By Paul Kniest. Lorretta Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer of the 1.6 million member strong American Teachers Federation (AFT) was visiting Australia in January and the NTEU with the AEU (Australian Education Union) asked her to present a seminar on “Trump in the White House – Where to Now for Trade Unions, Education and Social Justice?”. More...

By Paul Kniest. There are two things that fascinate the public discourse about Australian higher education. One is where Australia’s universities rank on the seemingly endless array of university league tables. The other is the level of remuneration received by our universities’ leaders. And as if by pure serendipity, it turns out that our Vice-Chancellors’ pay is the one thing that puts Australia on the top of world university league tables. More...

By Paul Kniest. From a higher education policy perspective, 2017, the Year of the Rooster, is shaping up as being “an interesting time”. The question is, will 2017 be the year that higher education policy follows the lunar calendar and be remembered as the year the higher education policy rooster crowed, or will it be remembered as the year of the feather duster. More...

By Paul Kniest. While it is yet be determined whether the new VET Student Loans programme will restore integrity to VET regulation and save the Government more than $25billion over ten years as anticipated, the NTEU is encouraged that the new scheme involves far greater scrutiny of eligible private providers and tighter limits on the value of loans and eligible courses. More...

By Paul Kniest. NTEU’s 2017-18 Pre-Budget Submission called on the Government to respond to the challenges facing higher education with a policy framework that reflects the diversity of the sector and gives universities the autonomy and responsibility to respond to changing community and student demands. More...

By Andrew MacDonald. Chatter around the lifting of Parallel Import Restrictions (PIRs) on books has become something of a feature of the start of the academic year in recent times. However, with speculation mounting that the Turnbull Government may seek to introduce legislation to abolish the measures – which restrict the importing of books for resale in instances where Australian publishers have exclusive rights – the stakes look to be rising. More...

By Andrew MacDonald. When examining the multitude of controversies that have punctuated Donald Trump’s short time as President of the United States of America, it is difficult to identify any one act as being more contentious than the next. Nevertheless, the late January Executive Order preventing nationals of seven majority-Muslim nations entering the USA would have to be a frontrunner – at least so far. More...

By Paul Clifton. The systematic underpayment of wages in Australia is a critical issue. Increasingly many workers are being paid less than the statutory minimum wage, and the minimum award or Enterprise Agreement wage rates to which they are entitled. The proliferation of this practice points to a crisis of compliance with wage standards. In the process, the living wage is steadily disappearing in practice. More...

By Jeannie Rea. Last week, I sent a letter to the members of the Murdoch University Senate arguing that applying to terminate the Enterprise Agreement will have fundamental impacts upon the University’s mission and damage the reputation and ongoing viability of the University. More...

By Paul Clifton. The Turnbull Government is cutting payments to families on low incomes, continuing the freeze on Medicare rebates, issuing debts people have never accrued, and considering a tax cut for corporations. Meanwhile, Australia continues to give away its natural resources for free by not taxing corporations enough. More...