Labor’s wiping of 20% of Hecs debt barely moves the needle. Australia’s students need to be freed from their crushing debt

‘Every effort made to hack away at our Hecs debts through personal contributions feels utterly meaningless as the number inflates year after year.’ Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian

I remember Jason Clare defending the 7.1% indexation to Hecs debts in 2023 because a tertiary degree “makes you money”. I also recall the education minister’s praise of Australia’s student loan system at question time in February, lauding it for blowing “open the doors of university for more young Australians”, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Given Australia’s economic environment and the crushing burden of Hecs debts today, I find this all rather amusing.

Students and graduates are feeling the pinch. We’ve been battered by an unrelenting cost-of-living crisis, with rents, grocery prices and energy bills all climbing faster than our wages and student welfare payments. The financial stress and anxiety of today is compounded by the worries of tomorrow as we students stare at the swelling mass that is our Hecs-Help debt.