RaymondPierreL3Sometimes, sorely needed social & progressive legislation takes an inordinate amount of time to enact due to an abundance of caution. If the Environment is a delicate area to address, Tertiary education is not — past legislative actions which f**ed the system were quick enough to be enacted without much consultation (if any at all, as the JRG disaster shows).
“The Productivity Commission joined the call for a “new funding model as a priority” given the “design flaws” of Job Ready Graduates. It said the “differences in student contributions by perceived labour market needs fail to meet their goals while arbitrarily increasing debt burdens on some students”. The Accord’s final report in February 2024, highlighting this unfairness, found the student fee structure needs to be replaced.
The government has yet to act on this. Instead, students must wait for the newly established Australian Tertiary Education Commission to design a new funding and fees model.”
How did Australian universities go from free education to $50,000 arts degrees in 50 years?
Australians think students are being asked to pay far too much for their degrees. Just under half (47%) of Australians surveyed by YouGov in June 2025 believe a worker on an average income should be able to pay off the debt for a standard three-year degree within five years. When it comes to the cost of a degree, 58% believe a student should pay $5000 or less per year – less than a third of what arts students now pay.
Angus Davison
Pedestriansfirst
Intergenerational Foundation