University costs and paying HECS debt a concern

TOWNSVILLE parents with teenagers and young adults like Michelle Emanuel are facing the prospect of their children having to pay more to go to university and being forced to pay back the cost of their tuition sooner.

Mrs Emanuel works fulltime and lives with her husband, a public servant, and her two daughters, 12- year- old Haylie and 17- year- old Ebonie while her 22- year- old daughter Emalie has moved to Ingham to work as a teacher.

After getting past the difficult years of having to pay for childcare costs and having multiple dependants they feel financially secure but are worried about their children’s financial future.

Mrs Emanuel said Ebonie would be impacted by the 7.5 per cent increase to university fees over four years and the HECS threshold lowered to $ 42,000.

“My main concern is for Ebonie at university and how it’s going to affect her when she gets her degree,” she said.

“In her first year she probably won’t be earning a big wage but it will be enough for her to have to pay her HECS debt back immediately so straight away she is going to be paying back a debt which is also going to be bigger than she anticipated.”

Mrs Emanuel said there was some good news for her family with $ 300 every two years for children’s dental care.

It will also be cheaper for her and her family to got to the doctor with the Medicare rebate freeze abolished and $ 9.5 million going to bulk- billing doctors. But Mrs Emanuel and her husband will likely be hit with the Medicare Levy increase.

Mrs Emanuel’s youngest daughter Haylie is likely to benefit from $ 18.6 billion to be injected into school funding over the next decade.