Voluntary Student Unionism
Anti-student organisation legislation
The legacy of the Howard Government’s voluntary student unionism (VSU) legislation introduced in 2005 has been the loss of essential services for many students at
In February 2008, the Hon Kate Ellis MP, Minister for Youth, invited universities, students, small business, sports and community groups to help inform the Government on the impact of the current VSU policy. Minister Ellis has invited submissions in response to a discussion paper on the issue of VSU by COB 11 March. For more detail about the review visit the Government's website
The National Tertiary Education Union has continually supported:
-
The ongoing existence of independent student organisations at every university campus.
-
The right of institutions to collect services fees from all students not just international students, to support student organisations.
-
The right of student organisations to represent their members and to allocate resources according to the democratic will of their membership.
To give members interested in making their own submission as much information as possible the Union has provided below a range of information dated from 2005 when the previous Government introduced VSU to the present.
For more information contact:
Paul Kniest or Alex Schlotzer in the Policy and Research Unit on (03) 9254 1910
You can access resources from this page.
Further information:
| NTEU VSU Submission 2008 | Visit this page to download NTEU submissions from the National Office and Branches. |
| VSU Consultation Paper | Follow this link to download the Government's consultation paper on voluntary student unionism. |
| NTEU Media Release | Follow this link to download the Union's media release in response to the Government's review of voluntary student unionism. |
| NTEU and CAPA Leaflet on VSU and IR reform | Download the CAPA / NTEU brochure on the links between the Government's Anti Student Organisation Legislation and the new Industrial Relations agenda |
| What can you do? | There are a number of ways that you can support student organisations and their staff. Poster downloads available here. |
| VSU and Families Briefing Paper | Follow this link to download a briefing paper regarding the potential impacts of VSU on families of students and student organisation employees. |
| Information Leaflets | The NTEU has created a number of information leaflets. You can access these by following this link. |
| Powerpoint Slide for August 10 NDA | Download this Powerpoint Slide to promote the National Day of Action on August 10. The slide should be amended to suit the particular details for your campus. |
| NTEU Senate Inquiry Submission | Download the NTEU's submission to the Senate Employment, Workplace Relations and Education Legislation Committee's inquiry into the provisions of the Government's anti-student organisation legislation. |
| NTEU NSW Division Petition | Download the NTEU NSW Division's petition against VSU. Make sure that you distribute it widely and get as many signatures as possible. Once you have done this make sure you return it to your local Branch, the NSW Division or the National Office. |
| Anti-VSU Power Point Presentation | Victorian Division Power Point presentation designed for to be shown at the start of lectures to raise awareness about VSU. |
| NTEU's National Bulletin on VSU | Download NTEU's National Bulletin on VSU. A4 colour, 2 page, 500Mb |
| NTEU's Statement on VSU | Student organisations make a crucial contribution to a dynamic, democratic and creative educational environment in our universities, provide students with the means and ability to take part in many facets of university life, and given them a representative voice and participatory role in the governance of their institutions. Read the NTEU's Statement on VSU. |
| NTEU's VSU Media Releases | Follow this link to access NTEU's VSU media releases. |
| Democrats anti-VSU postcard | Download the Democrats anti-VSU postcard. |
| Democrats VSU Petition | Download the Democrats anti-VSU petition |
| The VSU Bill | Download the Higher Education Support Amendment (Abolition of Compulsory Up-front Student Union Fees) Bill 2005 and the Explanatory Memorandum here. |
| NUS Information | The National Union of Students (NUS) has released a media kit and a detailed paper on VSU. You can access both of these resources here. |
| CAPA Information | The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) has released a media release. Follow the link to the CAPA homepage for more information about CAPA and what CAPA is doing about VSU. |
| Sector Information | The Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee (AVCC) and the Group of Eight Universities (Go8) have released media about the Government's introduction of VSU legislation. They both have position statements about Student Organisations. You can access their respective media releases and position statements here. |
| Victorian National's VSU Motion | Download the Victorian National's VSU motion where they acknowledge the importance of rural and regional student organisations in providing services and facilities. |
| Links | Other Anti-VSU sites |
| The Political Parties | Find out what each of the political Parties have said about the introduction of the anti-student organisation legislation. |
| Newcastle Anti-VSU Rally | On Saturday (7 May) 100 Newcastle students, staff and community supporters braved the wind and rain to rally against Nelson’s proposed VSU legislation. |