On 1 June your HECS-HELP debt is going to get bigger
That’s because the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) — previously known as HECS — is tied to inflation, which has been surging over the past few months.
Study and training loan indexation rates
On 1 June each year, indexation is applied to the part of an accumulated study and training loan that has remained unpaid for more than 11 months, for:
- Higher Education Loan Program (HELP)
- VET Student Loan (VSL)
- Student Financial Supplement Scheme (SFSS)
- Student Start-up Loan (SSL)
- ABSTUDY Student Start-up Loan (ABSTUDY SSL)
- Trade Support Loan (TSL).
Indexation maintains the real value of the loan by adjusting it in line with changes in the cost of living as measured by the consumer price index (CPI). The indexation figure is calculated each year after the March CPI is released. It is based on financial figures collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics over the previous 2 years.
The ATO’s table shows the indexation rate applied to all study and training loans:
| YEAR | INDEXATION RATE |
| 2022 | 3.9% |
| 2021 | 0.6% |
| 2020 | 1.8% |
| 2019 | 1.8% |
| 2018 | 1.9% |
| 2017 | 1.5% |
| 2016 | 1.5% |
| 2015 | 2.1% |
| 2014 | 2.6% |
| 2013 | 2.0% |