Senator MARGETTS —I give notice that, on the next day of sitting, I shall move:

That the Senate—

(a)   notes:

   (i)   the launch of the Higher Education Council report, The effects of the introduction of fee paying postgraduate courses on access for designated groups ,

   (ii)   the report shows that, based on comprehensive statistical analysis of 1993 and 1995 data of the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs, designated groups, such as women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with disabilities, rural and isolated students, socio-economically disadvantaged people and people from non-English speaking back grounds, have all been negatively affected by fee paying, and

   (iii)   the report found that, after the introduction of fee paying postgraduate programs in 1989, fees have had a `clearly observable deterrent effect' on enrolments, in particular on women, Aboriginal students and people of low socio-economic status; and

(b)   calls on the Government to:

   (i)   acknowledge that fees are a direct deterrent for disadvantaged students to undertake a postgraduate education, and

   (ii)   avoid the same results in declining access and equity for the undergraduate tertiary system by totally removing upfront fee paying from higher education.