6 Apr 2016

Australia to write off billions in student loans

12:32 pm on 6 April 2016

The Australian Government is preparing to write off billions of dollars in student loans as the number of bad debts soar.

Canberra politicians are forecasting losses of $A13.5 billion on four years worth of loans.

The figures come after the Government re-committed to university funding cuts and fee deregulation.

The Coalition is also considering changes to the vocational education sector, which is helping fuel the bleak fiscal predictions.

The amount never to be repaid on loans issued in 2018-19 is predicted to be around $A4.4 billion - a budget hit nearly four times higher than expected from loans issued last financial year.