MEDIA RELEASE- STUDENTS LEFT WITHOUT A VOTE IN UNIVERSITIES
The UWA Postgraduate Students’ Association (UWA PSA) and the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) stand united in their rejection of the Universities Legislation Amendment Act tabled in in the WA State Parliament on the 20th of May 2016.
This legislation will disenfranchise students at all four of the WA public universities by removing the protections set in regards to the Student Services and Amenities Fees (SSAF). Currently WA universities are required to provide a minimum of 50% of any student fees to the student guilds. The new legislation removes these protective measures and puts student guilds at risk of losing their ability to effectively function and represent students.
Peter Derbyshire, UWA PSA President and CAPA Western Branch President, says, “We have seen this occur in eastern states universities where the supply of SSAF fees to student run organisations is slowly eroded, until the students can no longer represent themselves effectively. This negatively impacts the student experience.”
Changes to the University of Western Australia governance structures are particularly worrying under the new amendments.
Mr Derbyshire says, “The proposed amendments not only reduce the number of student representatives on the UWA Senate but, in their current form, do not allow postgraduate coursework students to vote for a senate representative at all. This amounts to over 6000 UWA students who are unable to vote on who will represent them on the University’s decision making body.”
“The UWA Senate exists to ensure that UWA is providing a world leading education to its undergraduate and postgraduate students. A strong and representative student voice in the Senate is essential to ensure that UWA is acting in the best interests of the students.”
“Such an oversight is a clear indication of the risks of changing legislation without proper consultation with all stakeholders. It also provides a strong case for keeping elected representation on university governing bodies to ensure such oversights do not occur.”
ENDS
For comment: Peter Derbyshire, UWA PSA President and CAPA Western Branch President, 0435 047 817 / psa@guild.uwa.edu.au
