What is the HECS repayment threshold for 2026-27?

The minimum repayment threshold is $69,528 of repayment income. Below that nothing is payable. Above it, repayments are calculated marginally: 15c in the dollar on income between $69,528 and $129,717, then a higher tier above that. Thresholds are indexed annually, so check the ATO's current figures each July.

Is HECS-HELP indexed in 2026?

Yes. Study loan balances are indexed on 1 June each year to the lower of the consumer price index or the wage price index. A change made after a period of unusually high CPI produced very large indexation. Indexation is not interest: it preserves the real value of the debt rather than charging you for borrowing.

Does HECS debt affect my home loan?

Yes, through serviceability rather than credit scoring. The debt does not appear on your credit file, but lenders deduct your compulsory repayment from the income they assess, which reduces borrowing capacity by roughly ten times the annual repayment on typical settings. Some lenders ignore a balance that will clear within a year, which is why paying out a small remainder can help.

Should I make voluntary repayments?

It depends on what else you owe. A study loan has no interest, only indexation at around CPI, so it is the cheapest debt most people carry. Paying down a mortgage or any consumer debt first is mathematically better. The exceptions are wanting to maximise borrowing capacity, or being close enough to the end that clearing it removes the repayment from your budget entirely.

What happens to my study loan if I move overseas?

You must notify the ATO within seven days of leaving if you intend to be away for more than six months, lodge a worldwide income return each year, and make repayments if your worldwide income exceeds the threshold. The obligation follows you; the debt does not pause. Ignoring it accumulates an assessment that is waiting when you return.

What happens to the debt if I never earn above the threshold?

Nothing is ever compulsorily repaid, and the balance continues to be indexed each year. Study loan debt is not pursued through bankruptcy and is written off on death. It is not passed to your estate or your family.

HECS-HELP Repayment Calculator

Australia· 2026-27

Calculates your compulsory HECS-HELP repayment under the marginal system introduced for study loans: nothing below $69,528, then a rate applied only to income above it. On $85,000 the repayment is about $2,320.80 a year, or $89.26 a fortnight.

Results

Worked example. Edit the values and press Calculate

Compulsory repayment this year

$2,320.80

Balance falls in the first year by
$1,270.80
Your repayment less the $1,050.00 of indexation added on 1 June.
Repayment on your next $1,000 of income
$150.00
What a $1,000 pay rise would add to this year's compulsory repayment.
Per fortnight (withheld by payroll)
$89.26
Effective rate of your total income
2.73%
Remaining balance
$35,000.00
Years to clear the loan
11 years
Total repaid over that period
$42,117
Indexation added over that period
$7,117

Why use this calculator

Study loan repayments are taken out of your pay before you see the money, which makes them easy to ignore and easy to be surprised by. A pay rise that lifts you past a threshold changes your take-home pay by more than the rise itself in the old system, and the switch to marginal repayments changed that arithmetic entirely.

This calculator shows what will actually be withheld at your income, what it costs you each fortnight, and how long the balance takes to clear once indexation is taken into account. That last part matters most: a balance that grows by indexation each June while repayments chip away at it behaves very differently from a normal loan, and people routinely underestimate how long theirs will run.

How to use it

Take your loan balance from myGov, where the ATO lists your HELP, VET Student Loan and SFSS accounts.
Note that the figure there updates after your tax return is processed, so it can lag by months.
Repayment income is broader than salary: it is taxable income plus reportable fringe benefits, reportable employer super contributions, net investment losses and exempt foreign income, which is why people with negatively geared property or salary packaging often repay more than they expect.
The indexation field controls how fast the balance grows each 1 June; the long-run average has sat around three per cent.
Set expected pay rises to zero if you want a conservative view of how long the loan runs.

What each result means

Compulsory repayment: Shown as zero when there is no study loan balance, because the ATO withholds nothing once the debt is cleared or was never taken on.
Compulsory repayment this year: What the ATO will assess for the year. Payroll withholds an estimate each pay period and the exact amount is settled when your return is processed.
Balance falls in the first year by: Your first compulsory repayment minus the indexation added to the debt on 1 June. This is how much the debt actually shrinks in a year, which is usually less than the repayment itself.
Balance grows in the first year by: Indexation on 1 June adds more to the debt than your compulsory repayment takes off at this income. The debt keeps rising in dollars until your repayment income grows.
Below the repayment threshold by: How much more repayment income you could earn this year before compulsory repayments start. Below the threshold nothing is withheld, though indexation still applies to the balance.
Repayment on your next $1,000 of income: The extra compulsory repayment a $1,000 rise in repayment income would trigger this year. Under the marginal system this is 15c or 17c in the dollar, or 10% of total income in the top band.
Per fortnight (withheld by payroll): The approximate reduction in your take-home pay each fortnight. Useful for budgeting, though payroll uses withholding tables rather than this exact division.
Effective rate of your total income: Repayment as a share of everything you earn. Under the marginal system this is always lower than the headline rate, which is the point of the change.
Remaining balance: What you still owe. Remember that the ATO's figure updates only when a return is processed, so your myGov balance may look higher than reality.
Years to clear the loan: How long the balance takes to reach zero given your income growth and indexation. If it says over 60 years, repayments are barely outpacing indexation at that income.
Total repaid over that period: Everything withheld between now and the final repayment, in nominal dollars. Useful for seeing how much of your working life the loan actually costs.
Indexation added over that period: How much the balance grows from indexation before you clear it. This is the real cost of a slow repayment, and it is invisible on a payslip.

The formula

Repayment is calculated marginally on income above the minimum threshold rather than as a flat percentage of everything you earn.

For 2026-27:

Nothing up to $69,528
15c in the dollar on income between $69,528 and $129,717
$9,028 plus 17c in the dollar between $129,717 and $186,050
10% of total repayment income above $186,050

The balance is indexed on 1 June each year to the lower of CPI or the wage price index, applied before that year's repayment is credited.

How this number is used in practice

The most common surprise is a first full-time salary. Someone moving from casual work to a graduate role crosses the threshold mid-year, and because payroll withholds from each pay once your declared income suggests you will cross it, the drop in take-home pay lands before the loan is formally assessed.

Telling your employer about the loan on your tax file number declaration is what makes this smooth rather than a bill at tax time.

The second is indexation timing. The balance is indexed on 1 June, but compulsory repayments made through payroll during the year are not credited to the loan until your tax return is processed, usually months later. That means the indexation is applied to a balance that does not yet reflect a year of repayments. Making a voluntary payment before 1 June is the only reliable way to reduce the amount indexed.

Whether to repay voluntarily is a genuine financial question rather than an obvious yes. A study loan carries no interest, only indexation, and it is the cheapest debt most people will ever have. Against a mortgage at six per cent or credit card at twenty, paying those down first wins comfortably.

The counter-argument is borrowing capacity: lenders treat the compulsory repayment as a commitment, so clearing a small remaining balance can lift what a bank will lend by more than the balance itself.

Worked examples

$35,000 balance on $85,000 income
Compulsory repayment of $2,320.80 a year. About $89.26 a fortnight, an effective 2.73% of total income.
$60,000 balance on $140,000 income
Repayment of $10,776.11 a year under the second tier. $414.47 a fortnight.
$25,000 balance on $64,528 income
No compulsory repayment, income is below the $69,528 threshold, but the balance still grows by about $750 of indexation each June.

When people use it

Working out your take-home pay when starting a graduate job
Checking how a pay rise or a second job changes your repayment
Deciding whether a voluntary repayment before 1 June is worth making
Understanding how a study loan affects your home loan borrowing capacity
Projecting when the balance will actually clear rather than guessing

Tips

The 2026-27 minimum threshold is $69,528. Below it nothing is withheld, but the balance is still indexed on 1 June.
Repayment income includes reportable fringe benefits, salary-packaged amounts, reportable super contributions and rental losses. Salary alone understates it.
Tell your employer about the loan on your tax file number declaration. If you do not, nothing is withheld and the full year's repayment arrives as a tax bill.
Voluntary repayments only reduce the indexed amount if they land before 1 June. A payment on 2 June misses that year's indexation entirely.
Lenders count your compulsory repayment against borrowing capacity, so clearing a small balance before applying for a mortgage can be worth more than the balance itself.
If you move overseas and your worldwide income exceeds the threshold, you must still lodge and repay. Non-residency does not pause the obligation.

What it assumes, and where it stops being accurate

Thresholds are held constant across the projection. In reality they are indexed each year, which slightly reduces future repayments in real terms.
Indexation is applied annually at the rate you enter, before that year's repayment is credited.
Compulsory repayments are modelled as being credited once a year, matching how assessment actually works rather than how payroll withholds.
Voluntary repayments, employer-paid study benefits and loan fees on some course types are not modelled.
The calculator treats HELP, VET Student Loans and SFSS as a single balance. They share one repayment threshold but are repaid in a set order.

Terms used on this page

Repayment income: Taxable income plus reportable fringe benefits, reportable super contributions, net investment losses and exempt foreign income.
Indexation: The annual 1 June adjustment that preserves the real value of the loan, set at the lower of CPI or the wage price index.
Compulsory repayment: The amount the ATO assesses once your income passes the threshold, collected through the tax system.
Voluntary repayment: An extra payment you choose to make, which reduces the balance immediately and, if made before 1 June, the amount indexed.

Questions people ask

What is the HECS repayment threshold for 2026-27?: The minimum repayment threshold is $69,528 of repayment income. Below that nothing is payable. Above it, repayments are calculated marginally: 15c in the dollar on income between $69,528 and $129,717, then a higher tier above that. Thresholds are indexed annually, so check the ATO's current figures each July.
Is HECS-HELP indexed in 2026?: Yes. Study loan balances are indexed on 1 June each year to the lower of the consumer price index or the wage price index. A change made after a period of unusually high CPI produced very large indexation. Indexation is not interest: it preserves the real value of the debt rather than charging you for borrowing.
Does HECS debt affect my home loan?: Yes, through serviceability rather than credit scoring. The debt does not appear on your credit file, but lenders deduct your compulsory repayment from the income they assess, which reduces borrowing capacity by roughly ten times the annual repayment on typical settings. Some lenders ignore a balance that will clear within a year, which is why paying out a small remainder can help.
Should I make voluntary repayments?: It depends on what else you owe. A study loan has no interest, only indexation at around CPI, so it is the cheapest debt most people carry. Paying down a mortgage or any consumer debt first is mathematically better. The exceptions are wanting to maximise borrowing capacity, or being close enough to the end that clearing it removes the repayment from your budget entirely.
What happens to my study loan if I move overseas?: You must notify the ATO within seven days of leaving if you intend to be away for more than six months, lodge a worldwide income return each year, and make repayments if your worldwide income exceeds the threshold. The obligation follows you; the debt does not pause. Ignoring it accumulates an assessment that is waiting when you return.
What happens to the debt if I never earn above the threshold?: Nothing is ever compulsorily repaid, and the balance continues to be indexed each year. Study loan debt is not pursued through bankruptcy and is written off on death. It is not passed to your estate or your family.

Use this with

HECS-HELP Repayment Calculator answers one part of the question. These pick up where it stops: Salary After Tax Calculator, Australian Income Tax Calculator, Superannuation Calculator and Budget Planner Calculator.

Where these figures come from

Australia· 2026-27Last reviewed 2026-09·How we build and check calculators

Figures and rules on this page follow Australian law and ATO guidance.

ATO: Tax rates for Australian residents. Income tax brackets for 2026-27
ATO: Study and training loan repayment thresholds and rates. HELP repayment thresholds and the marginal repayment system
ATO: Medicare levy surcharge income thresholds and rates. Surcharge tiers for singles and families
ATO: Super guarantee and contribution caps. SG rate 12% and the maximum contribution base

HECS-HELP Repayment Calculator produces an estimate for general information. It is not financial, tax, medical, legal or engineering advice. read the full disclaimer. Spotted a wrong number? Report it and it gets fixed. The form picks up this calculator and the inputs you used.