Students protest against academy closure

Students and teachers from the Australian National Academy of Music have played classical music in Parliament House to protest against the school's closure.

Two violinists entered the House of Representatives entrance and a lone cellist greeted senators on the opposite side of Parliament House.

Last month federal Arts Minister Peter Garrett announced that funding for the classical music school will be cut and instead go to a new body operating in conjunction with Melbourne University.

The academy is set to be stripped of its funding and the $2.5 million will now be given to Melbourne University's School of Music instead.

The academy's artistic director, Brett Dean, says the Government is throwing the baby out with the bath water.

"Any institution needs to have accountability," he said.

"My big difficulty with all of this is that it hasn't acknowledged the artistic credibility of the place."

Mr Garrett announced that students from the academy will be given help to find a place in the new school, which Mr Dean says is a sign Mr Garrett has been listening.

But Mr Dean says he does not want a situation where students are being moved from a place where they have flourished to a place where their future is much less certain.

"The language of the most recent announcement certainly seems to acknowledge that the academy has a fine reputation and isn't the dysfunctional baby that they thought they were getting rid of," he said.

He says current facilities at Melbourne University's music department or conservatorium and Victorian College of the Arts are already overstretched.

Greens moratorium

Greens will move a Senate motion today calling on the Government to impose a 12-month moratorium on the closure of the academy.

Greens Senator Christine Milne says the Government needs to allow the students to remain at the school while its future is discussed.

"These brilliant young students don't know where they're going next year, there are no transitional arrangements in place," she said.

"The Prime Minister would not do this to his own children nor would Minister Garrett, nor would I, and so this is a bad decision and the Parliament needs to intervene here."

Being heard

Rock musician Paul Kelly and actor Geoffrey Rush are among other high-profile Australians who have come to Parliament House in support of the Australian Academy of Music.

Mr Dean says the protest is designed to have their music be heard.

"I think actions often speak louder than words," he said.

"This decision has been made without the minister or his advisers ever setting foot in our premises in South Melbourne or ever hearing a note of music that we play.

"We've been criticised in the past for being inefficient and ineffective, now on Friday the Minister claims that we have such a strong reputation that they want to keep the name [for the new school at Melbourne University].

"They need to realise how that name has come to stand for such excellence and that is because we have a team that can deliver and provide these services."

Uni students struggling more than ever

Uni students are struggling to make ends meet

New economic modelling has found university students are struggling financially more than ever.

The average university student will earn about $240 per week from all sources, but will have to spend about $540 on essentials such as food and rent.

Over the past decade, living costs have risen by 50 per cent, while Youth Allowance has only gone up by about 30 per cent.

The average student will also graduate with a HECS debt of about $20,000 and many will never be able to pay it off.

Related:

Students' $250 fee for uni services
UNIVERSITY students face new compulsory fees of up to $250 a year to fund campus activities such as debating clubs, counselling services and student newspapers.

Wage dispute: NSW teachers continue fight

Thousands of state school and TAFE teachers across New South Wales have walked off the job for two hours to protest against the State Government's latest pay offer.

The teachers will stop work for two hours from 9:00am (AEDT).

The action is part of the NSW Teachers Federation's seven-month campaign to improve the State Government's pay offer.

The federation's acting president, Bob Lipscombe, says he understands the frustration of parents over the disruption.

"Teachers are very reluctant to take industrial action. We'd hoped to avoid industrial action around these matters," he said.

Mr Lipscombe says there may be more industrial action in future.

"We're hopeful that when the Government sees the feelings of teachers in such an obvious way, as they will this morning, that they'll commence negotiations in good faith that will lead to a settlement around these issues," he said.

"But unfortunately if the Government is not prepared to reach some accommodation around these matters, then certainly consideration will need to be given to that in the future."

The Education Department says 90 per cent of schools will remain open, but parents should check directly with their children's school if unsure.

The department's director-general, Michael Coutts-Trotter, says he is disappointed teachers are pushing ahead with the action.

Students' $250 fee for uni services

UNIVERSITY students face new compulsory fees of up to $250 a year to fund campus activities such as debating clubs, counselling services and student newspapers.

But universities will have to offer HECS-style loans to help students pay the fees, and the money will go to university administrators, not directly to elected student unions.

Youth Minister Kate Ellis announced the moves late last night, saying the Howard government had stripped at least $170million out of the universities by imposing voluntary student unionism on services.

Ms Ellis said the move had slashed services and that the new services and amenities charge would help repair the damage.

The Howard government's move to scrap compulsory unionism was one of the most ideologically charged decisions of its final term in office, with critics claiming it was an attempt to destroy student unions, which had long acted as training grounds for aspiring politicians.

Under Ms Ellis's plan, universities will be able to opt to charge a fee capped at $250 which must apply equally to all students at the institution.

The money will be handled by the universities, and membership of student unions will continue to be voluntary.

Ms Ellis said she would consult with universities about what amenities and services the fee could be used to provide.

But she produced a list including food and beverage subsidies, meeting rooms, counselling, childcare, legal and employment services, health services, libraries and reading rooms, and student newspapers.

"Driven by ideological obsession, the previous Liberal government went too far, and students have been paying the price ever since the implementation of VSU in 2006," Ms Ellis said in a statement yesterday.

She insisted the change did not represent a return to compulsory student unionism, but the National Union of Students said the money raised from fees should be passed to the unions to spend on student services.

NUS president Angus McFarland said he was delighted with the change but was concerned about the place student unions would have in the reform plan.

"Student organisations are well-placed to provide these services," Mr McFarland said.

"You can't have taxation without representation."

Melbourne University vice-chancellor Glyn Davis said voluntary student unionism had cost the university about $5million a year.

"The university experience is broader than just that received in the classroom," Professor Davis said yesterday.

"Today's universities provide services around housing, part-time and permanent employment, counselling, health, financial aid, childcare and academic support. But they also provide sporting facilities and access to a wide range of clubs and societies to allow students to gain a range of additional skills and competencies."

Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations president Nigel Palmer welcomed the news, saying it was recognition that services were part of university life.

"If students are paying, they need to have a direct say in how their money is being spent," Mr Palmer said.

Sector umbrella group Universities Australia said the funding boost was timely, given that university investment income was tumbling.

But UA said it was disappointed the funding was coming entirely from students instead of the Government providing some base funding.

Thousands of teachers walk off the job

Teachers will stop work for two hours from 9am (AEST), in a dispute over staff transfers and the Government's 2.5 per cent pay rise ceiling.

The NSW Teachers Federation has urged 2240 principals to close their schools and has refused to authorise minimal supervision for 750,000 students.

However, Education Department director-general Michael Coutts-Trotter said 88 per cent of schools would remain open during the strike period.

About 250 schools will have no supervision for students, he said.

"Parents have been advised of alternative arrangements by school newsletter or a note home and some schools have placed advice on their websites," he said.

The Government is planning to end the current transfer system, which gives priority for sought-after positions to teachers who have spent time at hard-to-staff schools.

Teachers Federation president Maree O'Halloran said the backlash from today's industrial action was worthwhile if it secured higher pay, retention of the transfer system and proper funding of public schools.

"When you take industrial action you could get the community offside," she said.

"But when you're dealing with the type of government we've got, it seems that nothing other than a crisis makes them listen.

"For these two hours they (the students) won't have lessons.

"But if the State Government doesn't start funding schools and TAFE colleges properly, doesn't start paying teachers properly and doesn't put the transfer system back in place there will be lots of schools who don't have enough teachers."

Ms O'Halloran would not comment on the possibility of future industrial action, saying the federation had successfully negotiated with the department in the past.

University-style loans for Vic TAFE

The Victorian Government is introducing university-style loans for TAFE students, as part of a major shake-up of the system.

The overhaul will guarantee a place for every worker that wants to upgrade their skills.

The program will give diploma and advanced diploma students access to university-style loans to make study more accessible

The four year, $316-million package will create 172,000 new training places.

The Victorian Premier, John Brumby said 900 extra teachers will also be funded.

"This is the largest single investment we've ever made in our VET system," he said.

The funding will go to public, private and community training providers and will make high level qualifications more expensive.

Mary Bluett, the president of the Education Union, said the loans scheme will force tens of thousands of students out of the TAFE sector.

"The bottom line is we have the lowest funded TAFE system in Australia and this is more of this Government pushing the cost on to students and the community rather than to properly fund our TAFE system," she said.

Vigilance urged on potential patient killers

Hospitals are urged to do more to monitor the potential for staff to kill patients.

Australian hospitals are being urged to do more to monitor staff who may set out to kill patients.

John Field, a nursing lecturer at James Cook University in Queensland, has just completed his PhD at Adelaide University on nurses who kill their patients.

He says health workers are often slow to report any suspicious behaviour among their colleagues because of a disbelief that someone would deliberately set out to kill patients.

"The best strategy that we have is if we can get people first of all acknowledging the possibility that it could happen and then being prepared to report it when they do have suspicions about another nurse," he said.

"Generally speaking what we've found is that it's so unthinkable for nurses to think that a colleague might be killing patients that they don't report it, they don't suspect it and they don't report it."