Explore our plan
- Wipe Student Debt
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No one should start their working life burdened by tens of thousands of dollars in student debt.
The Greens are focused on abolishing student debt and making education free and accessible for all, giving everyone a fair go and breaking cycles of disadvantage created by unaffordable uni fees.
The Greens' plan:
- Abolish all student debt, including HELP, SFSS, and VET, starting 1 July 2025, ensuring students are no longer saddled with decades of repayments.
- Support International Students & Make Universities Anti-Racist
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International students face high fees and systemic exclusion, while universities fail to address structural racism.
The Greens are focused on ensuring fair treatment for international students and mandating anti-racism initiatives in universities.
The Greens' plan:
- Expand access to affordable education by providing $250 million annually for travel and health concessions and affordable student accommodation for international students.
- Increase representation and equity in higher education by setting racial diversity targets for students, staff, and governance, with a focus on First Nations representation.
- Strengthen accountability by requiring universities to survey and publish data on racism among staff and students, and implement anti-racism policies based on the findings.
- Foster inclusive learning environments by mandating anti-racism training for all university staff and enforcing accountability for racist behaviour.
- Promote transparency and action by ensuring universities publicly report their progress in addressing racism in research, teaching, and administration.
- Secure Jobs for University Staff
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Rampant casualisation and wage theft in universities undermine staff and directly impact student learning.
The Greens are committed to securing long-term, fair jobs for university staff by tying funding to targets for reducing insecure work.
The Greens' plan:
- Reduce insecure employment by tying university funding to a target of no more than 7.5% casual and 15% fixed-term staff within five years, creating more stable roles for educators and researchers.
- Convert casual roles into ongoing positions with a $250 million annual Higher Education Decasualisation Fund, offering greater job security and fairer employment terms.
- Enhance job stability in research by requiring ARC and NHMRC funding agreements to mandate that contracts span the grant duration and ensure benefits are portable across projects.
- Increase transparency by mandating the publication of detailed annual staff data, including insecure work figures, to hold universities accountable for improving employment practices.
- Boost Funding for Universities & TAFE
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Successive funding cuts have turned higher education into a corporatised enterprise, limiting access and sustainability.
The Greens are working to increase base funding and investing in sustainable infrastructure to ensure universities and TAFEs remain accessible and environmentally responsible.
The Greens' plan:
- Advance innovation and discovery by providing $2.5 billion in block grants for research and creating a $1 billion annual research translation fund, enabling universities to turn research into real-world solutions.
- End the Corporatisation of Universities
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Universities should be democratic institutions prioritising public good, equity, and sustainability over corporate interests.
The Greens’ plan will transform university governance by boosting transparency, funding student unions, and ensuring investments align with ethical standards.
The Greens' plan:
- Ensure fair and democratic leadership by capping Vice-Chancellor salaries and making their positions elected to enhance accountability and equitable compensation.
- Restore balance in university governance by increasing elected staff and student representation on governing bodies while limiting corporate appointments that prioritise profit over education.
- Promote ethical investments by requiring universities to disclose and divest from harmful industries, including fossil fuels, weapons, and gambling.
- Strengthen student representation by allocating at least 50% of SSAF revenue to democratic student organisations, boosting student unionism and advocacy.
- Increase transparency with public declarations of conflicts of interest and mandatory publication of university financial and governance data, ensuring openness and accountability.
- Raise PhD Stipends
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PhD students are forced to survive on stipends far below minimum wage, often without access to essential benefits like parental leave.
The Greens are addressing this by tying stipends to the national minimum wage and ensuring fair parental leave for all PhD students.
The Greens' plan:
- Increase the Research Training Program stipend for PhD students to match the national minimum wage, ensuring fair compensation for full-time research work.
- Provide paid parental leave to all PhD students, regardless of employment status, to support families in academia.
More information on this policy initiative will be released soon.