In the submission, ALSA president Margaret Cai passed on the “strong concerns” from the members that the fees increase would deter students from vulnerable backgrounds from pursuing a career in law. If law schools have a significant drop in the numbers of diverse students, the profession is likely to miss out on much-needed diversification. 

“We have seen among our alumni the impact that a quality legal education can have on individual students, their university and the broader community,” Ms Cai said. “The aim of any reform to higher education should therefore be to ensure that, in striving to create a resilient future-ready workforce, no groups are left behind.”

Although the intention of the reform was to incentivise students to make “job-relevant”, considered decisions about their education, Ms Cai said it was important that students who can comfortably afford education “will not be labouring” over the decision as much as students from low socio-economic and diverse communities across Australia. 

The increased costs of law degrees will see all prospective students pay up to $14,500 per year for their education from the previous $11,355. If a student spends a standard five-year studying, it is likely to set them back $72,500 up from the current $56,775. 

The ALSA said this may deter already under-represented communities. It includes individuals from a culturally and linguistically diverse community, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and those from low socio-economic areas. It may also prevent mature-age students from making a desired career change into the legal profession. 

“Issues of accessibility and diversity in the law are not new,” Ms Cai wrote in the submission. “Robust legal education is not one which continues to remain the preserve of privileged or exclusive groups whose views have shaped legal practice, professional acceptance and creation of laws all throughout history. The implications extend far beyond the composition. 

“The representation of a diverse range of voices goes hand in hand with a capacity to protect and uphold the interests of all within society.”

VIEW ALL

Funding restrictions and creating ‘job-ready graduates’

The draft legislation has also introduced restrictions on a Commonwealth grant scheme and HELP loans for students who fail more than 50 per cent of their subjects after their first eight subjects. Ms Cai said the transition from secondary school and into a tertiary education can be difficult for many students and should not be judged as harshly. 

“Taking away funding as a result of poor performance has the potential to negatively impact students from disadvantaged backgrounds the most, particularly when such performances can sometimes be tied to personal circumstances or hardships,” she said.

Ms Cai said that greater and more targeted support is needed from the government to assist these students, “especially where funding to universities is widely being cut”.

Ms Cai has also mirrored similar calls that the current articulation of the proposed “job-ready” graduate and future skills “undervalues legal knowledge”. The ALSA cautioned that the legislative framing is reductive and illustrates that higher education is the only pathway to careers in a particular field of study, when it has been proven that it is not. 

The ALSA said that it is not an accurate reflection of what happens in practice and has contradicted the government’s own vision for a multidisciplinary approach to education where there is an imperative for “breaking down the traditional degree silos”. 

“Law graduates become consultants, policy advisers, educators, journalists, politicians and technologists. The number of ministers who hold law degrees speaks for itself,” she said. 

“While we appreciate a need to support STEM disciplines, this should not come at the expense of other fields of study. There is a serious risk that a proposed funding cluster redesign will act as a deterrent to individuals from socio-economically disadvantaged and already underrepresented backgrounds from pursuing legal studies and careers.”

The ALSA has recommended the Senate does not proceed with its current iteration of the bill but, if that will not be considered, that it at least provides adequate funding that ensures equity of access for students of all socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. 

More to come. Protégé will provide further updates soon.