Gen Z uni student slams Australia’s HECS debt system in epic rant – as more than 200,000 people come together to rally against sneaky fees

Thousands of angry students from across Australia have signed a petition calling for changes to the HECS debt indexing system.

University of Sydney student Nariman Dein called on her followers to sign an agreement petition to Education Minister Jason Clare and compared her HECS debt to buying a house.

In the current HECS programme, the amount owed by students is regularly adjusted to reflect current living costs and wages.

Last year, HECS debts were hit with a 7.1 percent increase, meaning students who owed $20,000 suddenly owed $21,420.

A petition started on March 14 has already been signed by more than 200,000 Australian students who want the indexation reduced.

They believe that indexation is rising faster than they can repay their HECS, pushing them further into debt every year despite regular payments.

Ms. Dein explained in a video on Monday that she did not realize that the indexation, which she called interest, would be added to her debt.

‘I was under the impression that I was going to university. “I have a ton of debt, but I can pay it off when I start making enough money and the amount I owe on my college debt won’t change,” she said.

“But you have to pay interest based on where it is now. It doesn’t even make any difference to your debts because you’re only paying interest.

“You think you’re paying off your debt, but you’re not.”

No interest is paid on the HECS debt, but indexation is adjusted on 1 June each year.

Ms Dein also criticized the government for raising indexation so high last year, despite the cost of living crisis.

‘There is a crisis going on. “People can’t afford to buy groceries, people can’t afford to buy a house, people can’t afford to do anything,” she said.

‘Yet they (the government) say, “Yes, that’s fine, you can just pay off your debt – if you ever pay it off – for the next 50 years.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know getting an education would be like buying a house.”

Melbourne Teal Independent MP Monique Ryan started the HECS petition earlier this month because ‘more than a million Australians saw their HECS debt grow faster than it was repaid due to an unfair indexation system’.

“The government got more money from our HECS debts last year than from the main fossil fuel tax,” she claimed.

‘We should celebrate students going to university, not burden them with lifelong debt.

‘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.’

Dr. Ryan suggested instead that the government apply “the lowest indexation rate in a year so that no one’s debts rise faster than he or she can pay.”

Melbourne Teal Independent MP Monique Ryan (pictured) started the petition earlier this month, which already has more than 200,000 signatures.

Hundreds of commenters under Ms. Dein’s video said they never realized their debts were affected by indexation.

‘Bro what?! What interest?! No one told me!’, one person wrote.

“This makes me cry,” said another.

“Australia needs at least 80 percent of its adult population to go to university or TAFE to actually function as a country, so why not just free up the country,” wrote another.

However, not everyone agreed with Ms. Dein’s video.

‘That’s why you pay per use. It’s the same amount as my weekly car payment. Everyone takes the easy way out by using HECS, but it’s not difficult to pay each time if you manage your money well,” one person wrote.

“It’s the same amount of money, except the Australian currency is worth less money than it was when you took out the loan,” said another.

A third commenter wrote, “Gen Z here already paid off my HECS debt ($100,000+) on their own and it only took about a year. There’s no excuse.’

Mrs. Dein answered them: ‘Not everyone can do that, you are so out of touch.’