Back in May, the Labor government spruiked some big changes to the way higher education debts were indexed.

It came amid much fanfare about cost-of-living relief from the government ahead of the federal budget. 

But despite being announced six months ago, the changes still haven't been legislated yet. 

There's been no indication it won't become law and for most people the policy affects, the timing may not seem critical. 

But a fraction of those people are owed refunds from the government — and still don't have that money in their pockets. 

What were the changes?

Changes to the way indexation is calculated for Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debts.

Under HELP, students can get a government loan to pay their university fees, called Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) — and they don't have to start repaying that debt until they earn a certain amount. 

The debts are technically interest free, but they increase each year because of indexation. 

HELP debts were indexed in line with the inflation rate — otherwise known by its formal name, the Consumer Price Index (CPI). 

This never used to be that big of a deal, because the inflation rate wasn't all that high. 

But it became a massive problem when inflation was at 7.1 per cent last year, because it meant debts increased significantly. 

After increased pressure, the federal government said it would change the way indexation was calculated.

It proposed pegging the indexation rate to either the Wage Price Index (WPI) or CPI — whichever was lower. 

And the government wanted to apply this change to the 2024 indexation rate, but also be retrospectively applying that to the 2023 rate. 

This would have resulted in credits for people who still had student debt and refunds for people who had paid the loans off completely after indexation applied last year.

People could have seen these benefits when they filed their 2023-2024 tax returns from July. 

But those credits haven't been applied yet and the refunds haven't been paid out. 

Why haven't the changes come through?

They haven't been legislated yet.

The bill passed the House of Representatives in October, but it still has to go through the Senate. 

When will the changes become law?

After the bill passes the Senate. 

It was due to be discussed in the Senate this week, but it wasn't passed. 

And now there's only one more week of Senate sittings this year.

So if the bill isn't passed next week, people won't get their refunds until next year. 

And because parliament doesn't sit in January, it'll be at least February before the bill is passed. 

Why the hold up?

Because of a plan by the Greens to link this bill to another student debt relief proposal announced by the government earlier this month. 

You'd assume the Labor government would want these both to be passed — which it does — but it doesn't want that second proposal to come into action yet. 

That's because they're using it as an election promise to try to convince voters to keep them in power when we all go to the polls next year. 

Here's how ABC political reporter Tom Crowley put it:

"They want to amend Labor's bill to add... Labor's HECS relief policy, which was announced a couple of weeks ago but is only supposed to happen after the election.

"The Greens amendment would enact it now.

"It seems Labor doesn't want to contemplate that, because it's instead trying to push for a vote on the bill without voting on the Greens amendment, presumably wanting to avoid voting down their own policy.

"But Labor will need the Coalition's help to succeed, and if it can't get that, it could torpedo its own policy to avoid a vote on another one of its policies."

Who is owed a refund?

Anyone who still had a HECS debt as of June 1, 2023 who has since paid off their loans. 

People who had a HECS debt as of June 1, 2023 and haven't paid off their loan will get a credit taken off whatever they still owe. 

How many people are owed refunds?

As many as 200,000 — but we don't know exact figures. 

That's because people will only be paid out refunds if they don't have a tax debt.

"According to ATO data, as at July 2024, approximately 200,000 people have fully repaid their HELP debt since indexation was applied on 1 June 2023," the Education Department wrote in a response to a question at a public hearing back in September.

"Some of these may receive a refund depending on their individual circumstances.

"The department is unable to estimate the size of these refunds."

How much are the refunds?

The Department of Education says it was unable to estimate this.

However, individuals can use the federal government's online HELP Indexation Credit Estimator tool to get a sense of what they're owed. 

How will people be paid their refunds?

It'll be paid into their bank accounts, Education Minister Jason Clare said in his press release last month. 

It should be the account the Australia Taxation Office (ATO) has on file for you. 

"You will not need to wait until you lodge your next tax return for the credit to be applied," a government fact sheet about the changes said. 

"You can view or update your current nominated bank account for refunds by logging in through the myGov portal."