Open letter to Vice-Chancellor Duncan Maskell — 21 August 2020

• The limits, across the whole year, on total funding available to students that are imposed without reference to the actual hardship experienced by students.  Given the cumulative impact of the pandemic and Stage 4 restrictions in Melbourne on top of the internationally worsening situation, the $7 500 limit on students will not be sufficient to address the financial impacts on many students.
• The blanket ineligibility for students receiving Centrelink payments without reference to whether they are able to demonstrate financial hardship.
• The University’s refusal to consider using fee relief as a means of addressing financial hardship.  When UMSU proposed that the University could reduce the financial stress on international students and their families by using the same quantum of funding available under the ESF to reduce course fees, the University responded by advising that the ESF was designed to assist students in meeting the costs of living and not to reduce tuition fees.  UMSU is deeply concerned that the University would take such a narrow view about students’ lives.  Clearly, the requirement to pay fees will, for many students, have an impact on students’ capacity to meet the ordinary costs of living.  I hope that you can take appropriate action to address this kind of thinking.

• Remove the $7 500 cap on ESF payments and allow eligible students to claim up to $7 500 in Semester 2.
• Allow students who are in receipt of Centrelink payments and who can demonstrate financial hardship to make applications to the ESF.
• Allow eligible students to apply ESF funds to reduce their fee liabilities.