Australia to slash $14b off student debt amid cost-of-living pressures

SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday that his government planned to cut student loans for around three million Australians by 20 per cent, wiping around A$16 billion (S$14 billion) in debts.

The move builds on May's budget which attacked cost-of-living pressures in Australia and gave debt relief for students, as well as more investment to make medicines cheaper, and a boost to a rent assistance programme.

"This will help everyone with a student debt right now, whilst we work hard to deliver a better deal for every student in the years ahead," Albanese said in a statement announcing the cut to student loans for tertiary education.

The changes would mean the average graduate with a loan of A$27,600 would have A$5,520 wiped, the government said.

The government said it already planned to cut the amount that Australians with a student debt have to repay per year and raise the threshold to start repayments.

Cost-of-living pressures, stoked by stubbornly high inflation, have a special resonance with a federal election looming and the centre-left Labor government now polling behind their conservative opponents.

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