Media Releases

MEDIA RELEASE: Pain for postgrads in new financial year

29 Jun 19

Pain for postgrads in new financial year

From July 1, lower-earning students and graduates will be on the receiving end of a double-assault on their hip pockets. The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) is deeply concerned about the impact on lower-earners of penalty rate cuts and the lowering of the student loan repayment threshold due to commence in the new financial year.

The lowered repayment threshold will mean that students and graduates will be paying back their student loans when they are earning barely above minimum wage. From July 1, the income repayment threshold will be reduced to $45,881.

This will have dire consequences for those who are working in lower-paid industries or part-time. It disproportionately takes money from women with responsibilities caring for young children or elderly parents.

The changes to student loans were waved through by the Senate last year, on the same day that Universities Australia released damning statistics in their Student Finances Survey showing the level of student poverty.

Many students work in hospitality, fast food and retail in order to cover their living expenses while studying. The cut to penalty rates – for the second year in a row – will have a life-altering impact for students who are already struggling to pay for rent, food, bills, transport, and textbooks.

To make matters worse, those struggling will see their take-home pay slashed by up to 15% as new cuts to penalty rates are implemented. This will snatch food off the table for those who are struggling. Students who attend university during the week and work on weekends are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of penalty rate cuts.

We are concerned that these attacks on lower income-earning Australians will result in more people living in extreme poverty, and lead to an increase in the number of students and graduates accessing support from already overstretched charities.

“At the same time as lower-income earners are victimised, those earning higher incomes will be receiving substantial tax cuts,” says CAPA President, Natasha Abrahams.

“The Government is committed to the myth of trickle-down economics, but historically the impact has been to widen the gap between the haves and have-nots.”
END
For comment:
CAPA National President Natasha Abrahams
M: 0430 076 993
E: president@capa.edu.au