Before HECS

Some of you might have heard stories from your older relatives about the 'golden days' of education: disco, free love, and zero university fees. If your relative studied between 1974 and 1988, they likely paid almost nothing for their degrees.

If we were graduating 47 years ago alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in 1984, we could have walked out of our last lecture without a single cent owed.

Even before education was entirely free, the costs were still shockingly low. When Monash opened in 1961, students were charged just £405 for a 3-year degree, that's AUD$14,355 in today's money. That's less than one year of an Arts degree today!

So… what happened?

HECS-HELP - formerly Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) - is a loan from the Australian Government that students, who meet residency requirements, can use to pay their university fees. When HECS was introduced, it was to be set at $1,800 for a year of full-time study, with annual indexing (a yearly adjustment of the loan to reflect changes in the cost of living) applied at the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The national average HECS-HELP debt was $27,640 in the 2023–2024 fiscal year. Now think about how much you’ll pay by the time you graduate.

This handy calculator can help you determine how long it will likely take to pay off your student debt.

1989 Counter Faculty Handbook drawing protesting the introduction of HECS

HECS is brewing

In 1987, Federal Education Minister John Dawkins proposed reintroducing university fees to increase the government's education budget in the Higher Education: A Policy Discussion Paper. By introducing the reform, Dawkins allowed changes to be made to the proposal and informed the public of the reform. This proposal was officially announced, meaning it was passed, in 1988 in the Higher Education: A Policy Statement.

Students React!

At the start of every year, students got together to produce an Orientation Handbook that advised new and returning students on topics such as housing, food, university services and current affairs that related to their lives as students. In 1988, the reintroduction of fees was naturally a significant concern for them. They feared that quality, free education was coming to an end, as "negative enthusiasm for reform” was shown by Prime Ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating after years of a weakening tertiary system.

1988 Orientation Booklet clipping of article on the end of free education

In 1988, there were many attempts to stop the reintroduction of fees, with the largest protest of the late 1980s being the occupation of the Monash University Clayton campus Administration Building on July 20, 1988. Approximately 500 students attended the demonstration, and 150 stayed overnight. This showed the beginnings of student protest against HECS.

Late 1980s

1989 Counter Faculty Handbook cartoon 

Boycott the Tax

Some students decided in 1989 that the best strategy to combat HECS would be to boycott the 'tax'. However, as pointed out in Lot’s Wife, the Monash University student newspaper, this would “[rely] on the moral courage of individual boycotters” to stand up to opposition they may face from Monash University and the federal administration. This would have been particularly challenging when a good chunk of students would have likely been in their first year and thus be unwilling to jeopardise their education. 

Ultimately, this did not eventuate, and students took a more forward-facing approach through protests and demonstrations in conjunction with other universities' students and national student unions. 

National Day of Action

A “National Day of Action” was scheduled for March 22, 1989, to hold mass meetings and protests across all Australian campuses to protest HECS. Five thousand people attended the rally in the city centre to protest HECS, with several speakers discussing how fees in education have affected them and their respective industries and degrees.

1989 Lot's Wife Issue Five photograph of protest in the CBD against HECS

Education Minister, John Dawkins (Doesn’t) Visit Monash University

In October 1989, Monash was set to receive a visit from John Dawkins, the same minister who had introduced university fees earlier that year. A Lot’s Wife editor published their contemplation of whether it would be better for the student community to model their response off other universities and attempt a peaceful, logical debate or protest his very presence on campus.

When the day came for Dawkins to deliver his speech, an estimated 200 students were positioned outside the Rotunda lecture theatres (a building that had since been demolished and is now the location of the Ian Potter Centre). However, Dawkins did not show up, citing the protest advertised by Lot’s Wife as the reason why. The Monash Fabian Society (a non-revolutionary socialist club) claimed that the student protest hindered Dawkins’ ability to exercise freedom of speech. Lot’s Wife countered by arguing that the inability to protest Dawkins infringed upon the protesters' freedom of speech and right to demonstrate. Regardless of who was correct, the opportunity for the meeting between students and politicians was lost.

The 1990s

Student Voices Against HECS

In a 1990 issue of Lot's Wife, a student wrote a letter to the editor titled “Shocked at HECS Increase”, in which they detailed how they had an 11% increase in their HECS on their enrolment form, which they attributed to indexation and/or the state of the economy. Their letter demonstrated Monash students' lack of trust in the government:

“It seems to me that either the Government has lost control over the economy or the Government has broken yet another promise.”

Arts student in a Letter to the Editor

Students continued to be frustrated with the lack of action taken by the student union towards HECS. This is evidenced by a letter to the editor in 1991 titled “No Action on HECS”, which asked what had happened to the pushback against government increases on repayment amounts:

"Our unions appeared to be performing, or were they? Did "Big Brother" silence them, or are our union chiefs just looking after themselves?"

Science student in a Letter to the Editor

1990 Lot's Wife photograph of student protesting in the CBD

A Lack of Student Movements

There appeared to be a lack of student involvement in marches and protests against upfront fees in 1995, when only 100 Monash University students attended the rally in the city, a much lower number than in previous years. Rather than outright protest HECS, students began thinking of ways that HECS should be paying for their educational experience.

In the mid-1990s, students began to use HECS as a tool to improve the facilities Monash University was providing, with one student sending a letter complaining about the printers being broken and wishing to receive a refund on her HECS as her money wasn’t being utilised as she saw fit. Ultimately, the university did fix the printers, which she assumed was due to her letter, as she was treated exceptionally well afterwards by IT workers.

Differential HECS Introduced

In 1996, the government introduced differential HECS, where the projected costs of the degree and the graduate's income are calculated to determine how much HECS students should pay, with the highest earners and most costly courses being medicine, dentistry, and veterinary science.

In 1997, the differential study load was set at $5,500 for Law and Medicine, $4,700 for Science, Computing, Engineering, and Economics, and $3,300 for Arts and Education. 

There was also a reduction in the HECS payback threshold from $28,494 to $20,701, meaning that graduates would need to start paying off their HECS debt earlier. 

Lot's Wife 1997 Issue Eleven photograph of student occupation banner at Monash University

1997: A revitalisation of student protests?

1997 was a significant year for protests and campus activities, evidenced by a long timeline of events occurring on campus:

17th April: The Monash Academic Board voted to introduce upfront fees for 25% of new students starting university in 1998, which prompted 400 students to attend a primarily peaceful rally outside the Administration Offices. Students were heard chanting, “No, we won’t pay” and “Education for all.” Not the catchiest chants, but they got their message across! 

1st May: A mock graduation and funeral for the "death of public education" took place, accompanied by a 3,000-signature petition presented to the councillors as a protest against upfront fees.

12th May: A “Mosh Against Fees” day took place. Actions taken on the day included a conga line, storming lectures, petitioning, and providing free food and drink while bands and entertainment played for students. 

1997 Lot's Wife Issue Seven

24th July: Protest against the upfront fees continued into the second semester, with students claiming the space outside the Chancellery Building for their own. They dubbed this space a "Corporate Free Zone" for the Monash Rebel University. This campaign involved a reported "100-day tent-city” with a confirmed 10 weeks reported in the last edition of Lot's Wife 1997. There was also a sit-in in the Administration Building and "the re-appropriation of the General Manager's office for two hours."

Students' opinions were further reflected in the graffiti on campus, with the Campus Centre serving as a central hotspot for art and slogans. One such art piece featured a tree with the phrase “Education for ALL, not just the rich.”

Image of graffiti on campus from the photography archive of SURLY

During Open Day, free talks by students and academics at the Tent City, which was still on campus, promoted the cause of free education to future students. To further their cause, chanting of anti-fee slogans could be heard in front of colourful graffiti, such as “A place for learning, not earning” and “One McLaw degree combo, please.” 

Arguments For HECS?

• There were a small number of students who saw some value in HECS. An article in Lot’s Wife titled “HECS is Natural” states, “despite the somewhat belated fuss made by a handful of student activists in 1987, the HECS debt has become an important part of the funding of higher education.” The author believes that HECS is effective in funding education, and instead of opposing HECS, students should understand how to use HECS as a tool.
• This marks the beginning of the acceptance of HECS and a decrease in protests, with students starting to utilise the HECS debt as a tool to advocate for the dismissal of other fees, arguing that HECS should cover all fees universities require.
  
  

• 🚺An article in Dissent (an annual publication by the Women's Department) points out that a differential HECS system will negatively impact women in particular as they decide whether it is worth taking a course that will incur more debt while historically being paid less on average when entering the workforce or if they choose lower-cost courses that women have traditionally dominated, perpetuating a cycle of underpaid women-led careers.

The 2010s

Hey Byrne, I Wanna Learn Campaign

The Monash Student Association (MSA) asked their fellow students to join the “Hey Byrne I Wanna Learn!” campaign that demanded Vice Chancellor Ed Byrne abolish course fees, such as “compulsory unit materials such as readers, lab-coats, textbooks and project materials” as well as parking costs, arguing that HECS is meant to cover the cost of education, so it makes no sense to have outside fees.

Administration Building Protest

On 16th October 2014, five students locked themselves in the administration building to protest for free education, demanding that the then Vice-Chancellor, Margaret Gardner, resist the Federal Government’s attempts to deregulate fees.

Two students chained their necks to railings whilst forming a circle with two other protestors, linking their arms together with plumbing pipes.

Speaking to the Herald Sun one of the protestors stated: “We are a group of ordinary students who feel compelled enough by these changes to actually put our own necks on the line to demand our university administrators take up the fight against what the Coalition are trying to do.”

2010s HECS Regulation Changes

Monash students joined the NUS’ National Day of Action protest on March 25th, 2015, to protest the introduction of complete fee deregulation. This is compared to the partial introduction of fee deregulation in 2004. Complete fee deregulation would mean that university course fees would be based on the market, and costs could rise to over $100,000 for a single degree.

MSA's Fight For Free Education 

The MSA's constitution states that one of its twelve purposes is "to promote the right of all students to a free education".

2004 Women's Department wallpaper notice