Senator MARGETTS(11.26 a.m.) —I move:

(2)   Schedule 1, page 3 (after line 9), after item 2, insert:

2A At the end of section 13

   Add

   (3)   Nothing in this section authorises an institution to charge fees in respect of a person undertaking a post-graduate course that would be higher than the amount that would be payable by that person if, notwithstanding paragraph (b) of the definition of designated course of study in section 34, the post-graduate course was a designated course of study and the person was a contributing student for the purposes of Chapter 4.

This amendment is about not authorising an institution to charge fees in respect of a person undertaking a postgraduate course that would be higher than the amount that would be payable by that person under HECS. The effect of this amendment is to remove fees for postgraduate students. It will delete any reference to fees for undergraduate students. If this amendment succeeds, postgraduate students would not pay more than the HECS liable to undergraduate students.

Postgraduate fees have the effect of preventing people, who do not already have a guaranteed income, reskilling. They prevent students from undertaking higher study after completing undergraduate study and prevent mature age and part-time students from returning to university to reskill.

The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations—or CAPA—believes that, as a result of operating grant cuts, over 20,000 government funded postgraduate coursework places will be dropped. This will compound inequality of access to postgraduate places and buy us places in favour of those who can afford it. The groups that CAPA has analysed will be most affected are women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, rural students, isolated students and low socioeconomic status students. CAPA shows that the participation of these equity groups have already been affected: with 30 per cent fewer women studying postgraduate courses than undergraduate courses; 60 per cent fewer Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students studying postgraduate courses than undergraduate; and 50 per cent fewer rural students, 30 per cent fewer isolated students and 60 per cent fewer low socioeconomic status students studying postgraduate courses compared with undergraduate courses.

This amendment will remove the major barrier of fees which prevents these people from continuing on with their education. This is consistent with the line that the Greens have taken. We always were concerned that the ability to charge fees to postgraduate students was a lever, a wedge in the door. It has been seen to be quite true.

To be consistent with the line we have always taken, I urge support from the committee in treating postgraduate students fairly and making sure that we do not further disadvantage postgraduate students. There are many people who are being pushed out of their careers by changes. They are finding that their education from years ago is no longer able to be used in the area in which they are working because of the rush to internationalism and the changes in the workplace. There are many reasons why people find it necessary to gain a postgraduate qualification. Therefore, we do not think we should be continuing to treat postgraduates unfairly.