To The Hon. Ben Carroll – Victorian Minister for Public Transport,

 

Full-time postgraduate students in Victoria need to be given the same rights as every other full-time tertiary student in Australia. When providing public transport concession, every other Australian state or territory does not differentiate between full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students, recognising the workload and time commitment that they BOTH demand from those enrolled (link to all state/territory fares below). 

 

While some students may be eligible for a low-income health care card, they should not even be required to go down this avenue. It can be extremely difficult for full-time students to even find the time within Centrelink hours to actually go in and lodge the claim, when juggling their lives which are consumed by uni classes, work and study among various other commitments such as unpaid internships or volunteer work required under certain degrees. 

 

And what about those that aren’t? For those who earn over the threshold because that is what’s required of them to support themselves? Many postgrad students have to work to pay for their degree, which is even more relevant and necessary now after the Australian Government cut funding and continues to cut funding to universities, including lowering the HECS threshold from 2020, leaving postgrad students more out of pocket than ever.

 

This may seem like a trivial issue to some, but for Victorian postgrad students who are doing their best to keep their head above water, having to pay a full fare myki simply to travel to uni when compared to the cost of a concession can really add up:

 

A myki Money Daily fare for a full fare payer is $9.20

A myki Money Daily fare for a concession payer is $4.60 

 

If a full-time postgrad student is on campus 5 days a week for 2 x 12-week semesters, not including various other periods where they may be required to be on campus, including exam periods, intensive subjects, etc. That’s a difference of about $552. A difference that only postgrad students in Victoria are realising. To someone working full-time this may not seem like a significant amount, but for a student who is studying full-time, working as well as all the other commitments they may have that were mentioned before, it IS significant.

 

Why should Victorian postgrad students be disadvantaged? Why should they not be provided the same support from the Victorian government, that every other state government provides to their counterparts? Please Minister Carroll, we are not asking for more, we are just asking for equal.

 

https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/care-and-support/concessions/transport/transport-concessions

https://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/tickets-fares/concession-guide

https://transportnsw.info/tickets-opal/ticket-eligibility-concessions/tertiary-or-tafe-students#eligibility

https://translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares/concessions/tertiary

https://www.metrotas.com.au/fares/concessions/

https://www.transport.act.gov.au/tickets-and-myway/fares/concessions

https://nt.gov.au/driving/public-transport-cycling/public-buses/fares

https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/tickets/myki/concessions-and-free-travel/children-and-students/tertiary-students/