Voluntary Student Unionism press release
VSU – An attack on student rights and welfare
The announcement by the Federal Government to implement voluntary student unionism (VSU) will have a devastating impact on the quality of life of Australian university students.
Besides enabling students to have a strong collective voice, student organisations are the main provider of essential campus services. Childcare, taxation and legal advice, education advocacy and women support services are just some of the services student organisations provide. They are also the main provider of recreational services on campus and in some institutions are responsible for the provision of catering.
It is difficult to see why the Government is pursuing this issue in the face of support for universal membership from our Supreme Courts, state parliaments and consumer watchdog the ACCC.
“VSU was trialed in WA and rejected because of its devastating impact upon both students and universities more generally” said Jodie Jansen, QUT Student Guild President.
“Added to this is the recent ACCC decision that the benefits of universal membership far outweigh any disadvantages, therefore government has no justification for it’s proposal” Ms Jansen concluded.
According to Ms Jansen “The proposal to introduce VSU is just one step in the Government’s agenda to silence Australian students and young people. The Government also intends to eliminate the representation of students on university councils thus ensuring that they will not have a say in the formulation of policy that will impact upon their lives as students”.
“The Government’s intention in introducing VSU is to eliminate the voice of students so that they can implement their Draconian higher education legislation with minimal opposition”, Ms Jansen went on to say.