Doorstop - Australian Taxation Office, Canberra
SUBJECTS: Cutting student debt by 20%.
DANIEL MULINO, ASSISTANT TREASURER: Great to be here this morning with my colleagues Minister for Education Jason Clare and the Minister for Skills and Training Andrew Giles, and also with the Commissioner for Tax and so many of the ATO staff who are here working on a really important policy that the Government is implementing, the 20 per cent reduction in HECS debt.
This was a major policy, a very prominent policy during the election, and one that resonated with so many millions of people. And it's wonderful to be here this morning to see that just this morning, 1.6 million people's HECS debt was reduced by 20 per cent. That's something that they'll be able to see in their MyGov accounts and they'll receive text messages next week, notifying them of an early Christmas present, a really significant reduction in their debt. Yet another important cost of living measure as a part of the Albanese Government's broader response to people’s cost of living.
I can also just thank the very hard working people here at the ATO. The Commissioner of Tax is here but there’s a huge team behind him who have been working very hard over the past few weeks, working on tens of thousands of lines of code and all of the other administrative processes that sit behind delivering this important benefit to people in a timely way, and I want to thank them for all of their hard work which is now paying such big dividends. So with that, I'll hand over to the Minister for Education.
JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: Thanks Dan. I never thought I'd say it's great to be at the Tax Office. But it is this morning because this is where it's all happening. This is where, just in the last couple of hours more than one and a half million Australians have had their student debt cut by 20 per cent. And just to give you an idea about what this means, the average student debt today is about $27,000. That means that that average debt has just been cut by $5,500. So that's a lot of help for a lot of people, that's going to make life a bit easier for a lot of young Australians, it'll change the lives of a lot of young Australians. It'll mean they can pay off their debt a bit sooner. It gives them the chance to think about what's next in life for them, make it easier to buy a home.
We're talking about a lot of young Australians who are just out of uni, or they’re just out of TAFE, they might be just out of home and they're just getting started in life, and this is a bit of help. And this is all going to happen again this time next week. Next Thursday, another one and a half million Australians will have their student debt cut by 20 per cent. We promised this in the election, Australians voted for it and now we're delivering it.
Just like you mate, I want to thank the Tax Commissioner and I want to thank the whole team for all of your work. It’s really important that it worked. There's a lot of Aussies out there that are waiting for that text message, an important message to let everybody know it's all happened automatically here, and you can check it on your MyGov account. You don't have to do a thing. Just wait for the ding, just wait for that text message that you'll get next week to confirm that it's all done. I might hand over to Andrew now to say a few words.
ANDREW GILES, MINISTER FOR SKILLS AND TRAINING: Thanks Jase. It's great to be with you, and of course with Daniel and I want to echo both of your comments and really emphasise how grateful I am, and appreciative I am of the work of everyone at the ATO. Commissioner, you've done something amazing you're delivering good news to three million Australians, 1.5 million now, the rest to come. 300,000 of those have got loans associated with VET, and I want to recognise those people in particular as the Minister for Skills and Training.
We know right now, two things – that just about every job that's being generated in the Australian economy requires a post-school qualification. We also know the cost of living pressures are really hitting home. So this initiative, along with Paid Prac, along with Free TAFE, and with all the other cost of living measures we are undertaking are helping every Australian have every opportunity to get the skills they want to do the jobs we need.
And when I think about this particular initiative and the good news that's being received around the country, I think of so many stories that I have heard along the way. In particular Ralph, who I met in Canberra a few weeks ago. Ralph told me he’s an enrolled nursing student here, at CIT, and that this would mean a $3,000 reduction in his debt. And what this meant for Ralph, it wasn't an abstract thing, it was really concrete, it meant he could move more quickly in a studying that bachelor's degree that would enable him to become a Registered Nurse. That's one example of the difference this is making to the lives of millions of Australians, one example of how a relentless focus on delivery that characterises the Albanese Government is changing individual lives and changing our country. So it's great to be here today. And once again, huge thanks to the team at the ATO who've made a great policy real for three million Australians.