Unis count cost of lost union fees

Jewel Topsfield
Age, November 2, 2007

MORE than 1000 jobs have been slashed at universities, hundreds of
student services have shut down and sporting club membership has
dropped by almost 20 per cent following the Federal Government's ban
on compulsory union fees.

A report on the impact of voluntary student unionism also accuses the
Government of using the $40 million a year transition fund - to help
universities cope with the loss of fees - as a pork barrel in
Coalition electorates.

"Campuses in Coalition-held seats received in total more than twice
the funding Š compared to the campuses in Opposition-held seats,"
said the report by Australian University Sport and the Australasian
Campus Union Managers Association.

Designed to depoliticise service delivery on campus, the voluntary
student unionism laws banned universities from collecting $179
million a year in compulsory union fees. These were used for services
such as clubs and societies, child care and sporting facilities. The
report found that participation in university sporting and social
clubs had dropped dramatically since the laws took effect from July
last year. It said direct funding for sporting clubs had been cut by
40 per cent and there had been a 17 per cent reduction in membership.

Prices charged to students for the use of services and facilities had
more than doubled in some cases, leading to significant reductions in
the number of students using them.

More than 260 union services - including child care, assistance to
international students and funding for orientation - and 100 sporting
services had been shut down or reduced.

Thirty per cent of campuses also reported reductions in real spending
on repairs of buildings and playing fields, raising concerns about
their long-term viability. And more than 1000 jobs had been lost - a
reduction of about 30 per cent - in the student services area.

The report said the transition fund did not tackle the shortfalls in
funding and provided only temporary respite. "As transition funding Š
is withdrawn over the next three years, there will be further job
losses."