Senate snag looms for Australian accord recommendations

The Australian Universities Accord’s “priority” reforms face a rough ride in the Senate, with the opposition putting a handbrake on the proposals while the Greens apply the accelerator.

A bill enacting two of the reforms – the abolition of the “50 per cent fail rule” under which students lose access to government subsidies if they fail to complete half of their modules and the extension of demand-driven university places to indigenous people in urban areas – passed the House of Representatives in early September. An upper house committee has now recommended its passage by the Senate.

But a dissenting report by three Liberal Party senators argues that the legislation should not be approved “in its current form”. The trio wants the fail rule retained but applied only after students have attempted the equivalent of two years’ full-time study, rather than the current one.

The Liberal senators have also exhorted their colleagues to delay passage of provisions requiring universities and colleges to roll out a suite of tightly prescribed student support policies. The university sector needs “a proper opportunity to assess and consider the government’s policy…and engage in further consultation”, the three argue.

Their intervention could hamper legislation for which approval had appeared a formality, after education minister Jason Clare indicated that the opposition had pledged its parliamentary support.

If the opposition accepts the dissenters’ advice, the government will need the backing of the Greens and two other crossbenchers to secure the bill’s passage.

The committee’s Greens member, Mehreen Faruqi, supports the bill’s passage. But, in an addendum to the report, she argues for a raft of additional measures, including increased university funding, higher PhD stipends and payment for compulsory student placements.

Dr Faruqi also wants indexation on student debts abolished, with repayments only required on earnings above the median wage. And she recommends an “independent taskforce” to police sexual violence on campuses, along with the dismantling of the fee and subsidy changes made through the 2021 Job-ready Graduates reforms.

The government would be extremely unlikely to agree to any of these proposals before receiving the accord panel’s final report in December. However, the Greens have tabled an amendment giving effect to another recommendation, which would extend teaching subsidies to all indigenous postgraduate students.

Dr Faruqi said the current proposal, which limits demand-driven subsidies to indigenous undergraduates, was “extremely disappointing” from a government with an avowed focus on equity.

“Full-fee postgraduate courses are off limits to many first nations people,” she said. “If Labor is serious about tackling how our higher education system is failing [them], then opening up access to postgrad study – to make it more affordable – is a crucial component,” she said.

It remains to be seen whether the government will accept her argument. The Senate was scheduled to debate the bill on 16 October, but ran out of time.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com