I was talking to my American friends and I truly didn’t grasp how fucked up you economy and education was until I mentioned off handedly that I just got approved for my HECS debt and CSP.
Then I had to explain to them what exactly those were. Basically for those who don’t know, a HECS debt is a way to pay off your student loans which is really easy to apply for, and once you pass a certain pay bracket a percentage of your pay goes to the debt. The actual rate of which doesn’t change and is also much lower than a normal bank loan. It’s interest free and in general is much cheaper than banks. You need a CSP (Commonwealth Supported Place) before you can get a CSP. Some universities let you apply for both in the same document while others have you go to the government website.
They were all blown away by this and the conversation went into minimal wage and I yet again shared a little fun fact.
At my old job, my minimum wage was $18.50/h for my age with 1.5x pay Sundays and 2.5x pay public holidays. At one point I was payed almost $450 in a single day just as a casual worker. In retail.
So if your government ever tries telling you a decent minimal wage is unrealistic. No it’s not. They just want to keep you poor.
