There is a fair amount of debate going on around changes to University fee structures at the moment, including the application of an interest rate to the debt racked up through the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP). During Senate Question Time last week, the Greens Higher Education spokeswoman Lee Rhiannon posed an interesting question to Minister for Human Services Marise Payne, asking whether the plan to charge interest up to 6 per cent on existing debts as well as new ones constituted a broken contract.
The ABC put it through their fact checker and came out with a result of ‘debatable’.
It made me wonder though – would I have so easily taken on HELP debt if I was aware at the time of an interest charge? In asking that I am not necessarily against it (although 6 per cent is steep and I worry that this may put those in lower socio economic backgrounds off higher education), but am concerned that they can make this change ‘just like that’.
What do you think? Is it a breach of contract, or just of faith? Or, indeed simply a sign of the times where all must pay their way?
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What’s Your opinion?
Is the application of interest to historical HELP debt a breach of contract?
m_ratt said :
Agree that its a silly analysis but he said $20k per year of university, not $20k total debt.
m_ratt said :
Once you earn over a certain amount, though, there is no rebate. It is now means tested. It wasn’t before.
pink little birdie said :
The guy on facebook is an idiot. That’s entirely (and surely obviously?) wrong.
3% interest (which is not actually dissimilar to the current CPI indexation) adds about $600pa to the total.
4% at $50,000 is about $2000 paid off each.
At that rate, (assuming a constant $1400 net payment each year for simplicity), the debt will be repaid in under 15 years. Quicker when you remove the simplification.
Would take a bit longer at 6% interest, but still no where near 220 years.
Think about it.
4% of $50,000 per year for 220 years is $440,000 – way off for payment of a $20k debt.
banco said :
The total of outstanding HELP/HECS loans is somewhere between $25 billion and $60 billion. That is the cost of “free” tertiary education. We read of extraordinary efforts that some people will go to to avoid payment of same especially the ones that go overseas and boast about it. Those in the UK will soon have repayments deducted from their foreign income following arrangements made between the Australian and the UK governments. It’s a bit like the mentality of some retirees who organise their finances so they can draw the full pension and all the other “battler benefits” while enjoying the assets they have accumulated that are not assessed in calculating pension entitlements.
milkman said :
The 2% increments are relevant, because that is what VYBerlina is confusing with the rebate – the advertising for the Lifetime Health Cover loading being 2% for each year over 30 without cover – the age of 30 is not relevant to the rebate. VYBerlina obviously does not remember the ads clearly enough.
Although my last comment was flippant, I think it would be only fair to apply the interest to debt amounts incurred under the new system rather than retrospectively applying it to existing debts.
pink little birdie said :
OMG, and did you know that a person earning $40k per year will take an infinite numbers of years to pay it back?
Arrrrghhhhg, its the end of university I tells ya.
pink little birdie said :
Surely that’s indicative of what a great deal HECs is someone on that income will never pay back the money (assuming the calculations are correct).
pink little birdie said :
Huh? It’s a tax rebate. Once you no longer qualify there’s no rebate. It doesn’t matter about the 2% increments. When it was brought in it was non means tested, now it is.
pink little birdie said :
Better do a degree that doesn’t lead to below average wage then.
VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :
It’s not a 30% rebate for life it’s an extra 2% for each year over 30 that you aren’t in private health care that you aren’t paying.
A guy on facebook worked out that even at 3.0% it would take 220 years for a hecs debt of $20,000 per year of university if you were paying 4% of your income on $50,000
It’s sort of scary That’s why people are objecting.
Is changing my private health insurance rebate from 30% to zero a breach of contract? I clearly remember the ads with the umbrella about keeping your rebate for life if you joined by age 30.
It’s a moot point anyway. Fortunately for uni students the rate isn’t currently 6%, but closer to 3.5%, so similar to cpi anyway. Not that I agree with the changes.
It’s up to a maximum of 6% – currently I believe the working figure is 3.8% (10 year government bonds)
It would be interesting to see exactly what the agreement signed actually said though.
Unlikely to a breach of contract, I believe the forms signed when entering the arrangements would refer to the relevant section of the act that deals with the calculation of the amount of indexation/interest charged. This amount already changes on an annual basis anyway. A change to the legislation to substitute the new method would all that it would take. As noted in the article, this legislation and rates have been changed multiple times already over time, this time shouldn’t be any different.