National Union of Students of Australia

The National Union of Students is the peak representational body for Australian university students. Most, but not all, students' union bodies in Australian campuses are affiliated to NUS. It represents some 700,000 university students.

History

NUS in its current form came into being in 1987 after the collapse of its predecessor, the Australian Union of Students, in 1984. It was formed at the same time that the Hawke government introduced the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (a system of deferred tuition payments), abolishing the free education system previously introduced by the Whitlam government.

Related Topics:
1987 - Australian Union of Students - 1984 - Hawke - Higher Education Contribution Scheme - Whitlam

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NUS has had mixed success in its role as a lobby group and representative body. In particular, its limited finances have often meant that it has had difficulty making its presence felt on higher education issues. It was successful in the early 1990?s in preventing the implementation of a deferred loan scheme in place of government student financial assistance, and in reducing the qualification age for student financial assistance.

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A setback for NUS was the election of the Howard Liberal government in 1996, which had shown hostility towards (left-leaning) tertiary sector representational bodies such as NUS and the National Tertiary Education Union. NUS was unable to prevent the introduction of differential rates of HECS in 1996, but did lobby successfully to stop the introduction of a voucher system by then Education Minister Dr. David Kemp.

Related Topics:
Howard - Liberal - Left - National Tertiary Education Union - Dr. David Kemp

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NUS is opposed to the principle of Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU), arguing that it denies students effective service provision or representation. However, a concerted push by the ALSF has seen pro-VSU legislation introduced by a number of state governments. NUS has lobbied successfully to have these laws repealed, and has thus far successfully resisted the introduction of such legislation at a national level.

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The union suffered another major setback in 2003 when despite intense lobbying of independent senators, the reform package of Dr. Brendan Nelson passed the Senate. This package permitted the introduction of Domestic Undergraduate Up-Front Fees (DUFF) by universities in addition to HECS places, and allowed universities to increase their HECS rates by 25%. Components of the legislation introducing VSU, and the mandatory offering of the Australian Workplace Agreement as a component of universities? enterprise bargaining practices were dropped. Relations between NUS and the Federal Government remain strained.

Related Topics:
Dr. Brendan Nelson - Senate - Domestic Undergraduate Up-Front Fees - Australian Workplace Agreement

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In 2003, NUS membership fees became indexed to CPI, removing some of the strain on the union?s finances but raising fears that many small and regional campus organisations might disaffiliate due to increases in affiliation fees.

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Despite NUS having run a campaign in marginal electorates heavily critical of the Howard Government's education policies, the 2004 Australian elections saw the government returned to office with what looked to be effective control of the Senate. VSU was listed as component of a government "wishlist" of previously stalled legislation which it would attempt to put before the Senate, putting the future of NUS in doubt.

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