Bruce James Chapman AO (born 16 September 1951)[1] is an Australian economist and academic known for being the founder or architect of the HECS system.
[3] In 2001, he became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), "for service to the development of Australian economic, labour market and social policy".
[6] In 1989, the Australian Federal Government led by Bob Hawke introduced the Higher Education Contributions Scheme (HECS),[7][8] which was first intimated by Murray Wells.
[6] In the original HECS, an $1,800 fee was charged to all university students, and the Commonwealth Government footed the bill.
[6] The Abbott Liberal government came into power in 2013 and tried to introduced reforms into the higher education sector.