Unlike the fee-free tuition enjoyed by some of our most senior politicians, nearly three million Australians have HECS-HELP loans that have .
Earlier this month the , including wiping 20 per cent off all student loan debts by 1 June 2025 if re-elected.
The election pledge would wipe $5,520 off the average Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) debt of $27,600.
Labor also plans to raise the income threshold necessary before students start paying back their degrees, with the country’s total Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debt sitting at $81 billion at the end of 2023-24.
As politicians head into their final sitting week for the year, the government hopes to extend fee-free TAFE places to 100,000 people each year from 2027.
The suite of measures prompted criticism from the federal Opposition, which argued reducing university fees was “a profoundly unfair policy”.
“People who have the benefit of a tertiary education will have much higher lifetime earnings than the average across the community and therefore it’s appropriate that they bear some of the cost of their education,” Opposition frontbencher Paul Fletcher told ABC Radio.
Some social media users have said those comments appeared hypocritical, given higher education was free when some members of parliament, including Fletcher, were studying.
Even NDIS minister Bill Shorten in an opinion piece advocating for young voters to get a “HECS break” last week.
Gough Whitlam’s Labor government abolished tuition fees for university and technical college students in 1974, in an effort to make tertiary education more accessible to Australians of all backgrounds.
The policy remained in place through Liberal Malcolm Fraser’s 1975 to 1983 prime ministership — but was scrapped in 1989 when the Hawke Labor government introduced the Higher Education Contributions Scheme (HECS).
Here’s how many of the 151 members of the House of Representatives and 76 senators benefited.
Scroll down use our interactive and check your local politician’s education status below.
Which politicians got free university?
Roughly one in four politicians currently serving in parliament either partially or fully benefited from fee-free tuition, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Notably, both Green leader Adam Bandt and Liberal leader Peter Dutton paid for their studies during the HECS period, with the latter attending university after he finished his time in the police force.
The front bench of both major parties is almost evenly split. Six Labor MPs and five Coalition MPs got free, or partially fee-free tertiary education.
These include Defence Minister Richard Marles, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Coalition frontbenchers Angus Taylor, Barnaby Joyce and Daniel Tehan.
More than half of parliament used the HECS scheme or paid for their studies, including Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Education Minister Jason Clare and deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley.
Roughly 16 per cent of parliament holds no higher education qualification.
Explore our maps to see where your local politician sits. All data is based on public records. SBS News made every effort to contact all politicians and verify their records.
