Last week Joe Biden announced his commitment to forgiving $10,000 of student debt for 43 million Americans, reigniting similar debates in Australia.

The rising cost of living is making students especially economically vulnerable, compounded by steep fee increases for many university courses, and HECS debts that are indexed to the current high inflation rate.

Earlier this year the Greens proposed completely cancelling HECS debts instead of implementing the stage 3 tax cuts first introduced by the Coalition Government in 2018.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday confirmed Labors commitment to the tax plan, which it initially opposed.

Image: Image: Shutterstock – Matej Kastelic

Produced By: Tony Putt

Featured In Story: Georgie Beatty, President, National Union for Students, and Michael Rafferty, Associate Professor, School of Business, RMIT

First aired on The Wire, Tuesday 30 August 2022