By Michael Tardif
Labor promised a "business as usual" education policy at the last federal election, and if current proposed cutbacks are any indication, they intend to remain true to their record. Having already destroyed free education, the ALP is considering another round of attacks on higher education for the August 17 budget.
The 1993 Budget plans to make spending cuts of $2 billion. At the same time the ALP promised a company tax cut from 39% to 33%, leaving companies $2 billion better off. While it is companies that benefit most from an educated labor force, they are being relieved of educational costs while students are forced to foot the bill.
Proposals for this year's Budget include a range of measure designed to make students pay more and sooner for their education. These include:
l Increasing HECS by $1000 from its current level of $2328. This is the highest education fee ever charged in Australia and at a rate higher than most other OECD countries, including public institutions in the United States, Britain and Japan.
l Increasing the rate at which graduates who have deferred their HECS debt have to pay it back. For poorer graduates this will be done by lowering the income threshold at which repayments begin from its current level of $27,747 p.a. to approximately $22,000 p.a. Instead of parting with 3% income p.a., those earning above $40,000 will contribute 6%, that equals $2400 p.a.
l Full fees or increased HECS for second degrees. Those wishing to upgrade their employment prospects or retrain would confront full fees or a HECS payment of about $10,000 p.a. For most people this would simply rule out the possibility of further study. With economic restructuring, this move has the potential to leave whole generations in limbo, their qualifications no longer appropriate for the job market and with no prospects for retraining.
l Setting a maximum time for completing a first degree. Most students finish their degrees within the normal period of their course. Many students however take longer, because they reconsider the direction of their study, suffer illness or financial difficulties, or study part-time. Setting a maximum period for completion of a course would only penalise students and in some cases discriminate against those already in difficulties.
l Making HECS relative to the cost of a course. At the moment HECS is set against the average cost of providing all courses. This proposal would effectively extract more money out of students. Students in courses more expensive to run, such as medicine, would pay HECS relative to their course costs. Alternatively the ALP is considering charging more for courses that lead to a higher income, such as law or medicine. l Introducing a HECS loans scheme and increasing the discount for immediate payment. This proposal includes increasing the discount for immediate fee payment from 25% to 30%. Additionally students who couldn't afford the fee could take a loan, thus receiving the discount. This step is perhaps the most significant step in the direction of a full fees system.
In response to the government's budget proposals the National Union of Students has initiated a National Day of Action for Tuesday August 10. In Sydney students are meeting at 1 p.m. at Town Hall for a march to ALP headquarters. The University of Technology will be host in the afternoon to a free "Beazley Bash" concert.