Title: Tertiary education fees in Australia
Content:  During the early 1970s, there was a significant push to make tertiary education in Australia more accessible to working and middle class Australians. The Whitlam Labor Government abolished university fees on 1 January 1974. By the mid-1980s, however, there was consensus between both major parties that the concept of 'free' tertiary education in Australia was untenable due to the increasing participation rate.
Title: Tertiary education in Australia
Content: All tertiary institutions established as universities by acts of parliament (e.g. Sydney, Monash, La Trobe, Griffith) ; A collection of institutes of technology (such as the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)) ; A collection of colleges of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) By the mid-1980s, it became the consensus of both major parties that the concept of 'free' tertiary education in Australia was untenable due to the increasing participation rate. Ironically, a subsequent Labor Government (the Bob Hawke/Paul Keating Government) was responsible for gradually re-introducing fees for university study. In a relatively innovative move, the method by which fees were 
Title: Voluntary student unionism
Content:  On 9 December 2005, the Higher Education Support Amendment (Abolition of Compulsory Up-front Student Union Fees) Bill 2005 was passed in the Senate, and received the Royal Assent on 19 December 2005. Since 1 July 2006, Australian universities have faced fines of A$100 per student for compelling payment for any non-academic good or service.
Title: Economic liberalization in the post–World War II era
Content:  In Australia, neoliberal economic policies have been embraced by governments of both the Labor Party and the Liberal Party since 1983. The governments of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating from 1983 to 1996 pursued economic liberalisation and a program of micro-economic reform. These governments privatized government corporations, deregulated factor markets, floated the Australian dollar and reduced trade protection. In addition to Labor's neoliberal agenda, Keating, as federal treasurer, also implemented a compulsory superannuation guarantee system in 1992 to increase national savings and reduce future government liability for old age pensions. The financing of universities was decentralised, requiring students to contribute to university fees through a repayable loan system known as the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) and, in the mid-1990s, encouraging universities to increase income by admitting full-fee-paying students, including foreign students. The admitting of domestic full-fee-paying students 
Title: Student unionism in Australia
Content:  labour in the Australian economy. Increasingly, working class students were able to access University through teacher-training schemes, veterinary preference schemes, and other avenues. Bonded in labour to a government authority, these students could exert some level of pressure against their future "employer" by joining a union and protecting the rights of newer graduates with little real life experience and new to the workforce. A similar wave of increased tertiary funding in the 1970s under the Whitlam Government saw the foundation of mostly regional tertiary campuses. The opening up of higher education to a broader social group coincided with a period of popular student unionism in the 1960s, '70s and '80s.
Title: Tertiary education in Australia
Content: Universities ; Institutes of technology (a hybrid between a university and a technical college) ; Technical colleges Until 1973, university tuition was funded either through Commonwealth scholarships, which were based on merit, or through fees. Tertiary education in Australia was structured into three sectors:  During the early 1970s, there was a significant push to make tertiary education in Australia more accessible to working and middle-class people. In 1973, the Whitlam Labor Government abolished university fees. This increased the university participation rate. In 1974, the Commonwealth assumed full responsibility for funding higher education (i.e., universities and Colleges of Advanced Education (CAEs)) and established the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission (CTEC), which had an advisory role and responsibility for allocating government funding among universities. However, in 1975, in the context of federal political crisis and economic recession, triennial funding of universities was suspended. Demand remained with growth directed to CAEs and State-controlled TAFE colleges.
Title: Tertiary education fees in Australia
Content:  In 1996, the Howard government permitted universities to create full-fee places on which they could charge full up-front fees to students who missed out on a HECS place (with the notable exception of medical degrees). In 2005, the Howard government permitted universities to increase fees by up to 25%. During the term of the Abbott Government, Education Minister Christopher Pyne consistently sought to fully deregulate university fees. Pyne's proposal would have allowed universities to set their own fees according to the student demand, and graduates who moved offshore to start paying through the tax system. The proposed reforms were unsuccessful, being 
Title: Tertiary education in Australia
Content:  The first university established in Australia was the University of Sydney in 1850, followed in 1853 by the University of Melbourne. Prior to federation in 1901 two more universities were established: the University of Adelaide (1874) and the University of Tasmania (1890). At the time of federation, Australia's population was 3,788,100 and there were fewer than 2,652 university students. Two other universities were established soon after federation: the University of Queensland (1909) and the University of Western Australia (1911). All of these universities were controlled by State governments and were largely modelled on the traditional British university system and adopted both architectural and educational features in line with the (then) strongly influential 'mother' country. In his paper Higher Education in Australia: Structure, Policy and Debate Jim Breen observed that in 1914 only 3,300 students (or 0.1% of the Australian population) were enrolled in universities. In 1920 the Australian 
Title: Monash University, Parkville campus
Content:  assistance. In 1974, fees for tertiary education in Australia were abolished, meaning that funding for the College began to be sourced primarily from the Federal Government. After the introduction of the unified national system of higher education in 1988, known as the Dawkins reforms, it was clear that the College had to combine with a university. Negotiations were started with University of Melbourne, which was seen as the obvious partner, given their close proximity. However, these negotiations collapsed in 1990. The College then began discussions with Monash University, which were successful. The transfer was finalised on 1 July 1992 and became the Faculty of Pharmacy of Monash University. It celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2006. In August 2008, the Victorian College of Pharmacy underwent a name change to reflect its position within Monash, to the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Title: Australian University Sailing
Content:  The introduction of the Voluntary Student Unionism legislation in 2005 had a significant effect on university clubs and resulted in many of them being closed with their assets sold off, often at discount prices. The only clubs to survive or remain active from 2005 to 2009 were the clubs from Adelaide University, Queensland University of Technology, University of Queensland, University of Sydney, University of New South Wales (windsurfing), Australian National University and University of Tasmania. Even these clubs had very limited activity and resources.

Question: when did university stop being free in australia?
Answer: 1989.