National Union of Students

Education Conference dates have been confirmed for 4-6 July. It is being hosted this year by the University of Technology Sydney Students' Association and the University of Sydney SRC in Sydney.

Click here to fill out the only student run quality survey in Australia!

Universities are growing faster than ever, but the funding isn’t keeping up. Students are paying for an increasingly low-quality education. The federal government needs to act now to ensure that our tertiary education system is not further degraded.

We need properly trained teachers, smaller class sizes, acccess to resources and a diversity of course options. It’s time for the government to fund our universities properly, and for universities to prioritise quality teaching and learning. The campaign is in two parts: first, we are running a photo petition to activate students and demonstrate to the government and universities that you care about your education. Then, in mid-April we will be launching the only student run quality survey in Australia to highlight issues of quality in Australian Universities.

What you can do:

Be a part of our photo petition, write to your VC, like the Fund Our Future Facebook page or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you would like to get involved in our student-based lobbying program (Meet Your Member)!

You can also sign our online petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/federal-treasurer-increase-funding-to-universities

Some photos from our photo-petition so far:

What fees?

Despite the fact that we pay large fees for our degrees (either upfront or deferred
on HECS) everyone knows we have added costs when we get to uni. Textbooks,
uniforms, software, excursion costs…often subjects come with their own hidden price
tag just to make sure you can get through the semester.

Why do we call them illegal?

These costs shouldn’t be placed on students. It was stated when HECS was
introduced that it was intended to cover all essential costs associated with
your degree. In fact, the Higher Education Support Act prohibits universities from
charging compulsory fees on top of HECS or tuition fees.

Yet students continue to be charged. And the number of things we pay for is growing
as funding to universities is declining.

What are we doing?

NUS wants to see universities held accountable for the extra financial strains they
are placing on students. We are already fighting against common additional costs
like replacement student ID cards and academic transcripts. But that’s just the
beginning.

The real crimes are happening in the classroom with costs that are unique to specific
subjects and degrees. We want to stop these, but we need to know where they are.

With your help we aim to identify as many illegal costs on Australian campuses as
possible, so that NUS and your campus student organisation can use this information
to lobby universities and the government to stop robbing students.

Report your crime.

Do you know of any subjects that have compulsory resources, assessments,
uniforms or other materials that students have to purchase?

Report crime here.