When Jordyn Avery used to think about her dream job in fashion, a lingering debt of $76,000 was never part of her vision.
In high school, student debt was not a hot topic of conversation.
Rather, she and her cohort were encouraged to pursue whatever studies led them to their desired careers, and it was assumed that they would all go to college.
He had never thought that his academic achievements would lead him to accumulate tens of thousands of student debts by the age of 24, and he wondered if he would ever be able to pay it all off.
“It was definitely swept under the rug,” Mrs. Avery said.
“Currently my HECS is $16,000 more than my annual salary, so even the thought of being able to pay for it all seems completely unrealistic at the moment.”
Following her love of fashion and design to tertiary level, Ms Avery proudly earned two bachelor’s degrees: Communication Design from Monash University and Fashion and Sustainability from Collarts.
Young Australian graduate Jordyn Avery (pictured) has revealed the difficulties of paying off huge HECS student debt
While both careers were rewarding and useful, the expense has been “disturbing.”
“At school, everyone encourages you to pursue the subjects you’re good at, which is exactly what I did, and I couldn’t see myself working in a different industry or a different job or field,” Ms. Avery said. .
“They tell you to do whatever you want, then if it’s a creative industry, the government responds and says, ‘Actually, have you considered anything else?'”
“I want to do this because this is what I’m interested in and passionate about, and I shouldn’t be penalized for taking a creative course.”
Eligible students in Australia can pay for their degrees using a HECS-HELP loan: a Higher Education Contribution Scheme and Higher Education Loan Scheme.
When a graduate starts earning more than $51,550, HECS refunds begin to be deducted from their salary in the same way as income tax.
Reimbursement rates start at one percent of a person’s salary, but increase dramatically to ten percent once graduates earn $151,201 or more.
The 24-year-old completed two degrees in fashion and racked up $76,000 in debt, more than her annual salary.
While HECS debts do not bear interest, the sum is indexed annually on July 1 to the rate of inflation, meaning the debts were indexed at 7.1 per cent last year.
This means that even if Ms. Avery had made voluntary debt payments last year, the total amount owed would not have decreased.
“My HECS went up about $4,000 last year because of indexing,” he said.
‘By the time I would have paid a significant portion, the amount that increased would have canceled out that payment anyway.
“So it added a lot more money to what I’ve already paid.”
Victorian Independent MP Dr Monique Ryan recently launched a campaign to update, modernize and equalize the HECS system.
By starting an online petition, Dr. Ryan has easily garnered more than 200,000 signatures of support.
In the introduction to the petition, he criticized the system as “broken.”
“Last year, more than a million Australians saw their HECS debt grow faster than it was being repaid due to an unfair indexation system,” he wrote.
‘The government made more money last year from our HECS debts than from its main fossil fuel tax.
‘As we sign this petition, Education Minister Jason Clare is deciding what to do about HECS debts.
“We are calling on Minister Clare to change the way HECS debts are indexed.”
She fears being “indebted for life” and not being able to get a mortgage loan.
He said that instead of “placing” students with “a lifetime of debt,” studying and attending university should be celebrated and not financially punished.
“One option is for the government to apply the lowest indexation rate in a year, whether wages or prices, so that no one’s debt increases faster than they can pay it,” he wrote.
“Young people are facing a housing crisis, a cost of living crisis and a climate crisis – they shouldn’t also be facing a HECS debt crisis.”
Avery said the stress of HECS was far-reaching, and could even prevent him from buying a home.
“It’s frustrating because even someone with a really good credit score will be refused a home loan because of their HECS debt,” he said.
“The idea of buying a house or paying off debt is completely out of reach for me, especially in the cost of living crisis.”
The Australian Universities Deal final report, which explores long-term solutions to problems in the country’s higher education system, overwhelmingly concluded that “significant change is needed.”
“Small program and funding reforms will not be enough,” the report concludes.
‘Higher student contribution amounts… have significantly and unfairly increased what students pay.
“While the HELP system protects students by ensuring payments increase with their income, cost-of-living pressures and higher-than-usual inflation rates have raised concerns about the HELP system.”
Victorian Independent MP Dr Monique Ryan (pictured) launched a petition calling for a modernized and equal HECS debt scheme which has garnered more than 200,000 signatures.
The review’s recommendations included changing the timing of indexation to deduct mandatory repayments first and ensuring people’s debts did not grow faster than their salaries.
Education Minister Jason Clare referred to the review in a statement, saying it would help “build a better and fairer education system”.
‘Under Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, the number of Australians completing secondary school jumped from around 40 per cent to almost 80 per cent. That was a national change,” Mr Clare said.
‘The Agreement says that in the next few years we will need 80 per cent of the workforce to not only finish secondary school, but we will also need them to finish TAFE or university.
‘The Agreement will help drive this change. It will help us build a better, fairer education system where no one is left behind and no one is left behind.
“This is not a plan for a budget, but a blueprint for the next decade and beyond.”
Despite the government’s seemingly stalled talks, Avery said it was an urgent issue and needed to be rushed to address.
“It’s not that I wanted to have this $76,000 debt for my education,” he said.
‘I don’t think it’s fair that my HECS is so high because it’s not a representation of how smart you are, how hard you’ve worked or anything like that.
“I literally can’t see a day when I don’t have HECS debt.”
