Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia (ITECA) Media Release
To improve equity and access to higher education, the 20% student loan tax on FEE-HELP loans needs to be abolished, according to the Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia (ITECA), the peak body representing independent higher education, skills training, and international education providers.
The 20% student loan tax (formally known as a ‘loan fee’) is levied by the Australian Government on FEE-HELP loans taken out by students studying with most independent higher education providers.
“This tax is effectively a tax on learning, unfairly burdening students who choose these institutions for their education,” said Troy Williams, ITECA Chief Executive Officer.
The 20% student loan tax is highly discriminatory as it only applies to students studying with independent higher education providers.
“This creates an uneven playing field and penalises students for their choice of institution despite these providers often offering specialised and high-quality education tailored to industry needs,” Mr Williams said.
The Student Loan Tax The 20% student loan tax (formally known as a ‘loan fee’) is levied by the Australian Government on FEE-HELP loans taken out by students studying with most independent higher education providers. Tax is incompatible with the Australian Universities Accord Final Report recommendations, which advocate for high levels of participation and attainment in higher education. The Accord emphasises the need for inclusive and equitable access to education, recognising that our nation’s future prosperity relies on a well-educated and highly skilled workforce.
“The imposition of this student loan tax is inconsistent with the broader objectives of the Australian Universities Accord Final Report recommendations of increasing tertiary education participation through a more inclusive approach. Removing this tax will have positive benefits by making higher education more accessible to all Australians,” Mr Williams said.
Our country needs to increase the number of skilled workers and ensure they have access to lifelong learning opportunities. To achieve this, we must support higher participation among groups historically under-represented in higher education.
“These students require adequate financial support to succeed throughout their learning journeys, not to be whacked with a 20% student loan tax,” Mr Williams said.
ITECA Believes abolishing the 20% student loan tax is essential for fostering an inclusive, equitable, and robust higher education system.
“This week, ITECA wrote to every member of the federal parliament to raise the profile of how the student loan tax acts as a disincentive for thousands of students looking to undertake higher education,” Mr Williams said.
This is one of the many reforms required to put students at the heart of a high performing higher education system that recognises the significant contribution of independent higher education institutions.
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Why the hell do we persist with the thought that we need fees for public university tertiary education?? There is no need to collect money to “pay” for the cost of running public universities. As with ALL Federal public services, (transport, health, etc) they are funded by the digital transfer of money from the Federal Government.
I was fortunate enough to commence Uni in 1975 – absolutely, totally free apart from the Student Union fee. The universities didn’t go ‘broke’ during this period.
What did happen though was the big end of town panicked when they realised that the working class had quietly gained access to something that had been kept from them by the big end of town since 1788.
Reason for fees goes back to the ’80-90s.
It’s similar to why we have international fee paying students, ageing and demographic decline in the permanent population i.e more retirees vs fewer working age, leads to budget pressure and competition to access budgets, while tax paying working age cohort declines and taxes stay low….. and what do we hear, blaming immigrants &/or ALP vs oldies & boomers manipulated by RW MSM.
So true TT. Education should be free. If the govt wants to take more taxes relative to ones educational standing, then 1% extra tax on the wealthiest who are most likely to have benefited from higher education.
But the govt cannot help itself in destroying the future of as many young people as possible.
Exhibit A: the treatment of investment property as relates to tax legislation. The Tax Act showers benefits and tax breaks on the investor class who buy second-hand properties. The plan by both major parties must, on the evidence, be to limit access to owning a family home. The reason: it is better to create a society of renters.
At what point do Labor and the LNP become irrelevant? In my book, that already happened.
No R&D no economic future. The COALition maladministration & misgovernment set up Australia as a third world export economy, on the African rip-off model for the benefit of foreign owned multinational corporations having too long experience in Africa & Asia screwing Indigenous persons of their natural resources for no financial return.
The long term impact of university fees is to shred middle class financial equity by escalating property prices through the stratosphere and well beyond the ability of young persons to afford purchase without family financial support. Remember the German Republic 1933 -1945 when heavy industry was supported against the middle class.
The last thing needed in Australia is a US education style system at any level. Secondary schooling is appalling, tertiary studies a bit of a joke. There are some very bright research workers in the USA (United States of Apartheid) who have flourished despite the education system. Sending generations of young persons broke with proprietor slavery to the banks merely creates the FRWNJ desired ”neo-feudalism” or ”neo-slavery” where the rich rip off everybody else and get richer, rather than contributing to the common wealth of all Australian voters.
Both major political parties are responsible for these trends.
universities have tens of thousands of students(tune out for a modern description) who are barely literate and enumerate and graduating teachers who could barely pass grade 9 naplan because of rorting hecs/help money.
University mentality is not adequate for apprentices. Indeed I consider it a disincentive.
The solutionto works skills and lack of tradies, lies with local government, industries and schools.