Last modified on Fri 1 Jan 2021 19.56 EST
Everything has been going right for Tash Drujinin of late.
A few months ago the 29-year-old landed a stable job in the financial services sector. When many thousands were being laid off with the pandemic, she was made permanent and the security meant she could finally pay off the $20,000 she owed in credit card bills and personal loans.
It had been a long time coming. As the country celebrated nearly three straight decades of economic prosperity, Drujinin had fallen into debt in her early 20s to finance her escape from family violence.
While Centrelink refused her application for social security, her bank was willing to approve a $15,000 platinum card with a 19% interest rate for the “barely employed” university graduate. That debt would end up costing her thousands in interest payments and, as she sees it, a decade of her life.