Your HECS debt,
the real numbers.
Compulsory repayments by income band, indexation impact, and whether voluntary repayments still beat investing — built for Australian study debt.
About 3 million Australians carry a HELP debt — $81 billion in all.
There is no interest, but the balance is indexed each June and repaid through the tax system once you earn enough. Since July 2025 repayments are marginal — charged only on the income above the threshold, not your whole salary. It is worth modelling your own compulsory repayment, what next year’s indexation adds, and whether a voluntary payment beats investing the same money.
The 20% cut, in one debt
The one-off reduction applied to your balance as it stood on 1 June 2025, before that year’s 3.2% indexation. On a $30,000 debt it wiped $6,000 — no repayment, no application, done automatically by the ATO.
All HECS-HELP calculators
3 calculatorsHECS Repayment Calculator
Calculate your mandatory HECS repayment based on your income.
HECS Indexation Calculator
See how CPI indexation grows your HECS debt over time.
HECS Voluntary Repayment Calculator
Is it worth making voluntary HECS repayments vs investing the money?
HECS-HELP in Australia — 2026–27
HECS-HELP is Australia's income-contingent student loan scheme. When you study at a Commonwealth-supported place at an eligible higher education provider, the government covers your tuition upfront in the form of a HELP debt. You repay that debt gradually through the tax system once your income reaches the minimum repayment threshold — there are no interest charges, but the debt is indexed annually to CPI.
How HECS Repayments Work
HECS repayments are not optional once you earn above the threshold. For 2026–27, the minimum repayment threshold is $69,528. Since 1 July 2025 repayments are marginal — calculated only on the portion of your income above the threshold (15c for each $1 to $129,717, rising at higher incomes), not on your whole income. The HECS Repayment Calculator applies the 2026–27 ATO repayment rates to your income to show exactly how much will be withheld through your tax return or PAYG.
Note that your employer withholds HECS repayments from your salary if you indicate you have a HELP debt on your Tax File Number declaration. If you have multiple jobs or variable income, you may end up over- or under-withheld across the year.
The Impact of CPI Indexation
Unlike a standard loan, HECS-HELP carries no interest rate — but the outstanding balance is indexed to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on 1 June each year. In periods of high inflation, this indexation can add thousands of dollars to the debt in a single year, outpacing the mandatory repayments being made. The HECS Indexation Calculator projects how your debt will grow or shrink over time under different CPI and income scenarios, making the real cost of the debt visible.
Should You Make Voluntary Repayments?
Until 2022, the government offered a 5% bonus for voluntary HECS repayments — that incentive has been removed. Today the question of whether to pay off HECS debt early versus investing the money comes down to a simple comparison: is the CPI indexation rate on your HECS debt higher or lower than the after-tax return you could achieve by investing? The HECS Voluntary Repayment Calculator models both scenarios so you can make an informed decision based on current inflation expectations and your investment return assumptions.