News & Views item - April 2006

 

 

An Indication of the Effects of Voluntary Student Unionism. (April 19, 2006)

Julie Bishop
Photo: Robert Rough, SMH

    The Minister for Education, Science and Training, Julie Bishop, yesterday announced the release of a discussion paper on the $80 million fund that will support university sport and recreational facilities during the transition to voluntary student unionism (VSU). Universities have been advised by Ms Bishop should they wish to submit a response to the paper to "visit" http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/higher_education/programmes_funding/VSUF.htm, and make a submission on or before May 15. She added that Focus groups will be held with the universities in June.

 

In her announcement Ms Bishop said, "The transition fund will assist the sector to adjust to the changed funding environment and will help them change from a reliance on compulsory fees to other income streams. I propose that the transition fund be allocated through a competitive selection round or rounds, with institutions submitting proposals that would address one or more of the funding priorities.

Total funding available for the programme over three years is $80 million: $40 million in 2007; $30 million in 2008; and $10 million in 2009.

 

The universities claim that students fees amount to $160 million per annum. The table below gives a breakdown of how non-academic funding is derived and spent.

 

 

The Department of Education, Science and Training has confirmed that it intends that all funding  to help universities cope with voluntary student unionism is to be channelled into recreation facilities.

 

The Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee chief executive John Mullarvey pointed out that sport and recreation were not the only essential services on university campuses that would be affected by VSU and the fund should also help pay the way of dental services, computing and library services, welfare and child care, international student services and student representation.

 

The Age reports a spokesman for Ms Bishop said the Government singled out sport infrastructure for transition funding based on advice from universities. "There are major infrastructural costs for sporting and recreational facilities that don't apply to some of the other services".

 

The acting Opposition education spokeswoman Senator Penny Wong said the funding plan was "too little, too late. Even where services are eligible for this funding they won't get any until 2007, when many will have already closed down."

 

But of equal importance, where universities do fund the services, funding for other university functions will suffer.

 

Of course we don't know whether or not Ms Bishop attempted to increase the transitional funding and make it equitable in order to lessen the blow to the functioning of the universities, but if so, she was ineffective.