Student unions, shop stewards and sausage rolls

Abstract

On 16 March 2005 the Minister for Education, Dr Brendan Nelson, introduced into the House of Representatives the Higher Education Support Amendment (Abolition of Compulsory Up-Front Student Union Fees) Bill 2005. This is a bill to abolish what is commonly known as compulsory student unionism in Australia’s universities, though its supporters prefer the term universal student unionism. Since the election of the Howard government in 1996 several previous attempts by the government to pass such legislation have been unsuccessful. But the success of the Coalition parties in winning control of the Senate, from 1 July 2005, at the October federal election means that the Senate will no longer be able to block this legislation as it has done in the past.