Debt Reductions for People with HELP, VETSL and SSL Student Loans
Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025
House of Representatives
Senate
Assent
Introduced by: The Hon Jason Clare MP (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Jason Clare ALP
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. It is a privilege to introduce the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill. As promised, this is the very first bill to be introduced to the parliament after the election. And as promised, it cuts the student debt of three million Australians by 20 per cent. On 3 May Australians made their voices heard.”
Ms McKENZIE
“I rise to speak on the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025, a measure which provides a one-off 20 per cent reduction to higher educational and program debts and restructures how young people will repay their debt, including lifting the threshold for compulsory repayments from $54,435 in 2024-25 to $67,000 in this financial year.”
Anthony Albanese ALP
“Labor is the party of education and Labor is the party of aspiration.”
Dr RYAN
“I rise to thank the Minister for Education for moving this bill, the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025, with a degree of urgency. We know that HECS debt is an incredible burden for so many Australians—current students but also graduates.”