RMIT referendum: students and staff unite against fees

Wednesday, September 24, 1997 - 10:00

By Marcel Cameron

MELBOURNE — Students and staff at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology have joined forces to campaign for a "no" vote in the referendum on up-front fees for undergraduates. The referendum will be held from September 29 to October 3 and will be open to all RMIT students and staff.

The national executive of the National Tertiary Education and Industry Union (NTEU) has offered funding for posters and a large banner for the campaign and all area representatives will receive a package of campaign material to distribute among union and non-union staff. The next edition of the NTEU newsletter will ask staff members to encourage students to participate in the campaign.

The Australian Education Union (which covers academic staff in the TAFE sector of RMIT) will send a notice to their members urging them to vote "no".

Students and staff will vote on three questions to which they can answer yes, no or undecided: "Do you agree with the University Council decision to permit full-fee local undergraduate students at RMIT?"; "Do you think that a university education should be available to all students on the basis of merit, irrespective of their ability to pay fees?"; and "Do you think that the current levels of government expenditure on higher education are adequate?".

The vice-chancellor, David Beanland, agreed to the referendum and other demands during negotiations to end the 19-day occupation of Kay House earlier this month. While the referendum will not be binding on the university council, the fact that it will be held is a significant victory for the anti-fees campaign.

The referendum provides a golden opportunity to build the campaign and an overwhelming vote against fees will put considerable pressure on the council to reverse its decision to introduce fees at its next meeting on October 20.

The RMIT Welfare and Education Collective will meet on September 25 at 1.30pm in the Student Union Lounge, Building 8, level 2 on the city campus, to coordinate campaign activities. All RMIT students are welcome to participate.