Download: Equity Student Representatives Handbook
The CAPA Equity Committee presents the Equity Student Representatives Handbook, which is a resource for postgraduate equity representatives new to their roles. The handbook’s main objective is to provide a starting point and a guide for anyone representing an equity group on behalf of their postgraduate organisation. The roles and responsibilities of each role vary by organisation; this handbook is intended to provide general advice to get you started in your role and help you deliver effective equity representation.
This handbook was launched as part of the Raise Our Voice campaign and Bluestocking Week 2018.
Related content
NUS and CAPA condemn Government and crossbench for attacks on Australian students
The National Union of Students (NUS) and the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) together condemn the Coalition and those crossbench senators who today conspired to rip money directly out of students’ wallets.
The Higher Education Support Legislation Amendment (Student Loan Sustainability) Bill 2018 will force students and graduates to start paying back their student loans when they are earning barely above minimum wage, and will introduce a borrowing cap for Government-subsidised degrees. This will cause some students to pay up to tens of thousands of dollars upfront for their tuition fees.
The NUS and CAPA now call on the Labor Party to commit to reversing the damaging legislation should they form government at the next election.
The passage of the bill has occurred the same day as Universities Australia released damning statistics showing the level of student poverty.
Alarmingly, the bill gained support of the crossbench through the Government’s promotion of the baseless narrative of professional students. The crossbenchers have turned their back on the one in seven students who are so poor that they have to skip meals, and the one quarter of full-time students who regularly miss class because they have to work.
“This is yet another attack in the Liberals’ war on young people”, says president of the National Union of Students, Mark Pace. “Students are calling on Labor and the Greens to do the right thing, and make an election promise to reverse the crooked Bill.”
The implications of the bill have furthermore not been investigated by the Government, who prefer to peddle myths of students living lavishly rather than gathering any evidence.
“A report by the NUS and CAPA earlier this year found that, as a result of this borrowing cap, around 30,000 Australians would be locked out of postgraduate study in the coming years unless they can afford tens of thousands of dollars upfront,” says president of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations, Natasha Abrahams. “The Government has ignored this evidence, and has pushed through this legislation despite widespread outrage from students and the sector.”
For further comment:
NUS National President
Mark Pace
E: president@nus.asn.au
P: 0411 606 808
CAPA National President
Natasha Abrahams
E: president@capa.edu.au
P: 0430 076 993
Media Release: Student Finances Survey destroys myth of rich postgrads
The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) calls on the Federal Government to provide financial relief to postgraduate students, as the Universities Australia Student Finances Survey reveals that students are experiencing extreme hardship.
According to the survey, one in seven students regularly go without food and other basic necessities. The measures students take to alleviate financial stress impact on their ability to succeed at university: one in four domestic postgraduate coursework students regularly miss class for work, and half report that their work commitments adversely impact their performance.
The release of the Student Finances Survey comes as the Federal Government prepares to make life even tougher for students, with legislation likely to pass today on implementing a lowered student loan repayment threshold and a borrowing cap.
CAPA calls on the Government to stop attacking students, in light of the alarming state of affairs revealed by the survey. Senators must reject the changes to HECS-HELP, which will see many students locked out of postgraduate study if they cannot afford up to tens of thousands of dollars upfront.
CAPA furthermore calls on the Minister for Social Services, Dan Tehan, to allow all domestic postgraduate students to be eligible for Centrelink study payments, subject to means testing. The Student Finances Survey clearly shows that postgraduate students are struggling. The excuse that postgraduate students as a group are financially comfortable does not hold up against the data. Two thirds of domestic postgraduate coursework students – most of whom are barred from accessing Centrelink study payments, due to the myth of the rich postgraduate student – reported that their financial situation is often a cause of worry.
“This year we have seen funding ripped out of higher education and directly out of students’ pockets, while at the same time the Government is implementing $144 Billion worth of tax cuts for big business and the top end of town,” says CAPA National President, Natasha Abrahams.
“It is disgusting that one in seven students are so poor that they have to skip meals, yet the Government insists that students are living lavishly so they do not have to take action on this crisis.”
END
For comment: CAPA National President Natasha Abrahams
M: 0430 076 993
E: president@capa.edu.au
Australia rolls out “united front” against supervisor-student relationships
Anton Crace, The PIE News
The Principles for Respectful Supervisory Relationships, developed by Universities Australia, the National Tertiary Education Union, the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations and the Australian Council of Graduate Research, confirms the inappropriateness of intimate relationships between academic supervisors and research students due to inherent power imbalances.
Read more: https://thepienews.com/news/australia-rolls-united-front-supervisor-student-relationships/
Power imbalance rules out student-supervisor relationships
Tim Dodd, The Australian
For the first time Australian universities have adopted a blanket policy saying that sexual and romantic relationships between an academic supervisor and their research student are not appropriate because of the potential for a power imbalance.
Agreed principles on “respectful supervisory relationships” to be released today say that such relationships are a “conflict of interest”.
The principles, which have been agreed with the National Tertiary Education Union, the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations, and the Australian Council of Graduate Research, are designed to protect safety and wellbeing of both students and staff, said Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson.
Download: Joint UA, NTEU, CAPA, and ACGR principles for respectful supervisory relationships
See also: Universities Australia media release
Universities Australia, the National Tertiary Education Union, the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations and the Australian Council of Graduate Research have jointly developed this set of principles to underpin the relationship between postgraduate research students and their academic supervisors. The principles can also be used in the supervision of honours students and postgraduate coursework students. They are designed to protect and promote the safety and wellbeing of students and staff.
Addressing sexual violence on campus a year after the national report
Stephen Matchett, Campus Morning Mail
A year after the national report on sexual violence on campuses, Universities Australia says all 39 institutions have “continued to enhance student support services, university policies and prevention programs,” with 800 actions and initiatives. Last week UA added an extra, releasing a ten-point plan for universities to use in responses to reports of sexual assault and harassment (CMM July 20). However, the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations is not especially impressed, stating last night, “One year on, we believe that there is widespread recognition in the sector that sexual violence on campus is a problem, but actions against this have been slow, limited, and not always the best use of resources.”
“Some universities are more concerned about the optics of implementing response measures than they are about the number of students being assaulted each day. Others have made strong public statements but have failed to implement evidence-based and properly resourced measures,” CAPA states.
CAPA calls for a range of improvements, including “adequately resourced on-campus counselling, monitoring of university residential colleges and bans on “inappropriate relationships” between research supervisors and students. This morning UA delivers on that one with a set of principles “for respectful supervisory relationships” developed in cooperation with stakeholders, including CAPA.
Media release: CAPA calls on universities to put resources into fighting sexual violence on campus
One year on from the release of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s report on sexual violence in universities, the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) calls on universities to respond with more than just lip service.
The 2017 report, Changing the Course: National Report on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment at Australian Universities, provided a comprehensive look at the extent and nature of sexual violence at Australian campuses. Among postgraduate students, 45% reported being sexually harassed, and 5% reported being sexually assaulted in the year prior to the survey. One in ten postgraduate students who were sexually harassed at university reported that the perpetrator was a tutor or lecturer from their university. Postgraduate students were four times as likely as undergraduate students to be harassed by a colleague when working at the university, and three times as likely to be harassed by a supervisor as part of a work placement.
Students and activist groups have continued to apply pressure on universities to act to address the systemic problem of sexual assault and harassment in university communities.
We recognise the significant work undertaken by the sector in the wake of the survey. However, we are concerned that universities continue to drag their feet on this issue. Some universities are more concerned about the optics of implementing response measures than they are about the number of students being assaulted each day. Others have made strong public statements but have failed to implement evidence-based and properly resourced measures.
Last year, we released a series of recommendations to universities to address the issue of sexual violence in university communities. We are encouraged to see some of the recommendations are reflected in most universities’ responses, including creation of university taskforces which include student representation, administration of first-responder training to staff, and commitment to a follow-up survey in three years. However, one year on, in light of the limited progress which has been made, we call on universities to implement the following six measures:
1. Provide adequate funding for counselling services to have specialised staff and reasonable waiting periods, including same-day sessions for students in crisis;
2. Allow former students to access their usual on-campus counselling if they withdraw from studies for mental health reasons;
3. Monitor incidents at on-campus residences and university-affiliated colleges, and sever relations with colleges which fail in their duty of care to students;
4. Develop a policy disallowing romantic/sexual relationships between supervisors and research students;
5. Implement mandatory training on ethical supervision for all staff that are research supervisors; and
6. Consult with postgraduate student representatives in the development of materials and policies relating to the sexual assault and harassment on campus, recognising that research students are particularly vulnerable due to the student/supervisor relationship.
“We need to see university counselling services with enough staff that students don’t have to wait for months to be seen – instead, we are seeing some universities pour money into flashy but ineffective resources such as off-the-shelf consent modules and mobile apps with links under-funded services,” says CAPA National President Natasha Abrahams.
“Universities have collectively admitted that there is a problem with sexual violence on campus – now it is time to address the problem with concrete actions.”
END
For comment: CAPA National President Natasha Abrahams
M: 0430 076 993
E: president@capa.edu.au
Related content
2018 Full list of requests to universities
2017 Recommendations to universities
Download: One year on from the Changing the Course report: Postgraduate students’ requests to universities
The 2017 Australian Human Rights Commission report, Changing the Course: National Report on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment at Australian Universities , provided a comprehensive look at the extent and nature of sexual violence at Australian university campuses. Among postgraduate students, 45% reported being sexually harassed, and 5% reported being sexually assaulted, in the year prior to the survey. One in ten postgraduate students who were sexually harassed at university reported that the perpetrator was a tutor or lecturer from their university. Postgraduate students were four times as likely as undergraduate students to be harassed by a colleague when working at the university, and three times as likely to be harassed by a supervisor as part of a work placement.
One year on from the release of the Changing the Course report, we call on universities to urgently act on the following six demands in order to prevent and address sexual violence in university communities:
Media release: CAPA backs Victorian Government’s call to reinstate penalty rates
The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) is alarmed by the findings of the Victorian Government’s inquiry into penalty rates, and echoes the inquiry committee’s call to reinstate penalty rates to their previous levels.
The report released by the Victorian Government yesterday argued that women, young people, and rural and regional workers have been further marginalised by Federal government’s cuts to penalty rates implemented last year.
Unsurprisingly, the report found that the proposed economic benefits of slashing penalty rates had not been borne out. While the inquiry committee noted that employers said they would be able to hire more staff and give staff additional hours with the reduction in penalty rates, neither of these benefits have materialised.
CAPA believes the reduction of Sunday penalty rates for employees in hospitality, retail, and pharmacy is a clear attack on young Australians, who overwhelmingly work in these sectors. Students who attend university during the week and work on weekends are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of penalty rate cuts.
Financial struggle is typical for postgraduate students, many of whom rely on casual work to mitigate the cost of living as they undertake their studies. As CAPA argued in our submission to the Federal penalty rates inquiry, a decrease in the income of postgraduate students is likely to push students into part-time rather than full-time study, which will have an adverse impact on completion rates.
Postgraduate students are a demographically diverse group, ranging from young people who have not yet entered into the full-time workforce, to older students who are returning to study and are more likely to have family commitments such as caring for young children and elderly parents.
“Postgraduate students overwhelmingly tell us that they are struggling financially and that this is a huge source of stress alongside their demanding studies,” says CAPA National President, Natasha Abrahams.
“The cuts to penalty rates have only added to the existing hardships faced by students, who now work the same hours for less money.”
END
For comment: CAPA National President Natasha Abrahams
M: 0430 076 993
E: president@capa.edu.au
Casual academics thrown into frontline without proper training
Erica Cervini, The Australian
Researchers want universities to get serious about the professional development of casual academics, who now undertake the bulk of undergraduate teaching.
Researchers from the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University argue that because casual academics are the face of teaching, they need quality support so they can have a positive impact on their students’ learning.
[…]
Natasha Abrahams, president of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations, said a common concern among her members, many of whom work as casual academics, was that they felt on the periphery of their faculties and departments.
“Sessional staff often don’t feel like they’re very much a part of their workplace,” she said.
Feeling a part of the academic community was heavily dependent on casual staff having quality paid induction programs.
Media release: Australia’s peak student organisations stand united against Opposition’s damaging statements about international students
Australia’s peak student organisations, the National Union of Students (NUS), the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA), and the Council of International Students Australia (CISA), today have spoken out against the Labor Party’s stance on international students’ working rights.
The Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, released a statement last week claiming that the number of migrants on temporary work visas had “blown out” under the Coalition government and suggesting a crack-down on international students who are working alongside their studies. This would curb the opportunities for students to support themselves financially and could discourage future students from pursuing education in Australia.
In 2018 alone, Australia accepted 525,000 students from all over the world constituting a 12% increase in admissions from the previous year. International students studying and living in Australia contributed $22.0 billion to the economy in 2016, making the international education sector Australia’s third-largest export. The international students also heavily bequeath multiculturalism, diversity and soft diplomacy to the social fabric of Australia which makes it a top pick for students wanting to pursue education abroad.
The peak student organisations NUS, CISA, and CAPA are concerned that changes to international students’ working rights will marginalise these students despite their economic and cultural contributions to Australia.
Mark Pace, President of the National Union of Students (NUS) says: “With a growing international student population, the federal government needs to introduce legislation to ensure these students have equitable working conditions and fair pay. International students are more likely to be exploited in the workplace, it is up to the government to provide a system which supports international students academically and financially throughout their studies.”
Bijay Sapkota, President of the Council of International Students Australia (CISA) says: “Most international students come from countries with low socio-economic incomes and invest heavily in education abroad. Discrediting their work rights to engage in 20 hours of employment a week, will deprecate their abilities to support themselves and realize a value for their investment in Australia.”
Natasha Abrahams, President of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA), says: “We should crack down on dodgy employers who illegally underpay international students, rather than penalising those students who are just trying to support themselves in a broken system.”
