Bills aim to reduce student loan burden, prevent award variations
The federal government has introduced to Parliament the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates) Bill 2025 and the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 per cent) Bill 2025, seeking to deliver cost-of-living relief for Australians.
“Our number one focus is continuing to deliver cost of living relief to Australians,” said Anthony Albanese, prime minister, in a media release. “Protecting penalty rates for millions of workers is an important part of that – making sure Australians can earn more and keep more of what they earn.”
The proposed fair work legislation will prevent award variations from reducing or removing a worker’s penalty or overtime rates, according to the Australian government’s media release.
In its media release, the federal government said the new law seeks to safeguard the penalty and overtime rates of millions of Australian employees, help them earn more, and retain more of these earnings.
The new law aims to “ensure the wages of around 2.6 million modern award-reliant workers are protected,” added Amanda Rishworth, employment and workplace relations minister, in the media release.
The media release explained that penalty and overtime rates are necessary for a fair minimum award safety net of terms and conditions of employment, particularly for employees who rely on awards and receive low pay.
“If you rely on the modern award safety net and work weekends, public holidays, early mornings or late nights, you deserve to have your wages protected,” Rishworth said in the federal government’s media release.
“Millions of hard-working Australians rely on penalty rates and overtime rates to keep their heads above water, which is why this Bill is so critical and should receive the support of both the Opposition and the Greens,” Rishworth added.
The legislation intending to cut 20 percent from all student debts will also raise the minimum amount before Australians need to start making repayments ranging from $54,435–$67,000, and reduce minimum repayments, according to another news release from the federal government.
“We promised cutting student debt would be the first thing we did back in Parliament – and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Albanese said in the media release. “Getting an education shouldn't mean a lifetime of debt.”
The federal government said the proposed legislation aims to cancel over $16bn in student debt for more than three million Australians, relieve the burden on the country’s workers and students, and add to reforms seeking to fix the indexation formula, which has already abolished over $3bn in debt.
“For someone earning $70,000 a year, it will cut the amount they have to repay every year by $1,300,” said Jason Clare, education minister, in the media release. “That’s real help with the cost of living. It means more money in your pocket, not the government’s.”
According to the federal government, retroactive to 1 June, the new law aims to reduce the pressures on Australians with debts from Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) loans, Vocational Education and Training (VET) student loans, Australian apprenticeship support loans, and student startup loans, among other student loans.
“This bill will deliver cost of living relief to almost 280,000 students in the VET sector – cutting half a billion dollars of student debt from this group alone,” said Andrew Giles, skills and training minister, in the media release. “Our Government is focused on reducing the barriers to further study and training, so that every Australian can get the skills they need for secure, well-paid jobs.”
