Uni debts slashed for more than one million Australians

University students and apprentices will benefit from almost $16 billion in debt being wiped. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)

Half of all Australians with a student debt have had their loans slashed by 20 per cent.

The Australian Taxation Office will automatically apply the one-off reduction, with a further 1.5 million people to receive the cut by the end of next week.