Australia¡¯s fee and subsidy overhaul hinges on the votes of two crossbench parliamentarians, after a committee reviewing the proposals split along party political lines.

The Senate¡¯s Education and Employment Legislation Committee has recommended passage of the government¡¯s ¡°Job-Ready Graduates¡± bill, which would cut average subsidies for undergraduate courses and more than double tuition fees in some disciplines while reducing them in others.

¡°Overall¡­the bill will deliver policy and funding certainty for the sector, providing additional funding and expanding the places available for prospective Australian university students,¡± says the from the six-person committee, which is chaired by the governing Liberal party.

But this was a minority view, once the views from two ¡°participating members¡± had been factored in. Three senators from the opposition Labor Party condemned the bill as ¡°an act of economic and cultural vandalism, and a denial of the aspirations of all Australians who seek opportunity through education¡±.

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A second dissenting report, from the committee¡¯s sole Greens member, warned that the bill would ¡°damage higher education in Australia, possibly irreparably¡±.

Innovative Research Universities executive director Conor King said that the report had followed the ¡°standard pattern¡±, with the government supporting the bill and Labor and The Greens opposed. The ¡°point of interest¡± lay in a third dissenting report from the committee¡¯s independent participating member, Rex Patrick, who lambasted the ¡°Debt-ready Graduates¡± bill as ¡°a crude and blunt instrument¡± that would undermine the interests of students and universities during a pandemic.

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¡°This bill cannot be salvaged,¡± Mr Patrick said. ¡°Anyone who thinks so is kidding themselves or being quite disingenuous. It¡¯s not the case of [education] Minister [Dan] Tehan sitting the exam again. He¡¯s got to go back and repeat the course.¡±

With Mr Patrick clearly opposed, the bill¡¯s prospects now rest with fellow independents Jacqui Lambie and Stirling Griff. A vote from either will give the government the numbers it needs to pass the legislation.

Mr Griff¡¯s Centre Alliance party says it has not decided whether it will support the bill, while Ms Lambie has kept her views to herself. Parliament next convenes on 6 October, when the federal budget will be delivered.

Mr Tehan welcomed the committee¡¯s ¡°endorsement¡±. ¡°The committee heard evidence from vice-chancellors and university peak bodies that our legislation should pass to provide additional university places from next year and give universities flexibility and certainty.

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¡°I look forward to the support of the Senate in passing the Job-ready Graduates legislation to give more Australians the opportunity to benefit from a university education.¡±

The National Tertiary Education Union said that it was ¡°disappointed¡± in the report. President Alison Barnes said that the committee had ¡°cherry picked¡± positive commentary and ignored opposition.

¡°The bill¡­reduces funding per student, reduces overall funding by a A$1 billion (?554 million) and will make many courses twice as expensive. It will make it more difficult for many students to attend university.

¡°The bill in no way addresses the catastrophic job losses ¨C with over 11,000 jobs gone so far ¨C nor the funding crisis that Australian universities are experiencing as a result of Covid-19. If anything, it will make the situation much worse.¡±

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com