|
CAMPAIGN UPDATE
|
Following the enormously successful National Strike on 16 October, the Union has been
continuing the battle against the Government at local and national levels. |
|
FEDERAL GOVT. WITHOLDS ABSTUDY REVIEW
|
The Federal government has failed to release its findings from the ABSTUDY review
commissioned in late 1998. In January 2000, Coalition cuts to ABSTUDY caused the number of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people commencing higher education to dramatically fall by
15.2%, while the total Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student numbers fell by 8.1%. |
|
GOVERNMENT DEFEATED ON UNIVERSITY INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
|
NTEU today welcomed the removal of the industrial relations requirements from the Higher
Education Support Bill 2003, but said that the final package still contains a number of fundamental
flaws especially related to increases in student fees, institutional autonomy, academic freedom and
a lack of adequate indexation. |
|
GOVT. STRAPS UNIVERSITY STAFF INTO A RACE TO THE BOTTOM
|
Universities are set to lose up to $404 million in Commonwealth Government funding
unless they meet a range of hard line workplace relations requirements, including placing staff on
individual contracts, according to the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU). |
|
INFORMATION FOR THE MEDIA ABOUT THE OCTOBER 16 NATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION STRIKE
|
General and academic staff from universities across Australia will take part in a
national 24-hour strike tomorrow, Thursday October 16, to purse their bargaining claims and in
protest at the Government’s proposal to deny universities $404 million in much needed
funding unless they sign onto hardline workplace relations conditions. |
|
Nelson accepts NTEU Indigenous Proposal
|
The Minister for Education Science and Training, as part of the Backing
Australia’s Future policy, announced the proposed establishment of an Indigenous Higher
Education Advisory Council to advise the Minister and the Department for Education Science and
Training on Indigenous tertiary education matters. |
|
NELSON CHANGES ONLY A START – MUCH MORE IS NEEDED
|
The changes announced today by Education Minister, Dr Brendan Nelson, to the Higher
Education Support Bill 2003 do not address any of the major threshold issues that need to be dealt
with if any progress is to be made on moving the proposed legislation through the Senate, the
National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) said on Tuesday. |
|
New Indigenous Minister for the NT
|
The National Office and the Northern Territory Division of the National Tertiary
Education Union (NTEU) congratulates the Member for Arafura, Ms Marion Scrymgour who yesterday was
appointed as the Northern Territory’s first Indigenous female Minister. |
|
NTEU AGREEMENT AT SYDNEY UNI A SLAP IN THE FACE FOR GOVERNMENT’S INDUSTRIAL
HARDLINERS
|
The signing on Wednesday of a comprehensive enterprise bargaining agreement between
Sydney University and the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) represents a slap in the face to
industrial hardliners in the Federal Cabinet and their continuing push to force university staff
onto Australian Workplace Agreements. |
|
NTEU RELEASES AMENDMENTS TO HIGHER EDUCATION LEGISLATION
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) on Tuesday released a series of detailed
amendments to the Government’s proposed Higher Education Support Bill 2003, including a
number of changes to safeguard the independence of Australia’s public university
system. |
|
NTEU wins 2 ACTU Awards
|
NTEU was amongst the winners in the ACTU Annual Union Awards, announced by President
Sharan Burrow at the ACTU’s Executive meeting on Tuesday December 2. |
|
OCT 16 STRIKE WINS SUPPORT OF ALL HIGHER EDUCATION UNIONS
|
Seven unions covering university staff across Australia will be supporting the October
16th higher education strike to protest the Government's proposal to deny universities access
to $404 million in funding unless they adopt a series of hard line industrial conditions, and to
press home their claim for enterprise agreements that do not contain the conditions. |
|
REVELATIONS ABOUT FUNDING “CLAW-BACKS”
|
Today’s Sydney Morning Herald reveals that a report commissioned for Senior
Government Ministers shows that, under proposed changes to the Higher Education policies,
Universities will lose government funding for business related courses. This is no revelation to
NTEU. |
|
SENATE CONSIDERING HIGHER EDUCATION PACKAGE
|
This week (24-28 November) the Senate is considering the Higher Education Support Bill
– the centrepiece of the Government’s higher education package. |
|
Senate Independents should demand better university package
|
The announcement of an amended higher education package agreed on by the AVCC and
Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson today, has compromised university independence and
autonomy by continuing to attach industrial strings to funding of more than $460 million, according
to the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU). |
|
STAFF TO SHUT SYDNEY UNIVERSITY DOWN
|
Staff at the University of Sydney will go on strike for 24 hours today.
The strike is in response to the university management’s decision to renege on the signing
of a new Enterprise Agreement, the product of nearly a year of cooperative negotiations, because it
does not conform with hardline industrial requirements recently announced by the Government as a
condition for universities accessing $404 million in public funding. |
|
SYDNEY UNI AGREEMENT BACK ON THE TABLE
|
After meeting with the Vice-Chancellor today, NTEU believes it has achieved a
breakthrough in the marathon negotiations for a new enterprise agreement at the University of
Sydney. |
|
SYDNEY UNI BARGAINING SCUTTLED – Staff Meet to Discuss Response
|
Sydney University staff will meet at 12 noon today to plan their response to the
University management’s last minute decision to renege on the signing of a proposed
three-year enterprise bargaining agreement covering all workers at the institution. |
|
SYDNEY UNI STRIKE A MAJOR SUCCESS – Momentum Builds for a National Strike
|
A 24-hour strike by general and academic staff at Sydney University has been a major
success, building momentum for a national strike to take place at universities across Australia on
October 16, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) said on Tuesday. |
|
TAKE THE TIME TO GET THE HIGHER EDUCATION LEGISLATION RIGHT
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) supports many of the changes to the higher
education legislation being proposed by the Australian Vice Chancellor’s Committee (AVCC),
but stresses that there remain major areas of disagreement including the Vice Chancellors’
insistence that the legislation be passed this year. |
|
UNDERSTATING INDIGENOUS DISADVANTAGE
|
A new report title Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage released today by the Steering
Committee for the Review of Government Service Delivery (SCRGSD), has found that the statistical
data use to measure the success of the Federal, State and Territory Governments Indigenous policies
have been inaccurate and are disguising the actual levels of Indigenous disadvantage. |
|
UNIVERSITY STAFF ENDORSE NATIONWIDE INDUSTRIAL ACTION
|
University staff from across Australia today voted to take a nationwide 24 hour strike
at all 38 of Australia’s public universities on October 16, in pursuit of their bargaining
claims. |
|
MAJOR RALLY AGAINST PLAN TO PRICE PEOPLE OUT OF A DEGREE
|
Thousands of higher education workers and concerned members of the public will protest
in Melbourne against changes proposed by the Howard Government to increase the cost of a university
education and reduce the workplace rights of university staff. |
|
Tampa Day - 29th August 2003
|
On 29 August 2003, Tampa Day commemorations are taking place in some states as part of
lobbying for immediate release of asylum seekers in Australian detention camps, an end to any
planned deportations and for abolishment of the Government's policy of mandatory
detention. |
|
Govt Invests But Students Pay 30% More
|
NTEU welcomes the $1.5 billion in new public funding for higher education unveiled in
tonight’s budget but is very concerned about other changes including harsh workplace reform
measures and the fact that students and their families have to pay an additional 30% in HECS
charges. |
|
Crossroads Reforms Could Increase Divide between Rich and Poor Universities
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) believes Tuesday’s Federal Budget
could further increase the divide between Australia’s rich and poor universities. |
|
Government Continues to Misrepresent the Facts About How Much Students will Pay for
their Education
|
Education Minister Dr Brendan Nelson’s claims that under the
Government’s reforms to high education, Australian students will continue to contribute
about a quarter of the cost of their university education are a contravention of the facts as
published by his own Department, according to the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU). |
|
NTEU and 2003-4 Federal Budget
|
On May 13, the Federal Government will introduce the most significant reforms to
Australia's higher education system in over a decade. |
|
Industrial Law Changes Hidden in Budget
|
NTEU has called upon Federal Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott to come clean
about the major changes to the Workplace Relations Act which the government has buried within its
Higher Education budget statement. |
|
LABOR RAISES THE BAR FOR GOVERNMENT ON NURSE EDUCATION
|
Labor’s announcement that it will create thousands of additional undergraduate
and postgraduate university places for nursing students raises the bar for the Government in terms
of tackling the nursing shortage facing Australia”, the National Tertiary Education Union
(NTEU) said on Monday. |
|
NTEU Welcomes AVCC's Plea to Drop Funding Link to Workplace Relations and
Governance Changes
|
The NTEU on Monday welcomed a request by the Australian Vice Chancellors’
Committee to the Federal Government for it to drop plans to link future university funding to
radical changes in university governance and workplace relations, including the introduction of
individual contracts. |
|
Queensland has strong claims for increased
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) on Friday released a briefing paper titled
Higher Education in Queensland, that outlines the current position of Queensland’s public
universities in relation to the other States and Territories. In addition, the paper examines the
likely impact future population growth and changes to higher education policy may have on
Queensland’s universities over the next three to four decades |
|
83 Arrested During Yale Strike
|
Yale University, in New Haven Connecticut, is in the grip of an acrimonious strike over
pay and pensions by 4000 staff. |
|
Higher Ed package slams the door on poor and disadvantaged
|
The Australian Council of Social Service today met with key disability, student and
academic groups to discuss concerns that the Government's higher education reforms will further
prevent low income and rural Australians as well as people with disabilities from going to
university. |
|
HIGHER ED RALLY! - Melbourne Thur 21 Aug
|
The NTEU is holding a rally, coinciding with the ACTU Congress, to demand a fair and
accessible higher education system for all. |
|
NTEU Tax Seminars 2003
|
NTEU Tax Seminars are an introduction to the tax system, general requirements for tax
management and tax-related issues for NTEU members. |
|
University Fails in Attempt to Dodge Legal Obligations
|
In a decision handed down today, the Industrial Relations Commission vindicated the
ongoing attempts of the NTEU to ensure employers abide by their legal obligations. |
|
UNIVERSITY STAFF JOIN STUDENTS IN NATIONWIDE PROTESTS
|
University staff will today join thousands of students in a National Day of Action
organised by the National Union of Students in the lead-up to the release of Education Minister Dr
Brendan Nelson’s package of policy changes for Australia’s higher education
sector. |
|
$50,000 Inaugural Institutional Award for Services to Indigenous Students
|
In response to recommendations by the NTEU, the Federal Minister for Education this week
announced the establishment of an additional award, the inaugural ‘Institutional Award for
Services to Indigenous Students’. The award provides the recipient with a grant of $50,000,
a trophy and certificate. |
|
UNIVERSITY FEES: CUTS FOR A FEW, INCREASES FOR THE MAJORITY
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) today welcomed Federal Education Minister
Dr Brendan Nelson’s recognition that university fees for teachers and nurses are too high. |
|
NTEU Briefing on Indigenous Initiatives in the Higher Education Budget Package
|
The Federal Minister for Education Science and Training, Dr Brendan Nelson has announced
several Indigenous specific initiatives as part of the Higher Education package in the 2003 Budget.
These initiatives are based on the 4 key recommendations put forward by the NTEU in its Indigenous
supplementary submission to the Crossroads review. |
|
SCU staff vote NO to EB offer
|
Southern Cross University staff have overwhelmingly voted down a management proposal for
a one year enterprise agreement, which included a 4% pay rise. In the ballot, 161 staff voted in
favour of the Vice-Chancellor’s offer, while 402 (71%) voted against. |
|
USQ Branch Expresses Concerns about Selection Criteria for USQ Vice Chancellor
|
I have been asked by members of the USQ Branch Executive to forward this letter to you,
all NTEU members and other Unions represented at USQ.
"We are writing to express the NTEU's disappointment at the absence of consultation with
staff prior to the publication of the selection criteria for the position of USQ
Vice-Chancellor. |
|
GOVERNMENT REFORMS FOR RESEARCH MAY LEAVE REGIONAL UNIVERSITIES OUT IN THE COLD
|
The National Tertiary Education Union fears that regional and rural
universities’ innovation capacity will be depleted when the Government announces the final
outcomes of its higher education review. |
|
Staff & Students Unite To Say NO to Fee Hikes & Industrial Reforms
|
Organisations representing university staff and students have agreed to work together to
defeat measures in the Government’s higher education package aimed at massively increasing
undergraduate and postgraduate student fees and forcing staff onto individual contracts. |
|
Government Misrepresents the Facts on University Costs for Students
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) on Wednesday claimed the Government is
misleading the public in relation to the cost of university education for Australian students. |
|
NELSON’S REFORMS: STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES TO PAY A LOT MORE FOR A LITTLE
EXTRA CHOICE
|
The Government’s proposed higher education reforms would see students and their
families pay a lot more for a marginal increase in choice, the National Tertiary Education Union
said on Tuesday. |
|
NTEU Opposes Southern Cross EB Ballot
|
NTEU has launched a major campaign to defeat a proposed Agreement between the CPSU
(Community & Public Sector Union) and the management of Southern Cross University |
|
NTEU Marches for Peace
|
Photographs from the Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Newcastle Peace rallies |
|
AUSTRALIA’S RESEARCH CAPACITY WILL BE THE LOSER IN POSSIBLE REFORMS TO HIGHER
EDUCATION
|
Australia’s research capacity will be the loser from any Federal Government
plan to force academics onto individual contracts in return for research funding, the National
Tertiary Education Union said on Tuesday. |
|
Students and staff to bear the costs of Nelson’s higher education reform
package
|
Recent reports of possible outcomes from Brendan Nelson’s Crossroads package
leave staff and students on the losing end of the Government’s financial squeeze. |
|
AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY STAFF ADD THEIR VOICE TO THE PUSH FOR PEACE
|
The National Tertiary Education Union, representing some 25,000 general and academic
staff in universities across the country, on Friday added its voice to the growing movement in
Australia opposing a war with Iraq in a half-page advertisement in The Australian newspaper. |
|
Productivity Commission Confirms that Australian Students Pay More and Get Less
|
A final Productivity Commission Report into Higher Education Funding shows that
Australian Universities are more reliant on student income than their overseas counterparts. |
|
Students pay more, Unis get less (access media release & discussion paper
here)
|
The Federal Government provided Australian universities with approximately $1,200 less
per student in 2001 than it did in 1996, at the same time as students and their families contributed
an additional $1750 to the cost of their education per year, according to new research released by
the National Tertiary Education Union on Tuesday. |
|
NATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION STRIKE A SUCCESS - Clear message to Senate to block
Government’s package
|
The success of today’s national higher education strike is a clear message to
the Senate that it should block the Government’s workplace requirements when they come to
the upper house for consideration in the next few weeks, according to the National Tertiary
Education Union (NTEU). |
|
University Staff Reject Complete Free Trade in Education
|
Australia has received formal requests from other countries for complete free trade in
education as part of the current negotiations on the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in
Services (GATS). The Assistant Secretary of the NTEU, Mr Ted Murphy called upon the Howard
Government to reject the requests. |
|
NTEU AGREEMENT WITH ANU REBUFF’S GOVERNMENT’S WORKPLACE RELATIONS
REQUIREMENTS
|
The Australian National University and the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) will
today sign a three-year enterprise bargaining agreement that contains none of the hardline
industrial requirements proposed by the Government as conditions for universities accessing $404
million in additional funding. |
|
NTEU Elections: Nominations extended
|
Nominations for the current elections closed on 6 August 2003. The registered rules of
the Union require nominations to be extended for those positions where no nomination or insufficient
nominations were received. |
|
NTU Bill an insult to staff
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has condemned the governance provisions of
the Northern Territory Bill to create the Charles Darwin University. The Bill, which will be
submitted to the Territory Assembly tomorrow, severely restricts the right to vote, and stand, for
elected staff positions on the University Council. |
|
Staff, Students & Institutions benefit from Labor’s Proposed Higher Ed
Policy
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) believes Labor’s higher education
policy contains substantial benefits for university staff, students, their institutions and the
broader community. |
|
UNIONS REFER FEDERAL GOVERNMENT UNIVERSITY WORKPLACE RELATIONS REQUIREMENTS TO THE
ILO
|
Unions taking part in tomorrow's national strike at higher education institutions
have referred the Federal Governments university workplace relations requirements to the
International Labour Organisation (ILO). |
|
NTEU NATIONAL COUNCIL 2003 - Information for the Media
|
From September 29 to October 1, over 200 representatives from staff at
Australia’s 38 public universities will meet in Melbourne for the 10th annual Council of
the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU). |
|
SYDNEY UNI STAFF REJECT ABBOTT'S BULLYING – Management Must Sign
Agreement
|
A meeting of University of Sydney staff today condemned their management’s
decision to renege on the signing of a proposed three–year enterprise bargaining agreement,
and unanimously endorsed a two-week campaign of industrial action unless the decision is
reversed. |
|
Government Misrepresents Funding Gain to Universities
|
New research released by the NTEU on Wednesday shows the Government has substantially
misrepresented the funding gain to universities from its higher education reform package, with only
$753 million of the $1.46 billion announced as part of the Federal Budget made up of genuinely new
money. |
|
HIGHER EDUCATION PACKAGE RETAINS FUNDAMENTAL FLAWS
|
The modifications announced today by the Government to Backing Australia’s
Future does not alter the fact that the package retains a number of fundamental flaws and the
National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) will continue to urge the Senate to amend or reject these
flaws. |
|
Labor’s pledge to make Higher Education more affordable welcomed
|
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) on Sunday welcomed the release of
Labor’s first definite policy proposals for universities and its commitment to make higher
education more affordable. |
|
UNI STAFF URGE MINISTER TO RELEASE FULL DETAILS OF HIGHER EDUCATION PACKAGE
|
On the eve of reports that the Government is about to introduce legislation on its
changes to higher education policy, the NTEU urges the Minister for Education to release full
details of not only the legislation but all of the regulations associated with its
implementation. |
|
NTEU and UNSW sign first Higher Education Agreement in new Bargaining Round
|
A new Enterprise Agreement signed today delivers significant improvements in pay and
conditions for general staff at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). |
