It took me 10 years to pay off my HECS debt.

A lot of people don't realise a HECS debt also impacts your home loan borrowing capacity.

What about all the people who go overseas to live/work? Once they stop lodging an Australian tax return they don't need to pay it back. Maybe we should focus on some of these people, especially if they are earning big money in their overseas jobs.

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Hi Danielle,

Australians living overseas have been required to make HECS payments since July 2017.

https://www.moneymag.com.au/hecs-loophold-closed

- Money team

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That's really interesting because a few people I know have moved overseas and they have actually bragged to me about not needing to pay back their HECS (they knew it was a sore point for me).

But if the government is somehow getting it that's great.

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The Government should incentivise young people (if they have the capacity to pay or family member to assist) to pay off their HECS debt upfront by providing a worthwhile discount of say 20% - 25% of the amount owed. I am sure a number of people would pay up front to clear the debt. The system does need to be reviewed.

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David, this used to be the case. When I came through uni (early 2000s), there was a 25% discount for paying, I think it was more than $500 upfront. It then dropped to a 15% discount, and then disappeared completely. When the discount was available, I was literally cleaning out my bank account to pay my fees upfront, just to get the discount. Now that there's no discount, I haven't paid anything on my HECS debt for years. I wonder if the government has any statistics on how many other people did the same as me.

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