The education minister, Christopher Pyne, has refused to rule out selling Higher Education Contribution Scheme (Hecs) debt to the private sector.

There has been speculation the government's commission of audit will consider a sale of student debt to boost the public finances.

And speaking on the ABC’s Q&A programme on Monday, Pyne said privatising Australia’s $23bn student debt had been “floated as an idea”.

“If we did pursue considering that, it wouldn't be insensible for us to do so. Why would you rule anything like that out?” Pyne said.

The education minister drew a comparison with the student loan model in Britain. He said: “Britain have sold their Hecs debt as an asset and we should investigate whether that is a sensible move for us to do so."

The British government has sold off some of its student loan debt over the years but plans for a further selloff have met significant opposition. A UK parliament petition against the proposed sale has already received more than 13,000 signatures, triggering a government response which said that “no decision to proceed” with the sale had been made.