“A move overseas should not mean that an Australian graduate should be exempt from repaying their HECS-HELP loan once they have hit the requisite income threshold,” said Belinda Robinson, Chief Executive of Universities Australia.

“This is a welcome move by the Government in improving the fairness and sustainability of the student loans scheme.

“Such a system for recovering student loans exists in the UK and New Zealand, so there is no obvious reason why obliging Australian graduates living overseas to repay their HELP debt shouldn’t be adopted in Australia,” Ms Robinson said.

“The announcement by Education and Training Minister Christopher Pyne today is consistent with Universities Australia’s long-held view that a HECS-HELP loan repayment exemption has no place in the luggage of Australian graduates pursuing the overseas travel tradition,” said Ms Robinson.