Basic education in Australia is free but college education can be quite expensive. After you graduated high school, the Australian government is not responsible for your education anymore.  However, the Australian Government provides financial assistance to individuals who want to pursue higher education through the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP).  The Higher Education Loan Program eliminates up-front costs that commonly discourage students from pursuing college education by giving them income contingent loans.

As its name implies, HELP is a loan which you will pay with interest when your repayment income goes beyond the minimum repayment threshold. The loan repayment may start even you are still in school or doing an apprenticeship if you exceeds the minimum repayment threshold. The compulsory repayment of HELP is made through your income tax but you are also allowed to do a voluntary repayment at any time and at any amount to reduce your loan balance.

The HELP compulsory repayment rate is dependent on your income. As your income increase, your repayment will also increase. If you have a bigger income, it means you can be free of HELP loans faster. It has to be clear that the compulsory repayment rate is solely base on your income alone meaning the income of your spouse or parents doesn’t count.

Computing for your HELP repayment can be quite complicated. The HELP debt repayment calculator can help you in finding out how much money and time you can save if you increase the amount of money you contribute monthly for the repayment of student loan. The HELP debt repayment calculator can only provide you an estimate based on the information you provide on the system. It can aid you in determining the amount you need to pay for the compulsory repayment. The exact amount of compulsory repayment can only be determined after you file your income tax.