Clendon David: Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Clendon David: Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:670;Page:16879] 
DAVID CLENDON (Green) 
: 
 I am pleased to take a call on this bill this unfortunate bill that seeks to undermine a system that has worked very well for a very long time. I have had the occasional pleasure and occasional pain of studying and teaching at three institutions—at two universities and a polytech—and I have observed at firsthand that students associations have been a fundamental touchstone and a significant base ensuring a good experience for students in our tertiary institutions. This bill will diminish that. This bill undoubtedly will reduce and diminish the quality of the student experience in our tertiary institutions. 
The alleged purpose of this bill which is to uphold students’ rights to freedom of association is a fairly dubious proposition but in seeking to protect students’ rights allegedly what it will actually do is reduce the likelihood of students getting a good educational experience while they are enrolled at a tertiary institute. The almost certain unintended consequence as I have said is the diminishment the degradation of that critical experience. It is a life-forming experience not only in terms of students—young people and not-so-young people—gaining a tertiary qualification but also in terms of their gaining experience refreshing their attitudes and understanding world views. The richness of a tertiary education will be undermined by some of the elements of this bill if this unfortunate bill is passed. 
We have heard a great deal this evening about the negative impact on students and that is entirely appropriate because it will be very real and will be felt by students but the institutions equally have cause to be worried if this bill is passed. Clearly the institutions rely on funding to survive and thrive and part of that funding has a student achievement component. We know that institutions can lose funding if they do not get sufficient pass rates—if students do not stay engaged and enrolled in the courses that they begin. Eight institutions are suffering funding cuts this year because they have failed to meet the standards imposed by the student achievement component of the overall funding of the tertiary sector. 
There are three ways in which we can endeavour to retain students and thereby protect the income of the institutions. Clearly the academics have a key role in ensuring that students remain engaged have a positive experience and stay within the sector. Academics are now struggling with the demands of the Performance-based Research Fund the obligation to research—to publish or perish—even if that research often does not serve any particular practical end. At the same time that academics have been obliged to do more research they are also experiencing increased teaching loads. In my experience all academics—and I have talked to a lot of them—are finding that they have an increased demand to teach more. They are having to spend more time in front of students as well as having to deal with more expectation of research. 
Academics are also being obliged to undertake administrative tasks because the general or non-academic staff at the institutions have had the axe taken to them in recent years as well. The whole sector is creaking. It is under stress. This misguided legislation with the likelihood that it will diminish the student experience and reduce the likelihood of students staying engaged with their studies is also likely to lead to a reduction in funding for the institutions. After all who else does that leave? The academics have no capacity to engage with their students at a higher level than they are now doing. They are facing larger classes more research requirements and more academic expectation. They have no capacity to provide that one-on-one support that can and often does make the difference between a student succeeding and completing a degree or a course or not succeeding. The general staff do not have that capacity either. 
We must not forget that the general staff are critical in the student experience and do a great deal of often unrewarded and unrecognised work in terms of protecting student interests. Effectively that leaves the students associations which have a long history and dare I say it a very proud history of providing the range of services and experiences to students that keeps them engaged and increases the likelihood of their success.