Education is everything. It matters enormously to the families in the electorate of Chisholm, which I am so privileged to represent. I'm so pleased to be part of a government that takes education and higher education seriously and understands the opportunities that can be accessed through a university degree and a course of study.
This is an area I am absolutely passionate about. In my very first speech in this place, I spoke about my commitment to and experience of working in the higher education sector. I'm delighted that in our very first term we are making some important changes to make it easier for people to access education in communities right across Australia, including of course in my wonderful community of Chisholm, which is home to Monash University and Deakin University. Monash University is where I was able to undertake my first degree. It was always the local university and an important part of our community, where my school concerts and ballet concerts took place. I know that so many families move into the south-eastern and eastern suburbs because of the connection to excellent schools and terrific higher education institutions.
The reforms in this bill, the Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Bill 2024, really matter to my community of Chisholm. I undertook a survey throughout the accord consultation process in my electorate and I received hundreds and hundreds of responses. Locals wanted to see—and this came through incredibly clearly in responses—a fairer, more affordable and accessible education system. I made a submission on behalf of my electorate to the accord expert panel, and I'm so pleased that the voices of the people of Chisholm have been heard. The reforms we are getting on with implementing are exactly the sorts of reforms my electorate wants to see from our government. I've heard from students, from academics, from parents and from grandparents—even parents of children in primary school, parents who are already thinking about the education they want to set their young children up with for life.
Our government is making a really serious commitment to higher education, putting in place significant reforms in response to the Australian Universities Accord, which in itself was a really important process to undertake and which will provide cost-of-living relief and make higher education better and fairer for students, including those of low-SES or disadvantaged backgrounds and those from the outer suburbs and regional Australia.
This bill enacts many of the important changes announced in the 2024-25 budget. We're making HECS-HELP fairer for all Australians and wiping around $3 billion in student debt for three million Australians. This has been incredibly well received in my community, especially, as I mentioned, following the enormous number of responses to our survey and the clear community view that we need to make university more affordable for people right across Australia. What this means is that someone with an average HECS debt of about $26,500 will see that debt cut by about $1,200.
For the first time ever, the Commonwealth will introduce a prac payment to support teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students to do their mandatory placements. Again, the need to do this came through very strongly through the consultation that I've had in my community—with families, students, practitioners and the universities themselves. I'm really pleased that we're the first government to take this really important step because we want to make it easier for people to get a qualification, to get a job and to be able to contribute to our communities in these very important professions.
We know that many students have said that when they do the prac component of the degree they've got some really difficult financial decisions to make. Unfortunately, we know that some people have had to give up their part-time jobs or have had to move away from home, and, regrettably, for a lot of people this has meant that they've delayed finishing their degrees or have disconnected from study altogether and not completed their degrees at all. It's so important that we've removed the obstacles that have prevented people from being able to be successful through their studies in these incredibly important areas.
We know we need more teachers, more nurses, more midwives and more social workers. These are some of the most important jobs in this country. These are the people who will teach our children, look after people when they're sick and old, help women during childbirth, and support people in some of the most difficult times in their lives, when they may have experienced family and domestic violence. This is vital work across all of the communities that every representative in this place has the privilege of being elected to speak on behalf of. This is really important legislation, and this prac payment provides the support for people to continue with the training that they need to complete in order to be qualified in their chosen area of study.
This bill will also uncap the FEE-FREE Uni Ready Courses right across the country so that more people get the skills they need to start a degree. This is about unlocking opportunity, because, on this side of the House, we believe that everyone should be able to pursue all kinds of possibilities and potential, no matter where they're from and no matter how much they or their parents have earned. These courses—these FEE-FREE Uni Ready Courses—are effectively a bridge between school and university, to help people get the skills they need and to help them to succeed once they get to university. These changes are expected to increase the number of people doing these free uni-ready courses by about 40 per cent—that's so significant—by the end of the decade and to double the number in the decade after that.
This bill also mandates that higher education providers allocate at least 40 per cent of student services and amenities fees to student led organisations. This will strengthen student led organisations and their ability to act in the best interests of all students. This is really important and empowering for students. Again, this need to do more to allow student voices to be heard came through very strongly in the survey I undertook in my electorate of Chisholm.
Our government have been working really hard to make sure we address the issue of gender inequality in this country and, of course, we have seen that there has been a historic reduction in the gender pay gap recently. This bill also addresses gender inequality in this country. Sixty-one per cent of HELP debtors are women, which is around 1.8 million people. They are going to benefit from the measures contained in this legislation. The Commonwealth prac payment primarily supports female dominated occupations. Women make up 88 per cent of people in nursing, 75 per cent of people in teaching and 85 per cent of people in social work. We know that in our fee-free Uni Ready courses, over 60 per cent of the people who will benefit are women. They will benefit from the additional places and funding for delivery of these courses. So in this legislation, as across much of our legislation that we as a government have introduced, we see gender equality is at the heart of what we do.
It is significant that we are wiping around $3 billion in student debt for more than three million Australians. This will ease pressure on workers and students right across the country, providing significant relief for students while continuing to protect the integrity and value of the HELP and other student loan systems which have allowed government to massively expand tertiary access for Australians and to allow more Australians, therefore, to go to university and to seize the opportunities that a university education and degree provides. This bill caps the HELP indexation rate to the lower of either the consumer price index or the wage price index. Importantly, we back dated these changes to 1 June 2023.
Once the legislation passes, individuals will receive a credit to their outstanding student loan debt balance for the difference between the indexation rate under the current legislation and the new indexation rate. These changes cover HELP, VET student loans, Australian apprenticeship support loans and other student loan accounts that existed on 1 June last year. This will benefit all Australians with a student loan and fix the issue of last year's spike in the CPI indexation rate of 7.1 per cent and prevent growth in debt from outpacing wages in the future. This is a step that really demonstrates our commitment to fairness in the higher education loan system. This change is going to provide important relief for students while continuing to protect the HELP system and to enable people to defer their debt and study at university.
I am really proud to be part of a government that takes higher education seriously, that sees the benefit for our communities in making sure that education is inclusive, accessible and equitable. As I said in my first speech in this place and will continue to advocate for long after I leave this place, I believe that higher education and education more broadly unlocks opportunities. It is everything, I know families in my electorate sacrifice so much so that their children can receive a high-quality education. I will always defend education, from the earliest years to the possibilities through lifelong learning. I know that this side of the House, the Albanese Labor government, will always back education and do everything it can to protect and enhance the system we have in Australia.
