NTEU RELEASES AMENDMENTS TO HIGHER EDUCATION LEGISLATION
November 25 2003
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.
The amendments include:
- The elimination and/or reduction of the powers of the Minister to direct, control or approve the activities of universities, including governance and workplace relations.
- Separating the regulatory treatment of universities and publicly established higher education institutions from those of other providers. This includes the establishment of a statement on the objects and purposes of universities, such as recognition of institutional independence and academic freedom.
- Ensuring that Commonwealth funding is restricted to universities and other publicly funded higher education institutions.
- The establishment of a representative and expert advisory body, the Higher Education Funding Council, to provide advice and recommendations to the Minister on funding and other issues.
- Improving equity and access by capping HECS fees at their current levels, applying FEE-HELP only to postgraduate students with no real interest rate, and deleting completely the Student Learning Entitlement.
- Changing the indexation mechanism for university funding.
“The NTEU strongly believes that the legislation as it currently stands has a number of fundamental flaws,” said Dr Carolyn Allport, NTEU President. “While it is true that the Government has made some changes to its higher education legislation, these have not dealt with any of the key threshold issues of concern to university students and staff.”
“Until such time as the Government gets serious and stops tinkering around the edges of the package, the NTEU believes that the Senate has no choice but to reject the package.”
“Regardless of what changes the Government proposes, the NTEU believes that the next two weeks is not enough time for proper consideration of the legislation and urges the Senate to delay the legislation until next year to get the package right.”
“The package contains minimal funding for universities next year and a resolution by early 2004 would allow universities ample time to plan for whatever changes arise from the legislation.”
“We need the right package for universities, not just any package. Rushing the legislation through this year is unnecessary and counterproductive.”
A full copy of the NTEU’s amendments and an accompanying explanatory note can be downloaded from the NTEU website at: http://www.nteu.org.au/campaigns/higheredatrisk/legislation
For information and comment:
Dr Carolyn Allport, NTEU President: 0419 349 064
Grahame McCulloch, NTEU General Secretary: 0418 322 620
Andrew Nette, NTEU Policy and Research Coordinator: 0438 026 277