SENTRY The long journey to university
Shocker Budget Higher ed set up for an even more precarious future
Divest UniSuper from carbon Member Story: Sam Whiting
Solidarity isn't science fiction Published by National Tertiary Education Union
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may 2021
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vol. 2 no. 3
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nteu.org.au/sentry
CONTENTS
Shocker Budget
Member story: Sam Whiting
The 2021-22 Fedral Budget sets up higher education for an even more precarious future.
Solidarity isn't science fiction, it's the core foundation of the Academy.
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04 Cover: NonSapVisuals/Unsplash
Sentry is a free online news magazine for NTEU members and Australian higher education staff. Sentry is published on the third Friday of each month in between publication of the Union's main member magazine, Advocate.
FROM CARBON
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The long journey to uni
Divest UniSuper
Sociologist Dr Alan Petersen on his trajectory to university and the power of collective action.
An NTEU campaign is increasing pressure on UniSuper to divest from fossil fuels.
In 2021 Sentry will be published in February, April, May, June, August, September, October and December. Advocate will be published in March, July, November.
SENTRY ISSN 2652-5992 Published by National Tertiary Education Union
In case you missed it... 01 NTEU Scholarships 2021 12
PO Box 1323, South Melbourne VIC 3205 Australia ABN 38 579 396 344 All text & images ©NTEU 2021 unless stated Publisher
Matthew McGowan
Editor
Alison Barnes
Production Manager
Paul Clifton
Editorial Assistance Anastasia Kotaidis, Helena Spyrou Sentry is available online free as a PDF and e-book at www.nteu.org.au/sentry
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CATCH UP
NEWS & CAMPAIGNS
In case you missed it.... Divest UniSuper from carbon NTEU is running a campaign to encourage UniSuper to divest from carbon and stop supercharging climate change. Visit divestunisuper.nteu.org.au to sign the open letter to members of the UniSuper Board.
Sign the Letter File-Signature Read article on p.10 Book-Open
How can uni staff tackle the climate crisis? Is climate change the most important mission for universities in the 21st century? What is the role of uni staff and union members in tackling climate change in our teaching, research and in society? On Friday 14 May, NTEU members joined the SchoolStrike4Climate movement to talk about what we, as union members, can do to tackle climate change. Professor Lauren Rickards (Co-leader, Climate Change and Resilience Research Program, RMIT) and Associate Professor Tamson Pietsch (Director, Australian Centre for Public History, UTS) spoke with Sophie Chiew and Varisha Ariadna, high school students helping organise the next school strike on Friday 21 May. It was inspirational to hear from school students and our expert climate scientist members and to share ideas about how we can tackle the problem collectively. Friday 11 June: Join Professor Emerita Raewyn Connell, University of Sydney, who will talk about the good university – what universities do and why it's time for radical change and the need for the Union to organise. Friday 9 July: Join Ken McAlpine, NTEU Industrial Officer (Research and Projects) and Dom Rowe, NTEU Director of Campaigns & Organising, who will introduce bargaining and how we organise around it.
Register for future sessions online a
Ben Eltham on #Budget2021 In an article for Jacobin, Ben Eltham, NTEU Branch President at Monash University, says Scott Morrison 'is selling his 2021 budget as a job-creation package. But in reality, it's a miserly budget – except when it comes to handouts for business and the wealthy.'
Read the article Book-Open vol. 2 no. 3
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FUNDING
POLICY & LOBBYING
Shocker Budget!
Higher ed set for an even more precarious future
The 2021-22 Budget is a major disappointment, but not only because the outlook is short term and new funding primarily targeted at for profit, private providers.
Terri MacDonald Director, Policy & Research
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With over 17,000 job losses and a $1.8 billion revenue fall, higher education was one of the worst hit sectors in the Australian economy by the pandemic. The sector had optimistically hoped that the Government would finally acknowledge the crisis and at least partly offer emergency assistance. But the 2021-22 Budget is a major disappointment. NTEU’s Budget submission called for public funding to be increased to 1% of GDP (in line with the OECD average) which would boost government funding of the sector and allow the abolishment of tuition fees for domestic student (alleviating the problem of compounding unpaid HELP debt) as well as improving research funding. We also put forward a proposal for regulatory reform which would mean that universities could work to individualised goals and objectives that include workforce planning and resourcing guarantees. Federally, the reforms would also create independent body determined university funding, which
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would operate at arms-length from government thus depoliticising higher education funding. None of this is impossible; indeed, many other countries already have higher education that is fee-free for students and with far better government funding. The Morrison Government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis has not been to reimagine what a world leading tertiary sector could look like; indeed, they haven’t even acknowledged the vital role that our public universities and TAFEs could play in revitalising our economy, leading innovation and in rebuilding our communities as we move beyond the pandemic. The 2020-21 Budget is a major disappointment, but not only because the outlook is short term and new funding primarily targeted at for profit, private providers. Nor is it because it fails to assist Australia’s 4th largest export industry during a time of unprecedented revenue and job losses. The greatest disappointment is that this is a Budget that has no vision for the sector, and instead sets our public universities and TAFEs up for even greater financial stress which could threaten the future of quality education and research.
Under the Budget, universities will see a decline of 8.3% in real terms between this financial year and next year, and a decrease of 9.3% in real terms from 2021-22 to 2024-25. Vocational education will also take a hit, with total funding to drop 10.8% next year and another 24.2% between 2021-22 and 2024-25. In fact, almost every line item under higher education investment in the Budget fails to keep pace with inflation – the exception being the increases in unpaid student HELP debts. The Budget’s forward estimates show how deep the cuts from last year’s JobReady Graduates package changes are, with Commonwealth Grant Scheme (CGS) funding (used to support teaching of domestic student places) falling from $7.34 billion this year to $7.31 billion next year, before plummeting in 202223 and 2023-24 to $7.12 billion and $7.14 billion respectively. It starts to recover in 2024-25 with just under $7.3 billion in CGS funding – but this is almost 4% less than what it is for the current financial year. Worst of all, the reductions in higher education funding – especially in relation to the CGS funding – will coincide with the sudden increase in the university entry age population as a result of the Costello ‘baby boom’, with around 14% more Australianborn people expected by 2024-25. In a sector with already reduced funding per student, this will see providers teaching even more students for less.
FUNDING
POLICY & LOBBYING Instead of taking the opportunity to put in place a higher education system that will meet our future innovation, workforce and research (the $1 billion additional ‘emergency COVID funding’ for research last year has not been continued) needs, the Government has stuck with the same structural system that was in place in 2019 (and was showing cracks then) but with even less funding per student. Even worse, the financial crash in the higher education sector will now be exacerbated by a future shortfall in domestic funding, at a time when student enrolments are likely to surge. In reality, this Budget sets our public universities and TAFEs up for even more financial stress, and their reliance on other avenues of funding – primarily through international student fee income – will only be driven further. This is despite the Government building into the Budget the assumption that it will be at least another year or two before they even consider opening our international borders.
...the financial crash in the higher education sector will now be exacerbated by a future shortfall in domestic funding, at a time when student enrolments are likely to surge.
Melissa Walker Horn/Unsplash
Clearly, the Government has little regard for our public universities and TAFEs. With talk of a federal election possible even as early as the second half of the year, the message is clear – if the Government will not change its attitude towards higher education, then we need to change this Government.
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SCIENCE FICTION
MEMBER STORY
Solidarity isn’t science fiction It’s the core foundation of the Academy
In Ursula K. Le Guin’s ground-breaking novel The Dispossessed, anarchists have set-up an 'ambiguous utopia' on their moon, Anarres. However, this utopia is no land of milk and honey. It is a place of hard labour, famine, and political tension. Not so utopic you might say? Well, that depends on your perspective. This is a place where mutual aid is the only capital, and solidarity the only currency. Where there is no property, no hierarchy, and no bigotry, people are defined solely by how they contribute to the collective good of their society. Of course, all work is voluntary, and there is neither scarcity nor excess. Yet despite the arduousness of life on Anarres, the people of this planet are satisfied and content. They are both free to pursue their own passions and fields of enquiry and comforted in the knowledge that their collective labour is never wasted. In this way, Le Guin’s anarchist utopia is similar to another work of science fiction, Gene Roddenberry’s United Federation of Planets. Throughout Roddenberry’s Star Trek, scarcity has been eliminated, and the coalition of species and worlds that command the Federation are free to peacefully explore and research the galaxy.
Dr Sam Whiting University of South Australia
Both societies champion the pursuit and sharing of knowledge as ends in themselves, and both do so through acts of solidarity and mutual respect between both individuals and groups. Remind you of anything?
To tell your story to the NTEU member community, please contact Helena Spyrou
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I like science fiction because it teaches us how the world could be different. I like it because it is grounded in philosophies, ideologies, and technologies that already exist in some form or another, but whose time may not yet have come to pass. I like it also because it forces me to rethink the role of academic labour, of teaching and research, and how they both have merit on their own terms without any perceived or external reward. And finally, I really really like it because across the best examples of utopic science fiction, research, exploration, and the sharing of knowledge are held up as the most noble pursuits of human endeavour, yet these pursuits are always grounded in ideas of morality, equity, and solidarity. The modern academic workplace is far from Le Guin and Roddenberry’s utopic visions. Exploitation of labour is rife, hierarchies abound, and the pursuit of research funding is valued far and above the actual research itself. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. By engaging in the way our workplaces are managed and valued, staff and students can shape the future of higher education for the better. Not only can we imagine a different future for the sector and our roles in it – one in which public good is valued over private gain – but we can get there through advocacy, collective organisation, and continued engagement with the
SCIENCE FICTION
MEMBER STORY issues and decisions that affect the way universities are governed. We can reshape our workplaces to serve the same ideals as Starfleet and the people of Anarres. There are many ways to do this, but the most equitable, democratic, tried, and true is through trade unionism. NTEU offers a way to organise as a collective workforce, to not only better our workplaces but to participate in the discussions that shape the sector and the role that universities have in Australia and the world. Such advocacy not only benefits our members and the tertiary workforce at large, but also our students, their families, and the broader education and research community: a community that continues to shape the national policy debate on climate change, industrial relations, diversity, democracy, governance, and diplomacy. These are big issues with big impacts. However, to do this we need to get organised. Big time. We need every member and delegate organising and advocating in their workplaces. We need to have frank and honest conversations. We need to listen and be listened to. If we do this, we can boldly go where no one has gone before. But we must go there together.
...across the best examples of utopic science fiction, research, exploration, and the sharing of knowledge are held up as the most noble pursuits of human endeavour...
Below: Image from cover of Ursula K. Le Guin's novel The Dispossessed
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Sam Whiting is a Lecturer in Creative Industries; Vice-President (Academic), NTEU UniSA Branch; and Secretary, International Association for the Study of Popular Music (ANZ Branch)
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SOCIOLOGY
MEMBER STORY
The long journey to university
Professor Alan Petersen Monash University
University library stacks (Henry Be/Unsplash)
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SOCIOLOGY
MEMBER STORY
I’ve long been fascinated with the trajectories of people’s lives – including my own. I’m a sociologist, so of course I would be. I believe everyone has many dimensions that others rarely learn about. This is not necessarily because people are unwilling to share details about themselves, but because others simply do not ask. Of course, everyone also has aspects of themselves that they don’t wish to share or are un-shareable, but we all have experiences that, when shared, others can learn from.
A personal trajectory I consider myself to be very fortunate and I never take for granted the privileges I’ve had. In one sense, I’m the archetypal white privileged male. My parents had expectations of me for secondary education that they didn’t have for my two sisters and, as members of the working class, they struggled to send me to a private school. Yet, given my experiences following school, one would not have predicted that I would complete masters and PhD degrees, let alone become a professor. Over a period of 25 years, I went from being on the dole to being appointed Professor in Sociology at the University of Plymouth in the UK while still only in my 40s.
Sure, I worked hard to get my appointments and promotions, but a combination of opportunities and circumstances played a large part. When I left school, I started electronic engineering, soon switching to electrical engineering – a poor career choice made for the wrong reasons (some of my mates were doing it, and it was trendy at the time). I dropped out in my third year. I then started and soon dropped out of nursing at Fremantle Hospital, then got a gig as a drummer with a rock band at former politician Wilson Tuckey’s hotel in Carnarvon, before returning to Perth (almost not returning, as I rolled my car) where I took a couple of jobs for a few years.
...given my experiences following school, one would not have predicted that I would complete masters and PhD degrees, let alone become a professor.
continued overpage...
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SOCIOLOGY
MEMBER STORY I then travelled to Denmark and England where I worked as a forklift driver at English China Clay in the UK. That was my introduction to the English class system and the travails of working on the factory floor. I returned to Perth to work as a van driver, and then went on the dole, all before the age of 23. Things could have gone terribly awry at many points along the way. These failures and this precarity – and related insecurities – while painful at the time, were the catalyst for a return to study and the beginning of my sociological journey. And, thanks to Gough Whitlam’s reforms, I was able to return to university to study sociology at the Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), a field which I soon found I loved and have stayed with since.
These failures and this precarity – and related insecurities – while painful at the time, were the catalyst for a return to study and the beginning of my sociological journey.
I graduated in two and a half years with distinction! The lecturers there were fantastic and very committed, although only one had a PhD, which was not uncommon then. I was fortunate in gaining postgraduate scholarships, for a masters degree at UWA and then a Commonwealth Postgraduate Research Award for a PhD at ANU – although I returned to WA to complete my studies at Murdoch University. I played music (mostly rock and blues) part-time, which also helped support my studies.
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Power of collective action What I have learnt from these experiences is the opportunity afforded by education, the pains of precarious employment, and the power of collective action. I have now worked at four universities: Murdoch (2 years), Curtin (4 years), returning to Murdoch (9.5 years), then Plymouth (UK) (for 6 years), and currently Monash (13.5 years). They are all quite different with distinct histories, cultures, resources, and expectations of staff and students. All claim or aspire to be ‘world class’, ‘excellent’, etc. Yet, I found expectations on and levels of support for staff have differed greatly, which has shaped their opportunities. The students have also had different backgrounds and opportunities. Murdoch, for example, had many students of ‘mature age’ who were generally very appreciative of the opportunity to study. One of my bright younger students was Adam Bandt, who is now leader of the Australian Greens. It has been a pleasure seeing students like Adam flourish and become politically engaged. A couple of years after I taught Adam, he became President of the Murdoch University Guild of Students.
I’ve been a member of our union since I began my career, and have held various roles, as delegate, branch member and member of the National Council. I was briefly Branch President of FAUSA at Curtin University (1990-91), back in the days when there were two unions, the other one being UACA. I always join the union the first day of employment. I find it ironic that it is often the most precarious staff who stand to benefit most from being in the union who do not join or leave it too late – when they encounter trouble.
Neoliberalism and the sector Over the period of my employment – this is my 36th year of continuous full-time employment – I have seen many changes in the university sector. In particular, I have witnessed the corrosive impacts of market-driven philosophies on universities' operations and on staff. Universities have become more and more competitive and rankings-driven, and this has affected behaviours in negative ways. In some departments, bullying is rife, and its incidence reinforced if not directly contributed by these changes.
SOCIOLOGY
MEMBER STORY especially if the perpetrators meet their KPIs. One could blame Dawkins and then Howard for the neoliberal erosion of academic life, but all governments have supported this trend. Members of NTEU will be acutely aware of the damage wrought by neoliberalism, including hyper-individualism, hyper-competitiveness (winning at all costs), the erosion of collegiality, the endless chasing after money, and declining teaching standards. This is where our union can help, by raising the critical issues, supporting staff, and working collectively for change. I know I will continue to play my part, even if a small one. Only through collective action can enduring change be achieved. In the end, the Union is best placed to support the interests of staff. University managers will only look after what they see as their institutions’ best interests. I have 35 years’ experience – trust me!
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Alan Petersen is a Professor of Sociology in the School of Social Sciences, Monash University
I know I will continue to play my part, even if a small one. Only through collective action can enduring change be achieved.
My impression is that HR departments and some senior academic managers don’t want to know,
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CLIMATE
NEWS & CAMPAIGNS
Pressure building on UniSuper to
divest from fossil fuels NTEU’s campaign inviting tertiary education staff to call on the UniSuper Board to divest its funds from the polluting companies fuelling the climate crisis appears to be having the desired effect.
This is the largest ever vote in favour of divestment on the consultative committee – and it will only continue to grow.
With more than 4,200 people having signed the open letter to UniSuper Board members, we understand that the Directors and investment staff have heard the loud chorus of voices demanding smart, safe investments, and are considering how to respond. On 30 April the UniSuper Consultative Committee (comprising an equal number of staff-elected and employer-nominated representatives from each university) met to consider UniSuper’s policy and approach to climate change and investment. At the pre-meeting of employee members of the Consultative Committee, over 60% of employee representatives adopted NTEU's goal of fossil fuel divestment by 2030.
Michael Evans National Organiser (Media & Engagement)
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When this resolution was put to all members of the Consultative Committee, it was narrowly lost because
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of the weight of the universitynominated representatives voting as a bloc. However, some 35% of all Committee members supported our 2030 goal. This is the largest ever vote in favour of divestment on the Consultative Committee – and it will only continue to grow. The meeting was told that, by the end of 2021, UniSuper's fossil fuel investments will be significantly further reduced. The pressure from this campaign is adding to the momentum for full divestment from these investments. The next steps in the campaign will be to leverage the pressure applied by fund members in seeking UniSuper’s commitment to our campaign objectives: • Commit that by no later than 2030 all invested funds and superannuation products will be fossil fuel free. • Commit to designating a sustainable investment option to be the default Accumulation superannuation option.
CLIMATE
NEWS & CAMPAIGNS
• Establish by the end of 2021 a sub-committee (including stakeholder representation) to advise the Board of UniSuper on ethical, social and governance matters generally including a specific remit on the sustainability of UniSuper investments. • Actively support and advocate for all shareholder resolutions that are consistent with these objectives in the companies where UniSuper is a shareholder. • Report to UniSuper members and stakeholders every six months on progress achieved in reducing reliance on fossil fuel and carbon intensive investments. 'Our superannuation is there to protect our future and quality of life in retirement,' NTEU National President Dr Alison Barnes said on the day the campaign was launched. 'A growing number of tertiary education staff, economic experts and climate scientists are concerned that billions of dollars of our retirement savings are being invested by
UniSuper in industries which put our savings – and the future of our planet – at risk.' 'The world – and the smart money – is moving away from the ‘stranded asset’ risks associated with coal, oil and gas.' 'We know from UniSuper's disclosures that at least 10% of its Australian share investments are in companies undermining the Paris Climate Accord, including BHP, Woodside and APA. That’s billions of our dollars funding the climate crisis.'
If we can help move UniSuper to make better choices, we can protect our ecological and economic security in retirement.
'If we can help move UniSuper to make better choices, we can protect our ecological and economic security in retirement.' If you haven’t already sent a letter to the UniSuper Board, go to the campaign site to do so. We hope the campaign can result in UniSuper becoming one of or even perhaps Australia’s premier superannuation provider of environmentally sustainable superannuation.
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SCHOLARSHIPS
MEMBER SERVICES
NTEU Scholarships 2021 – Call for applications Applications are open for the annual Carolyn Allport and Joan Hardy scholarships. The deadline is Friday 30 July 2021, with a decision to be made in late August 2021. The Carolyn Allport Scholarship for Postgraduate Feminist Studies by Research is open to a student undertaking postgraduate feminist studies, by research, in any discipline. It awards $5000 per year for a maximum of 3 years. Applicants must be currently enrolled in postgraduate studies, by research, in an academic award of an Australian public university. The scholarship recognises Dr Carolyn Allport’s leadership and de-
velopment of the Union as National President from 1994-2010. The Joan Hardy Scholarship for Postgraduate Nursing Research is available for any student undertaking a study of nurses, nursing culture or practices, or historical aspects of nursing as a lay or professional practice. The student need not be a nurse and can be undertaking the study in disciplines/schools other than nursing. A sum of $5000 will be paid in two instalments; half
on the awarding and half on submission of their thesis. Applicants must be currently enrolled in an academic award of an Australian public university, and expect to submit the thesis within one year. This scholarship recognises the contribution the late Joan Hardy made to higher education and unionism in over 30 years of activism. More details: nteu.org.au/myunion/ scholarships or email Helena Spyrou hspyrou@nteu.org.au.
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