National Liaison Committee for International Students (NLC), the national peak body for all International Students, welcomes the Senate’s rejection of the proposed $250 compulsory annual student union fee.

The Higher Education Legislation Amendment (Student Services and Amenities and Other Measures) Bill 2009 was defeated in a vote earlier today, and the legislation will not proceed.

The legislation would have forced all International Students studying at universities to pay an additional $250 a year.

On 14 May 2009, NLC met with Senator Brett MASON, together with Shadow Minister for Youth Sophie MIRABELLA at her Parliamentary office in Canberra, to put forward our position on the bill.
 
NLC does not support Higher Education Legislation Amendment (Student Services And Amenities, And Other Measures) Bill 2009 introduced by the Labor government as it forces International Students to pay an additional compulsory $250 student tax, over $50 million in total annually to support domestic student unions which are controlled by Young Labor factions that do not represent the interests of International Students.

NLC’s supports the revival of International Students support services and democratic International Students representation by independent and autonomous Overseas Students Association (OSA) campus operations, but International Students should be exempted from any additional services and amenities fees.

International Students are paying full fees, which on average are three to four times more than the tuition fees of domestic students, and are already paying for our own student support services under the Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act 2000. International Students should not be double charged.

NLC National President, Ms SINGH Dolores, said, “International Students want to say a big thank you to all the Senators who voted against this student tax.

“Besides forcing International Students to pay more money, this student tax also would not have been used to address the needs of International Students, such as increased security on and off campus, recruitment of multilingual support staff, more accessible information material in foreign languages, and building student accommodation.

 “Universities will now have to stand up and take responsibility in providing the support services to International Students that they are meant to be providing in the first place,” she said.