CURRENT CAMPAIGNS

In recent semesters, many graduate students have seen significant delays of up to several months across the academic misconduct process. These significant delays means unit results remain unfinalised, which can cause serious impacts to a student's course progression and enrolment.

Some students' graduations are being impacted, or having to incur serious costs having to extend their studies and visas for an extra semester.

The MGA has made a submission to senior University management with recommendations for the University to address these issues. The University has acknowledged the delays and are implementing strategies to mitigate the impact. Any students affected by such delays are recommended to reach out to MGA Advocacy and to their student representatives.

Read our submission here.

Each semester, students who fail a certain number of units or certain course requirements are required to go through the academic progress review process. In many cases, students can face exclusion from their course for failing to pass their units or course requirements.

Oftentimes, students failing their units are facing serious personal issues which means they require extra flexibility and support. MGA Advocates are heavily involved in this process, supporting students through responding to the University and at hearings.

This semester, the MGA Advocacy team has provided feedback and suggestions to the University on an assortment of issues, and ways the process can be improved to be more accessible to students, and to ensure more equitable outcomes are reached.

Read our submission here.

The MGA is working to advocate for an increase to the RTP stipend rate in line with the minimum wage under a framework similar to the lobbying efforts of 2024.

Our HDR students have made a submission to the University to resume efforts relying on key findings from recent surveys on graduate student satisfaction.

So while you may not see the big public rallies and witty placards of previous campaigns, know that we are lobbying (not so quietly) away in the background, raising awareness of graduate student poverty in every University meeting we attend, presenting the evidence from our research to every Faculty ADGR, and reminding senior managers of the links between poverty, mental health and completion rates.

Read the full proposal here.

The Australian Government plans to introduce a new enrolment cap for international students starting in 2025. The proposal aims to limit the total number of international students to 270,000, ensuring a more balanced distribution across the country and safeguarding the quality of education by reducing the sector's reliance on international student fees.

The MGA supports the government's commitment to strengthening the quality and integrity of Australia's international education sector. We agree that strong measures are essential to protect the reputation of Australian education and ensure students receive a high standard of learning.

However, while we commend the intent behind the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024, we believe certain provisions in its current form could have unintended consequences that may ultimately undermine these objectives.

Primarily, the MGA is concerned about:

1. The proposed ministerial powers to impose enrolment caps on universities and the consequences of this on universities' autonomy, financial, and operational stability.
2. The proposed timeframe for the implementation of the provisions under the Bill.
3. The negative discourse surrounding international students in recent public commentary and policy discussions, particularly regarding their supposed impact on housing markets.

As such, the MGA prepared a submission to Senate Inquiry into the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024 (September 2024).

The MGA campaigned against proposed Australian student visa and migration policy changes that would negatively affect international students, including stricter English language requirements, reduced Temporary Graduate Visa eligibility, lower age limits, and shortened post-study work rights.

The campaign involved collaborating with student representatives and Monash University, lobbying government stakeholders, and advocating for exemptions and support measures for graduate students, particularly research students affected by the reforms.

Read about the full campaign.

After an incredibly successful campaign and rally to convince University's senior management to raise the HDR Stipend, the scholarship rate was lifted by $3000 to $33,000.

While we are pleased with this effort and know it will make a big difference to graduate students living on the poverty line, we believe the rate needs to increase further to allow HDRs to support themselves with some dignity.

Read our initial report on HDR poverty.

AIn late 2022, the MGA lobbied the university to look into better parking options for HDR students.

What was the issue?

Parking issues mostly impacted research students who regularly work overnight at their laboratory/workspace. If they forgot to start a new parking session on their CellOPark app, or if the parking application had technical errors, they would receive a fine.

If they forgot to start a parking session on their CellOPark app, they only received one warning. In the following year, they were not given the courtesy of any warnings, which resulted in fines.

What did the MGA do?

The CellOPark app was clearly not working for a cohort of HDR students who needed flexibility in order to complete their research and work. Which is why the MGA lobbied for several changes to the CellOPark system, including the option for HDR students to buy a 28-day parking pass that was available to staff members only.

What was the result?

In a recent win, Monash University has accepted this request! Monash HDR students can now buy a 28-day parking permit to use in red or blue permit areas.

Read the letter our Research Education Officer Sahampath Hettiarachchi sent to Buildings, Property and Campus.

In February 2022, the MGA submitted a report ot the Senate Education and Employment Committee Inquiry outlining support for a bill proposed by Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi.

The Bill is called: Education and Other Legislation Amendment (Abolishing Indexation and Raising the Minimum Repayment Income for Education and Training Loans) Bill 2022. It refers to all student debt and training loans.

During the campaign period, we encouraged students to make their own submissions to the inquiry to support a bill that would benefit them by freezing existing student debt and raising the minimum repayment income to the median wage.

Read about the full campaign here.