White Paper: When Her Future Becomes a Footnote to a Loan; The Hidden Cost of HECS for Australian Women
Executive Summary
This paper examines the gendered impacts of Australia's HECS-HELP education debt system, particularly on women from the age of 18 through to menopause. While the government is introducing reforms such as a 20% debt reduction and indexation changes post-election, these measures remain structurally incomplete. They are presented as gender-neutral, but in practice, they fail to account for the unequal social, economic, and biological realities faced by women. This debt system quietly erodes women's freedom to make decisions about family, career, housing, and personal fulfilment. We argue that education debt, as currently structured, is not just a financial obligation but a constraint on dignity, autonomy, and life choices. The paper calls for a national conversation and structural reform to create genuine equity in how education debt is imposed and managed.
Introduction
The HECS reforms being introduced by the government; a 20% debt reduction and a shift in indexation policy; have been widely welcomed as a move toward fairness. Tying future indexation to wage growth rather than CPI and lifting the repayment threshold are certainly steps in the right direction.