In recent years voluntary HELP repayments increased significantly, peaking at $2.9 billion in 2022-23, before dropping back to $992 million in 2024-25 (according to data released last week). This post looks at why voluntary repayments spiked and what we can expect for future years.

The spike in repayments – indexation

The 2022-23 and 2023-24 big repayment spikes in the chart above are primarily due to people repaying early to avoid high CPI indexation.

With CPI now back to normal levels this should be much less of a factor in the foreseeable future. That said, to reduce indexation costs HELP debtors considering a voluntary repayment should still make it prior to the 1 June indexation date.

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