By Sarah Stephen
CANBERRA — For the last four weeks, students at the Australian National University (ANU) have been organising a campaign against what appears to be a "litmus test" for the introduction of up-front fees in universities throughout the country.
A month ago, the ANU Resources Committee recommended that an up-front fee of $9000 be charged for legal workshop from 1995. In order to gain entry into the legal profession, graduates are required to complete this component of their degree. The less commonly adopted alternative is to undertake 18 months of articles with a law firm.
Universities have previously been prohibited from charging fees for first professional courses. The Department of Employment, Education and Training (DEET) removed this prohibition in its "Administrative guidelines manual for higher education institutions on HECS and Fees 1994". The only exemptions made are for the graduate diploma of education and postgraduate nursing.
This decision allows universities to charge students full up-front fees for professional courses. The federal government's policy of funding cuts ensures that universities will sooner or later be forced to introduce up-front course fees.
Law students at ANU were quick to respond to the threat and organised a demonstration of 400 on Friday, August 5. This was followed by several meetings and demonstrations of 200-400, culminating in a strike on August 10 which shut down the Law School for the whole day. Pickets of up to 40 people, and the support of many academics in cancelling lectures, ensured that no lectures took place.
These actions forced the university administration to seek a compromise. Rumours circulated about smaller fees, phased in over time, perhaps with a deferred payment option. The faculty meeting on August 12 was greeted by an angry crowd of 300 students and academics. The meeting voted to condemn up-front fees, but added that if fees were absolutely necessary, they should be reduced to $3500 with no more than $1000 up front, and an adequate loans scheme put in place.
This gave students a feel for the effect we could have. But we were determined that any compromise which still involved an up-front fee was unacceptable.
A recommendation by the Resources Committee on August 16 confirmed students' suspicions that the fee for legal workshop was not being proposed in isolation. The committee passed a motion proposing that up-front fees of no less than $4000 be charged for all postgraduate courses at the university from 1995.
Activists organise
A student meeting on August 30 voted to strike on September 7, two days before the university makes a final decision on the legal workshop fee.
A number of speakers addressed the student meeting. Senator Dee Margetts from the Greens (WA) expressed her support for the campaign. Nick Sellars, an industrial organiser for the Health Services Union Australia (HSUA), which covers most of the general staff of the university, received a cheer as he spoke:
"I want to know why the universities haven't lobbied government to get more money, rather than students who shouldn't have to pay. As higher education workers, we need to see that this is an erosion of the service we provide. We are being asked to go along with this model, in which education is for the wealthy, and academic or departmental survival hinges on the commercialisation of education. Our recent special general meeting of the branch unanimously passed a resolution supporting the students in their protest against these fees."
The campaign is now faced with the task of developing the broadest possible student and community support against the federal government's strategy to privatise education.
I spoke to a range of activists about the issue of fees and how the campaign should be targeted.
Alison Dellit, Resistance activist at ANU, pointed out that support for the campaign will grow with the understanding that this attack is part of Labor's overall policy of privatising education and the public sector."It is clear to me why the university targeted law students first. Many people can be persuaded that lawyers ought to pay for their degrees because they earn so much money when they get jobs. This is part of Labor's much tested divide and rule strategy.
"But the fact is that fees won't stop with law students. The administration at ANU has already confirmed this with its proposal for postgraduate fees across the board.
"If we don't do everything we can to defeat this fee for legal workshop, it will be opening the gates to up-front fees for all students. We have to demonstrate that we are serious, that we are going to do everything in our power to bring this university to a halt unless these proposals are withdrawn and the government immediately provides the necessary funding."
The president of the ANU Student Association, Caitlin Wyndham, and general secretary Daniel Joyce also gave their views on the issue.
According to Wyndham, "It's a betrayal by the ALP. This whole issue of fees for university is one that there has never been a proper public debate on. Labor is trying to sell its latest move towards up-front fees as a small administrative change, but it's not. It's a major change in policy. Students have a right to feel betrayed."
"I am very surprised that they are doing this", said Joyce."It seemed to me that the whole basis of the Labor Party's platform was the notion of free education, a strong component of social welfare. Although that's clearly been eroded recently, it's still a big part of their rhetoric, especially during the last election. I still think that within the ALP, though, there is a lot of support for students and for the ideals of free education, and that this move towards up-front fees isn't a fait accompli. I think that the ALP can still be activated to oppose up-front fees."
Dellit, on the other hand, pointed to the need to link the campaign against fees to the general community sentiment against Labor's austerity policies. "I am actually not surprised that it is Labor which is introducing fees. The student movement always said that the $250 administration charge and HECS were part of a broader privatisation strategy, the thin end of the wedge. It was never going to be a workable system, and they were going to replace it as soon as it was considered safe to.
"Labor was only forced to make concessions because of the mass student mobilisations between 1987 and 1989. With the student movement in a state of demobilisation, Labor is now seeking to further its program for education."
In Western Australia, Victoria and possibly Tasmania in the near future, voluntary student unionism (VSU) legislation will severely weaken the ability of student unions to defend students rights.
Caitlin Wyndham made the point that while it was the Liberals introducing VSU and Labor introducing fees, the consequences would be linked. "Student representation will be weakened, so that students won't be able to fight as effectively against things like up-front fees."
The current campaign against legal workshop fees at ANU will be important in holding the line against further up-front university course fees. "If we win this one, it will give students confidence in their own actions, in their ability to band together to defeat such attacks. I think students are willing to get up and fight for this. I have a lot of confidence that we will win", said Daniel Joyce.
The campaign now needs to keep the pressure on the university and win the support of students across the country. To start with, this means involving an increasing number of students in the campaign at ANU, organising actions like rallies, marches, strikes and mass meetings that involve students.
The campaign also needs to build support from trade unions and community organisations in the ACT. Students need to speak at community and union meetings and organise community information stalls and petitions.
The campaign should link up with all student rights campaigns and activists across the country, like the anti-VSU campaigns in Victoria and Western Australia. A focus for this will be a national day of action against fees that the National Union of Students has called on September 15. Leading up to this there are a number of other actions around the country.
At ANU there will be the strike on September 7, a demonstration on September 9 and a picket of the Course and Careers Open Day on September 10. Students will be setting up picket lines as people come to visit the university. We will be telling prospective students how much they could expect to pay if they study at ANU.
Daniel Joyce summed up where the campaign needs to go from here. "I think demonstrations, strikes, stalls, are all really important, both in raising student awareness and to demonstrate that this is a big issue and students are really angry about it. It's broader than ANU; in fact it goes even beyond campuses. It's an important social issue which we need to have proper public debate on. It relates to the question of what sort of society we want. Students are a significant force in society, and have played key roles in history. Education is an issue that affects everyone in society."