From:	david henderson [david@unistudent.com.au]
Sent:	Saturday, 31 March 2001 1:12 PM
To:	eet.sen@aph.gov.au
Subject:	my submission to the higher ed inquiry
The Secretary
Senate Employment, Workplace Relations, Small Business and Education
References Committee
S1.61 Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Dear Honourable Committee Members,

I am writing to make a submission to the Senate Higher Education
Inquiry into the capacity of public universities to meet Australia's
higher education needs.

I am a student at the University of Melbourne where I am enrolled in a
Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Arts combined course and am mid-way
through the honours year of my BA. I started my course in 1995 and
since then have noticed a dramatic decline in the breadth of courses
offered. At least 25% of subjects that were offered in 1995 for my BA
are no longer offered. 

This has been interesting to note given my Commerce studies. Whilst
class sizes have increased steadily in both over the past few years,
the Arts Faculty has been forced to close several departments. Many
key majors for the BA are no longer available. The only one
significant change in the Commerce Faculty, in terms of subject
offerings, has been the closure of the Economic History department and
the opening of a Marketing and Management Department. The University
offered funding cuts as the reason it now prioritises vocational
course development over critical theory subjects. It has explicitly
stated that these subjects are more popular with fee-paying students
and therefore less costly to run.

Important key serials are no longer subscribed to by my university
library. I often go without key texts as the university has not
purchased them. I do not have a computer at home as I cannot afford
one. The computers offered to students are inadequate and in the past
two years I have never waited less than fifteen minutes to use a
terminal.

I am now employed and earn $26,000 and will consequently pay almost
$1,000 in HECS this year. I wish to study for a law degree but the
prospect of incurring an annual $6,000 HECS debt has stopped me from
applying. As a wage earner above the current HECS repayment threshold
of $22,000, HECS is effectively an up-front fee for me and further
study is not possible. I have deferred my honours study for this year
and am considering not returning due the cost in continuing.

I only started receiving Youth Allowance when I earned more than
$14,000 over eighteen months which meant Centrelink finally deemed to
be "Independent" of my parents' income. In order to keep earning that
wage I missed at least four hours of classes a month. I would not have
worked so much if it were not for the Centrelink "Independence" test.
I was 22 when I started receiving Youth Allowance and feel that I
should have been considered independent of my parents well before that
age. I was not living with my parents at the time and see no reason
why 25 is considered the age of independence for income support
payments when the government recognised me as an adult at 18. 

This is my seventh year as a student and consider my course quality to
have deteriorated substantially since I began in 1995. The increased
rates of HECS will prevent me from taking up further undergraduate
study, and as an honours student also interested in postgraduate study
I feel deterred by the large fees imposed (even despite the prospect
of accessing a large bank loan for such fees). I am now 23 and receive
no income support from my parents. I should be well and truly deemed
to be independent of their income but am not. As a low-wage earner,
but one who's income is just above the HECS repayment threshold I am
unlikely to return to complete my honours as I would have to work
fewer hours. There is even less incentive to return as I read the
course programme for the 2002 honours school contains another notice
of a subject cancellation. 

I can see that only a large reinvestment of public funds into
universities will arrest the decline in the quality of public
education. Only a large increase in the repayment threshold will stop
HECS from being a effective up-front fee for low wage earners. Only
free education will completely remove the deterrance that HECS creates
for higher education study, but that a substantial decrease is
desperately needed so that tier 3 courses in particular do not become
only available to wealthy students. 

I strongly urge all Committee Members to recommend these changes occur
immediately in order ensure that universities can meet Australia's
higher education needs.

Yours sincerely,

David Henderson

University of Melbourne
Student number 23749
237 Errol St
North Melbourne 3051
Ph: 03 9329 2966, 0411 606 808
E-mail: david@unistudent.com.au

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