TODAY ASU members win!
ALL associated degrees for Social and community services workers now protected by the Professional Pathway and will be exempt from government fee increases.
Earlier this year the Federal government proposed DOUBLING university fees for community services degrees (e.g. Social Work, Human Services, Mental Health, Social Sciences, Youth Work, Community Welfare, Social Welfare, and Counselling).
ASU members fought hard and led the campaign to stop these fee hikes which would have created further workforce shortages that already exist in this critical sector as well as creating barriers for both entry and career advancement which would disproportionately impact women who work in this sector.
ASU Members took their voice to power; lobbying politicians, organising thousands signing petitions, participating in a huge member survey, and met with over 40 politicians from across the political spectrum to explain why increasing fees would be detrimental to our society.
In a HUGE win for members the Federal Government listened to ASU members and backed down on the proposed fee hikes for Social Work, committing to creating instead the Professional Pathway to Social work.
But ASU members didn’t stop there. We kept fighting to keep the government to account to ensure all relevant degrees would be exempt from these crippling fee increases.
Today ASU members win AGAIN as the Federal government announced that they would include all relevant social and community services degrees as a part of the Professional Pathway.
Our survey showed that approximately 75% of the SACS workforce have a degree other than the Bachelor of Social Work. This win means our members who support our communities across the sector will not be forced to pay more for their degrees or spend longer paying them off.
This is a fantastic win by ASU members – this would not have happened without coming together and campaigning for this change.
SACS Fee Hike Win