Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australia's tertiary education system is one of the best in the world. Under the HELP scheme, every Australian student can study a university degree without paying a cent in tuition until they earn over $67,000 a year. We actually raised that threshold. It was previously sitting at around $54,000 a year. We have lifted that to $67,000 a year to provide some cost-of-living relief to students.

But tuition fees aren't the only barrier to university education. For many students who live out of home and whose parents earn above the income threshold for youth allowance, a part-time job is the only way for them to get by. It's super common for students to work part time. These students deserve of to feel supported and to have their needs accommodated, but, for too many working students, their experience is anything but.

Law students at Monash University were recently reminded in an email from the dean of law that they should not be working any more than eight to 10 hours per week. They were told to consider reducing their study load and that this kind of time management is 'an important professional skill and well regarded by employers'. This could not be more tone deaf. For an average student, eight to 10 hours per week is less than $230 in their pocket. For students who rely on part-time work to get by, the message is loud and clear: either reduce your study load or drop out altogether. For international student, reducing your study load isn't even an option. Either get by or go home—that's the subtext.

The consequences are plain to see. In 2018, a survey by the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education found that an overwhelming number of students were experiencing financial stress. One in three students had living expenses that exceeded their income. One in seven students reported regularly going without food and other necessities. One in five students reduced their course load for financial reasons. No student should have to choose between eating and getting an education. No student should be going to class hungry or worrying how they're going to afford rent.

That's why the Albanese Labor government is working to ease the cost of living for students. We've wiped over $16 billion in student debt, lifted the HELP repayment threshold, increased youth allowance and Austudy, boosted the number of Commonwealth supported university places and introduced Commonwealth paid pracs, targeting students of nursing, teaching and social work, who can now apply to receive up to around $330 per week when they are undertaking their mandatory placements. We also introduced tax cuts for all Australians. This will particularly benefit the 1.5 million taxpayers aged 18 to 24, who would have received an average tax cut or around $1,007 per year. We've also introduced broad-base measures to ease the cost of living for all Australians, including young Australians and students, like lifting bulk-billing rates over the next five years. We've cut the price of medicines, which will fall to $25 from 1 January next year. We have rolled out over 90 urgent care clinics, aiming for 137 by the middle of next year. And, of course, contraception is now a whole lot cheaper, given that two-thirds of women of child-bearing age are on contraception.

But universities need to do their part. I say to Monash University: 'Where is your empathy? Do better.' I say to those Monash students: 'Join your student union, and make sure you amplify your voice. Join your student union.'