End job-ready graduates fee hikes. Halve the cost of arts degrees.
Right now, thousands of students across the country are being punished for studying what they love. Under the Morrison government’s disastrous Job-Ready Graduates scheme, the cost of many degrees— in the arts, humanities, communications, law and commerce—were jacked up to eye-watering levels.
An arts degree now costs more than $52,000. Our Bill would halve the cost of an arts degree to $24,500.
When they were in Opposition, Labor called the JRG scheme “inequitable, perverse, and punitive.” But since they have come to power, they have done nothing to fix the problem or reverse the scheme, even as students struggle to pay rent, feed themselves, and then fork out tens of thousands in student debt.
The Higher Education Support Amendment (Reverse Job-Ready Graduates Fee Hikes & End 50k Arts Degrees) Bill will:
- Reverse the fee hikes for law, accounting, administration, economics, commerce, society and culture, and communications. This would restore course fees to what they would have been if the JRG scheme never existed!
- Halve the cost of an arts degree–bringing it down from $52,000 to $24,000 in 2026.
Everyone agrees that the JRG scheme was a disaster. Students, teachers, authors, academics, historians, and public figures are united against the scheme. Now, Labor must act.
This petition calls on the Government to pass Senator Faruqi’s bill and end the cruel, unfair, and downright absurd job-ready graduates’ fee hikes.
Education is a public good. It should be accessible for all. Add your name to the petition to demand the Government reverse the Job-Ready Graduates scheme now.