Level 1, Campus Centre
Monash University 3800
T: (03) 9905 3138
F: (03) 9905 4185
msa@adm.monash.edu.au

Education - Public Affairs

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Engaging students around all issues

The Education (Public Affairs) department is the activist wing of the Monash Student Association. Our goal is to engage and energise students around all the issues that you are interested in! The Demand a Better Future Campaign is the major campaign for the upcoming year, and through it we are calling for:

  • An independent political voice - the full repeal of VSU;
  • Free higher education;
  • Larger and more accessible welfare payments.

For those of you looking to get involved with the department, we've uploaded a brief summary of our key campaigns for this year.

Repeal VSU

Student unions have a proud history of fighting for the rights of their members and for broader social issues. This includes fighting homophobia, sexism and helping to bring down Apartheid South Africa. This is why the Liberal government introduced Voluntary Student Unionism - to silence our unions.

The legislation meant that student unions received drastically less funding, and have had to scale back our campaigns and services. At Monash University the MSA was able to secure a funding agreement and we have managed to survive, but other unions have not been so lucky - many have closed, many more are under the control of conservative university administrations.

The Education Department and the MSA more broadly will continue to campaign until VSU is fully repealed, and an independent political voice for students is guaranteed.

Free Public Education

Student unions believe that education is a right, not a privilege. A university education is a life changing experience and one that should be available to anyone who has the potential and desire to study.

We know that the prohibitive nature of the current loans and fees system puts many people off continuing their education. And not just any people. Studies have shown that fees disadvantage students from low socio-economic backgrounds - reinforcing the class divide in society.

The Education (Public Affairs) department is committed to fighting for equal access to education for all, and the only way to achieve this is to demand free education.

Improved Welfare Support

The other thing preventing disadvantaged students from entering universities is the woefully inadequate state of the welfare system. The maximum payments that students are currently able to receive is $370 a fortnight, which is more than 50% below the poverty line, set at $760 a fortnight in 2008. The Education Department is fighting to increase payments in line with this amount, and to ensure that they are indexed to inflation to take into account future price rises. Finally, we call on the government to reduce the age of independence from 25 to 18, so that students can access much needed funds.