SENATOR KIM CARR SHADOW MINISTER FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, RESEARCH, INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SENATOR FOR VICTORIA

MEDIA RELEASE
STUDENTS TO PAY MORE UNDER ABBOTT GOVERNMENT
The report from the Abbott Governments Review of the Demand Driven Funding System released today lays the groundwork for changes that will see fairness being eroded from Australias higher education system Shadow !igher "ducation #inister$ Senator %im &arr$ said todays report was the first step on the path to less e'uitable education opportunities for Australian students (At the heart of this report is a recommendation that public money go to private providers$) Senator &arr said (*t also recommends e+tending the demand driven system to sub bachelor degrees and to postgraduate by coursework sub,ects for some disciplines or courses$ given the success of this system in driving innovation (These measures would significantly e+pand the number of people seeking to tap the pool of &ommonwealth funding *t begs the 'uestion- where is the money going to come from. (The Government promised no cuts to education This means the &oalition is either gearing up to break yet another election promise or it is getting ready to increases costs (/abor is gravely concerned that students will be the ones who end up paying more (Already we see in this report the suggestion to introduce an unspecified !"&S0 !"/1 loan fee (2nder this Government there is a serious risk of moving to a system where higher education becomes unaffordable for many students3 where opportunities are limited to a privileged minority (*ne+plicably$ todays report recommends against higher education attainment and enrolment share targets for low socio-economic status 4S"S5 students

(The /abor Government was on track to meet our target of a 67 per cent participation rate by 6767 among university students from low S"S backgrounds and we had already achieved the target for female students (The Abbott Government needs to be doing more not less to help more students access and achieve high 'uality tertiary education (8o0one should be in any doubt$ this report is a stalking horse for much bigger changes to come (9e are witnessing a softening up process$ a precursor to what we anticipate will be significant changes to deregulation at a time when there a grave concerns about the governments approach to 'uality assurance (The Government appears headed towards a wholesale privatisation of Australias higher education system Such an outcome would be disastrous for the ma,ority of Australians aspiring to attain a tertiary 'ualification (The last thing we want to see from the Government is a plan that sets Australia back decades when it comes to e'uality and participation in higher education )

SUNDAY 13 APRIL 2014