CAPA Report

The CoVid-19 pandemic took us all by surprise. Postgraduate students have been affected in many ways, left facing great uncertainty and with no guarantee things will get better. No one can prepare you for a global pandemic, especially one on this scale. When things don’t go to plan or there’s great uncertainty about your studies and your future, it is nice to know there are other students who are going through the same thing. That is why it is more important now than ever, to stick together and have each other’s backs. At UWA that is exactly what the PSA is for. However, sometimes the issues are too big for any one organisation to solve alone. That is when CAPA steps in. The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) represents over 450,000+ postgraduate students in Australia on a national level, speaking to decision makers within the sector about budgets, welfare systems, compliance and much more.

The coronavirus set the tone for CAPA this year. But it only highlighted the precarious situation postgraduate students were already facing such as colossal tuition fees, exploitative research conditions, limited access to Centrelink study and/or CoVid-19 stimulus payments and serious mental health risks. On top of that we now face graduating during the biggest economic downturn in living history.

Since the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared coronavirus a global pandemic, CAPA has consistently communicated to the government and various other stakeholders – through our campaign – that postgraduate students, have had their lives and studies seriously disrupted by CoVid-19. Leaving students to struggle with financial hardships and mental health problems without support will be a massive step backwards for Australia’s long-term economic growth, recovery and reputation.

CAPA has launched two national campaigns, one directed at the government, one at the universities together with our members, including the PSA. The aim of the campaign to the government was to highlight the areas in which postgraduate, domestic and international students are affected, as a result of this pandemic. A number of stakeholders were engaged during the consultation period including Minister Tehan, Senator Mehreen Faruqui, Tanya Plibersek MP, the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE), UA and TEQSA. As well as the Australian Council of Graduate Research (ACGR), who have worked with CAPA every step of the way, including promoting our university campaign to the UA, Go8, ATN, IRU, RUN and the DESE. Both Senator Faruqui and Tanya Plibersek wrote to Minister Tehan, asking him to support our campaign and it worked! Shortly after, the Minister announced a number of legislative changes including an amendment to the Research Training Program (RTP). The amendments to the Commonwealth Scholarships Guidelines (Research) 2017 and Other Grant Guidelines (Research) 2017 will enable universities to provide greater flexibility and support for research students that have had their candidatures adversely affected by the CoVid-19 crisis.

We are pleased that the Department of Education has allowed: 1. The option for universities to temporarily extend RTP scholarships for doctoral and masters research degrees, for a maximum duration of 4 years and 6 months, and 2 years 6 months respectively. 2. Allowing more flexibility for universities to fund RTP scholarships for international students, by relaxing the current 10% RTP funding cap restrictions currently in place. 3. 60 days paid sick leave at the discretion of the higher education provider

While these amendments are a welcome first step, we need more funding to support these changes. With finite funds, universities now face the stark choice between funding current students to completion and sustaining future enrolments. A once off payment to the Research Training Program, to support any students that require an extension in these trying times, will ensure universities can support their students rather than add further pressure to falling research funding. This is why CAPA, with the support of the (ACGR) and our members, will continue lobbying the government to secure more research funding, crucial to the recovery phase of this crisis.

Alongside these changes, CAPA has welcomed various supports for domestic and international postgraduate coursework and higher degree by research students, which we campaigned for such as access to hardship funds, study-load, compliance, health cover and visa regulatory changes. A huge achievement for us this year, was the announcement by the Australian Department of Home Affairs, that visa extensions will be free of charge. These wins would not have been possible, without the support and dedication of our member organisations, such as the PSA.

We still have a way to go however. For the remainder of the year, CAPA will focus on the quality of education for postgraduate students and the consequences of continued cuts to university funding. Universities have become reliant on highly volatile sources of income such as international student enrolments, philanthropy, fundraising, or return from investments and commercial revenue. All of which have fallen in recent months and will not recover for a while to come, when the true economic impact of the pandemic takes hold.

It will be crucial to build on the progress we have made. Having now established strong working relationships with key decision makers such as UA, TEQSA, ACGR, opposition and the current government, a lot will depend on how we manage these relationships in the future. CAPA has grown in membership through this pandemic and it is only by working together, that we have been able to make a real difference. CAPA will continue fighting the good fight at a national level, to improve your university experience, just as the PSA does at UWA.