HECS indexation would move to November
Student debts grow with prices every 1 June. That happens before the tax office takes off the repayments you made that year. This bill would move that date to 1 November.
Official name: Higher Education Support Amendment (Fix HECS) Bill 2026
- Right now, student loan debts grow on 1 June. That is before your yearly repayments are taken off.
- This bill would move the yearly rise to 1 November, after your tax return is usually done.
- The rate would use newer price and wage figures, up to the end of June.
- The Parliamentary Budget Office works out what policies cost and takes no side. It says people with these debts would save about $1.159 billion up to 2029-30.
Who it affects
- People with a student loan debt: Their repayments for the year would come off their debt before it grows with prices.
- Future students: Their debts would follow the same new 1 November timing.
- The federal budget: The government would be about $374 million worse off up to 2029-30.
- The Australian Taxation Office: It would publish the yearly rate before 1 November.
Debts grow before repayments count
Most Australian uni students pay for their course with a loan from the government. Its official name is a HELP debt. Many people still call it HECS. You pay it back through the tax system once you earn enough.
Each year, the debt goes up to keep pace with prices or wages. This is called indexation. We will call it the yearly rise. The Higher Education Support Act 2003 says it happens on 1 June. That is the law that sets uni fees and student loans.
The bill says the problem is timing. All year, your boss takes money out of your pay for your student loan. That money only comes off your debt once the tax office checks your tax return. That usually happens after 1 June.
So the yearly rise is worked out on a debt that does not yet show the money you have already paid. The bill's notes say this means people pay the rise on debt they have already paid off.
Dr Monique Ryan is an independent member of the House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament. Independent means she is not part of any party. She brought this bill. It is a private bill. That means a government minister did not bring it.
Date moves to 1 November
The main change moves the yearly rise from 1 June to 1 November each year. By November, most people have handed in their tax return and had it checked.
Both kinds of repayment would come off your debt before the rise is added. One kind is the money taken from your pay. The other is extra money you choose to pay.
The notes say this makes a new debt wait longer before its first rise. The wait goes from about 11 months to about 16 months.
The bill gives an example. Lorraine has a $15,000 debt on 1 November 2027. She adds $1,500 more. She pays an extra $525 by choice.
Her tax return then shows $3,000 was taken from her pay. It is checked on 3 September 2028. All of that comes off before the rise on 1 November 2028.
Newer figures for indexation
The yearly rate is worked out from two official measures. The Consumer Price Index tracks prices. The Wage Price Index tracks wages.
Right now, the rate uses figures up to the three months ending 31 December. The bill would use figures up to the three months ending 30 June. The notes say this makes the rate match what is happening now more closely.
The head of the Australian Taxation Office would have to publish the rate before 1 November each year.
Smaller fixes and changeover
Other changes swap 1 June for 1 November in other parts of the law that link to it. That includes the rules for working out a person's total debt. It also includes when a debt counts as starting.
The first year needs special care. That is because the rise would move from 1 June 2026 to 1 November 2026.
The bill lets the Minister make short-term rules to handle that one-off shift. Those rules could change the words of the law itself.
Waiting in the House
The law would start the day after it is signed into law. The Governor-General, the King's representative, signs bills into law.
Dr Ryan brought the bill to the House of Representatives on 29 June 2026. That day the debate on its main idea also started. It has not been debated or voted on since.
To become law, it needs to pass the House of Representatives. Then it must pass the Senate, the other house of Parliament. Private bills often wait a long time for a vote. Many never get one.
Its journey through Parliament
| 29 Jun 2026 | House of Representatives: Introduced and read a first time |
| 29 Jun 2026 | House of Representatives: Second reading moved |