC to ensure that HELP debts are treated fairly in loan assessments. Income-contingent loans should never have been treated like other loans when applying for a mortgage. When you apply for a mortgage, lenders assess how much you can borrow by calculating your debt-to-income ratio. This ratio compares your total debts to your income, affecting your borrowing capacity. This is obviously a sensible to do because we don't want people borrowing money they can't afford to pay back, but unlike credit card debt or personal loans HELP repayments depend solely on your income, not the outstanding loan amount or interest rates. This means that HELP doesn't behave like traditional debt. It's income contingent and doesn't fluctuate in response to changes in the cash rate.

We've changed the rules so that HELP debts don't impact mortgage serviceability assessments—no more punishing people for taking on debt to improve their future income chances. I had one particular constituent raise this issue with me before this change was made. It was something I raised with the Treasurer. I actually saw her the other night, and she has been able to be approved for a loan. She hadn't been able to before that because of her substantial HELP debt, so this is really making a difference to people's lives.

We believe in a society where education is not a privilege for a few but a right for all, where no-one is held back because of their postcode or their bank balance. Those opposite have called this bill elitist—what a load of rubbish. It just shows their attitude to universities and higher education, which they do so consistently. Young people have consistently told us that they feel the system is stacked against the. It costs far more to get into the property market. Degrees cost significantly more due to the policies of those opposite when they were in government. This bill is about letting those young people know that we hear them. We see them. They are the future of this nation. This bill delivers fairness, it delivers opportunity, and, as I've said, it delivers relief to over 22,000 people in my electorate.

I've paid off a HECS debt too, and I remember the pressure that that put on me as a young person and the concern that I had about whether I would ever be able to save for a home et cetera. I'm lucky that when I was at university the debts were nothing compared to what they are these days. When I talk to young people, I can really understand their concern about the huge debts that they are now incurring when they study.

Back in 2008 when I was a researcher at NATSEM I actually authored a report on HECS and the impact it was having on young people, called What price the clever country? As part of that, I had the great opportunity to work with Professor Bruce Chapman, the architect of HECS. He created this scheme, always envisaging it as a fair and equitable scheme. It was more about allowing the opportunity for more people to study and be able to pay the loan back in an equitable manner. I know that he is very welcoming of these changes because, even back then in 2008, he had concerns about the way the HECS system was going, that it wasn't delivering in the fair and equitable way that it was originally designed to do and that it had lost its way in many senses.

It actually is a system that enables people who have studied. As our report back then showed, this does on average have a significant impact on improving lifetime incomes. But that shouldn't mean that it's absolutely crippling to pay back debts as a young person when you are trying to establish your career, your life outside of work and what that might mean for your ability to enter the housing market or consider things like starting a family. I know that Bruce Champman welcomed these changes, and these are excellent changes. I'm excited that we are doing this with urgency as part of a new government and excited about what this will mean for the young people in my electorate and all around the country.

Mr MATT SMITH (Leichhardt) (11:46): I rise to speak on the provisions of the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025. I support this bill. The people I know support this bill. From the huge amount of doorknocking I did in my community, I can say clearly that the people who put me here support this bill. The only people I've heard not supporting it are those opposite. I'm pleased to say the bill is going through.

If I'm to go out on a limb I will say this is a great day for the over three million Australians who are going to see their HECS debt reduced by 20 per cent. It is a great day for the 17,000 people in my own electorate who are going to see their bill reduced by 20 per cent. The regions know that when you train people at home they stay at home. Cairns is home to two world class universities, JCU and CQU, and this change will enable young people to get the education they want and stay close to home and also give us the services and skills in the regions that we need to prosper. This is nation building, this is region building and this is a fantastic initiative that is going to make a world of difference to my electorate of Leichhardt.

This bill is also the delivery of a promise. I'm proud to be part of a government that delivers on its promises. The Prime Minister said this would be the first bill to be introduced to the House, and indeed it was. This is my first speech on a bill, and I'm proud that it is this one.

The average student debt is over $27,000—weighing people down, an albatross around their neck. These people are teachers, nurses and allied health workers. We are removing that albatross. We are giving them room to breathe. When you are not feeling financial strain, everything in your life gets that little bit easier. I was fortunate. I never got a HECS debt, but a lot of people I know did. A lot of people in this House probably have a HECS debt or know somebody with a HECS debt—their children, perhaps.

My good friend Ash Constable came to Cairns from Ballarat, tried out with the Taipans, became a teacher, did his university up there and stayed. You teach them there, they stay there. I remember talking to him way back when, before the campaign, before there was any thought, and he said: 'I can't do it, mate. I want to buy a house, but every time I check my HECS debt, it's going up further than I'm paying off. I can't get a loan. I can't get in front of anybody.' He's working. He's got his girlfriend, Jas, and they want to start their lives They want to get that house. They want to get that dog. They were just stuck. He was spinning his wheels as he watched his debt go up and up and up. This changes this for Ash. The APRA changes, which allow him to get a home loan without HECS and HELP being taken into account, changed it for him. I'm happy to report to the House that he now has his house and his dog Ziggy and he and Jas are able to start their lives together in a beautiful suburb of Cairns. This is a success story; this is what is made possible by the Australian Labor government.

It's not just for Ash. All up this bill will cut student debt by more than $16 billion. That's a lot less sleepless nights for those young people. The legislation makes clear that this cut will be backdated to June 2025, before this year's indexation has been accrued, and this policy will help uni students, vocational education students and some apprentices. The bill will also make important structural changes to the way this system works. It raises the minimum amount you earn before you have to start making repayments from $54,435 to $67,000. To the students I see in the gallery, it's going to make your futures easier. You'll earn more before you have to start paying back.

It also replaces the current system with a new marginal repayment system. The current system is based on your entire income. Once you earn above the minimum repayment threshold of $54,435, you pay a percentage of your entire wage as your repayment. Under this bill, you'll only pay a percentage of your wage above the minimum repayment threshold. For example, if you earn $70,000, you'll pay $1,750 a year. Under our changes, you'll only pay $450. That's roughly $1,300 back into your pocket. That's $1,300 that you can spend on going out to dinner and that makes you less afraid of the electricity bill or when the car inevitably breaks down as it does in those first few years out of university.

Last year the government wiped $3 billion of HELP debt from the fixed system so the indexation of HELP debts can never increase faster than wages. From 1 July 2025, the Labor government has established a Commonwealth prac payment to provide up to about 68,000 eligible teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students payments while they are completing their compulsory practical training at TAFE and university. Fee-free TAFE has become law, and over 680,000 enrolments have occurred across the country with 170,000 of those courses already completed. When I visit TAFEs in Far North Queensland, I hear from the potential nurses how grateful they are for that. A lot of them are starting education mature in life. They've got children; they've got mortgages; they've got rents. This is really helping them along and is putting more nurses in our hospitals.

The Labor government has also established the independent Australian Tertiary Education Commission to drive reform of Australia's tertiary education sector. The changes to which universities are funded will start from 2026 and will help more people from the outer suburbs and the regions get a chance to go to university and provide them with support they need to get their degrees.

As I've said, we've made it easier for students to get into the housing market. My friend the Treasurer delivered on this. It has made a world of difference. Young people can see the light. They feel the pressure released from their shoulders. It is reasonable that the banks omit HELP debt from a serviceability assessment when a borrower's expected to pay off their HELP within 12 months, and ASIC has updated all of its regulatory compliance to acknowledge that HELP debts are different from other forms of debt because the amount required is to be repaid dependent on a person's level of income. This is a valuable change. It makes sense, it makes the system fairer and it helps our young people have a future.

As Minister Clare has said multiple times, young people don't always see something for them on the ballot paper, but this time they did because we listened. This is what Labor parties have done and will continue to do—listen to the people and provide support for the people who want to improve themselves through education and improve their lives for their families. From go to whoa, this Labor government has supported the full Gonski, from early childhood education right the way through to university and vocational training. There is not one part of your life as a student and becoming educated that has not been improved by this Labor government.

I know that there will be many people in my electorate today who are pleased by the passing of this bill. They are relieved by the passing of this bill. Future students will now understand that HECS and HELP debts are not going to be a barrier to them going to university or TAFE or furthering their education. I am very proud to commend this bill to the House.

Ms RYAN (Lalor—Chief Government Whip) (11:54): Deputy Speaker Chesters, it's a pleasure to be here and to see you in that chair.

Labor is the party of education. Labor is the party of aspiration. I'm pleased to rise on the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025 that addresses both of those things. I support this legislation, the first bill introduced in this new parliament, because it delivers on the promise made to Australians. The bill goes to the heart of Labor's mission—fairness, relief and restoring faith in the power of education. It is Labor's safety net in action not just for today but for a better, fairer Australia tomorrow.

As someone who spent over two decades in schools as a teacher, a principal and a proud public educator, I understand how crucial it is that education remains an opportunity and that all hindrances are removed and all impediments to having people engage in education are addressed. It is important that higher education not become a trap.

The bill in front of us wipes 20 per cent off existing student debts across HELP, VET Student Loans, Apprenticeship Support Loans and others. It delivers $16 billion in student-debt relief for around 3 million Australians, including more than 800,000 people in Victoria, and over 18,000 in my electorate of Lalor. That's 18,000 locals who will be better off because this bill passes this place.

It will provide an average reduction of $5,520 per person in student debt—and that's an average. I've met young locals who have much bigger debts than that, because they've pursued longer term agendas. That's a young couple saving for a house, a mature-age student changing careers or a family breathing a little easier. This 20 per cent cut is automatic—no red tape, no applications, just direct relief.

This builds on the Labor government's earlier action to fix the broken indexation system, which wiped a further $3 billion in debt for Australians with a HECS debt. Together these reforms represent nearly $20 billion in relief—real action, not talk, to support our local people. I understand what this means for people trying to move forward. I understand what it means for young families juggling child care and repayments. I understand the peace of mind this will bring to a generation that has felt locked out.

But it also goes to structural issues. This goes to the structure of the repayment system. This legislation reforms the repayment system and makes it fairer. The minimum repayment threshold will increase from $54,000 to $67,000. Simply put it means that, if you currently earn $54,000, you are required to start paying back that HECS debt. This will increase that payment threshold and only apply when you are earning $67,000. A graduate earning $70,000 will pay $1,300 less per year in repayments, because of this measure. You won't begin repaying your loan until you are earning a more sustainable income. That's fairer, that's smarter and that's a system that recognises the real pressures Australians are facing. It especially supports women, carers and part-time workers—those who've often borne the brunt of unfair systems.

This bill goes to the heart of who we are as a nation and what we aspire for our young people. It's about who we back and about who we believe in. It will especially help younger Australians, with around 70 per cent of people repaying a HECS debt being 35 years and younger. My electorate of Lalor is one of the youngest in the country, and I know how much this matters to the people I represent—not just the people with the debt but their families, their parents, who are equally concerned, as concerned as we are in this place, about what this has meant for young people getting their first housing loan. We have this piece of legislation. We also have the Treasurer's actions with the banks to ensure that that is changing.

On election night, a student who helped on the campaign for me, came up and simply said: 'Thank you. Thank you for understanding what this means.' That moment has stayed with me. That student represents what this bill is all about. It's about hope, it's about access and it's about fairness.

From Whitlam establishing universal higher education in 1974, through Hawke's and Dawkins's reforms and to today, Labor has delivered access and equity across generations. This bill continues that legacy. As a former educator, I know that education transforms lives. I've taught kids whose parents never finished school. I've sat with students at 3.30 pm on a Friday, watching them weigh up work, study and survival. I understand the barriers that exist and I know that education is a ladder—and it's always been Labor that builds the rungs on that ladder, making sure no-one is left behind.

I take a moment to say that this bill works in conjunction with other actions taken by this government. I want to celebrate for a moment one of the things that the Albanese Labor government has done—and that something was really important in my electorate. The fact is that Pacific Islander students in my electorate were blocked from—had impediments put in front of them—being able to access HECS. They had no pathway to citizenship. I taught generations of Pacific Islander kids whose aspirations were dashed because they couldn't see a pathway to higher education in this country. This government has created that pathway to citizenship. This government has created that pathway to allowing our young people from New Zealand to access this. This government has now given them relief on top through this budget.

This bill restores confidence in our higher education system and restores the public's belief that students can enrol in higher education and that they have a government that believes in them and supports them. The Universities Accord made it clear: uncapped indexation, rising debts and confusing repayment systems were putting people off study altogether. You don't have to look very far in my community to see the impact that has had. That is no way to run a system built on and for aspiration. This bill answers that fear with fairness. We're not just cutting debt by 20 per cent; we're rewriting the rules—fixing indexation so it never grows faster than wages and introducing marginal repayments so repayments only apply to what you earn above the threshold. This is a critical point when you're looking at your options between pursuing higher education and pursuing a trade. It's a critical point, and we need those with the capacity to pursue higher education. We know we need it. We've been told how important that higher education piece is going to be into the future.

Whilst Labor is delivering $16 billion in real relief to three million Australians, the opposition—those opposite—said no. They voted against wiping student debt. They voted against easing the cost-of-living burden. They voted against restoring fairness to the higher education system. At a time when Australians needed support, they chose politics over people. Labor chooses students, Labor chooses fairness, Labor chooses action and Labor chooses aspiration. This is a Labor policy. It reflects Labor values and it will be delivered by the Albanese Labor government. This bill lifts the weight off the shoulders of the very people we rely on.

As the member for Lalor, I say thank you to the Minister for Education for making this our government's first priority. I thank the Prime Minister for making this commitment. I commend the bill to the House and the message it sends for three million Australians: help is here, and fairness is back, because, under Labor, education will never be a privilege for the few. It will always be a promise to all.