By Marina Cameron
Before being sacked from the federal Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs portfolio, Senator Amanda Vanstone released a graph to the media which was supposed to show that the government had not cut funding to universities.
Angry student and staff groups pointed out that the graph confirms that government contributions to higher education have taken a nose dive, and student fees have been used to make up the difference.
The government cut $2.3 billion from higher education funding last year, introduced large increases to HECS fees in a three-tier system, and set a lower repayment threshold. The money put into the system through HECS payments jumped by a third from 1996 to 1997, and is projected to more than double between 1996 and 2000. The government also partially deregulated up-front fees for undergraduates and eight universities have decided to take advantage of this option from 1998, giving the government the excuse to cut funding further.
Another of Vanstone's legacies is the ravaged student income support system. Austudy was cut massively last year, and a new tightened means test introduced. A report by the Commonwealth Ombudsman, reported in the September 25 Sydney Morning Herald, found that many students who were eligible for Austudy did not apply because of the bureaucratic nightmare involved.
Many decisions to cut or reduce benefits were found to be wrong because staff had not managed to keep up with the constant changes in Austudy rules and guidelines. Students had been asked to repay debts they didn't owe, suffered denial of payments unnecessarily, and had to wait up to 10 weeks for their payments while their means test was finalised. Further cuts to jobs in Austudy administration have exacerbated the problem.
Meanwhile, all unemployment benefits for 16 and 17-year-olds will be cut under the Common Youth Allowance, forcing young people back into an ailing public school system, or forcing their parents into debt through private school fees.
Resistance member and delegate to the National Union of Students at Curtin University, Corinne Glenn, told Green Left Weekly: "Students and staff campaigning in defence of public education will be glad to see the back of Amanda Vanstone, but the government's agenda for privatising education goes deeper than one minister. Students intend to keep up the pressure."