Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

In the wake of another shocking interest rate rise, which shows the Albanese government has no plan to drive down inflation and address the cost-of-living crisis that so many Australians are facing, I raise serious concerns about the impact this will have on three million Australians with student debt. Under Labor, anyone with a HECS debt was hit with a 7.1 per cent increase in their student loan in June this year. Last year, the increase was 3.9 per cent. Next year, it's expected to be around six per cent. Under the coalition's responsible economic management, HECS indexation averaged just two per cent a year. A 16 per cent increase in student loans over three years under Labor shows it is tone-deaf to the cost-of-living burden this is imposing on millions of Australians.

Along with other senators and members, I also raise serious concerns about the antiquated HECS repayment system, which does not account for loan repayments in real time, adding to student debt. The education minister, Minister Clare, promised to review this system, but instead he has buried it. When I sought details about this review in Senate estimates, his department refused to answer the question. I am delighted the Senate has now ordered the production of these documents by Friday.

To make matters worse, the government has misled student teachers who were promised the chance to apply for scholarships of up to $40,000 if they chose to enrol in a teaching course—an important way to address acute teacher shortages across this country. Under the cover of darkness, with the minister overseas, he announced this $52 million scholarship program but excluded non-government schools and the one-third of Australian teachers who choose to work in an independent or Catholic school. This is discriminatory and imposes a massive cost-of-living burden on those who choose to work in the non-government sector. Labor is missing in action on cost-of-living relief for our university students. It's not good enough.