Democrats urge Victorian universities not to increase fees
Australian Democrats’ Higher Education spokesperson, Senator Natasha Stott Despoja, today urged universities in Victoria to reject increasing their HECS fees and domestic full-fee places in undergraduate courses.
“We implore the Vice-Chancellors of these universities to resist shifting more of their costs onto students through increasing HECS fees by 25% and offering up to one third of a course as full-fee paying places,” said Senator Stott Despoja.
“The Democrats offer our support to the NTEU, students and academics who are campaigning against these changes.
“The Education Minister’s regressive ‘reforms’ are designed to further entrench a user-pays system because the Government is abrogating its responsibility to adequately fund Australia’s universities.
“Without a doubt, seven years of the Howard Government has put incredible financial pressure on all universities, but the ideological changes it is seeking to impose are not the answer.
“Entry to Australia’s universities should be based on a student’s brains, not their bank balance and any fee rises are going to hurt disadvantaged students the most.
“Reserving up to 35% of a course for full-fee paying students is a fundamental shift away from public higher education.
“The consequence of the shift to full-fee places will be students saddled with life-defining debt.
“I urge the universities of Victoria to take this into account as they make their decisions about these changes in the coming months,” concluded Senator Stott Despoja.
