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National Disabled Students' Association > Events and news > Media release: a statement from the National Disabled Students’ Association on ACT’s proposed policy to make Student Services Fees (SSF) voluntary

Media release: a statement from the National Disabled Students’ Association on ACT’s proposed policy to make Student Services Fees (SSF) voluntary

The National Disabled Students’ Association is a non-partisan charity, meaning we do not support or condemn specific parties. We advocate around specific issues impacting tertiary ākonga (learners) across Aotearoa, including policy announcements. This is a response to the specific policy proposed by ACT

The National Disabled Students Association (NDSA) vehemently opposes the ACT Party’s campaign promise to make Student Services Fees (SSF) voluntary and require universities to use a menu-style, user-pays model. The proposed policy would severely damage the interests of all disabled ākonga (learners) at tertiary education providers, and violates New Zealand’s obligations under its ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). 

Specifically, we believe this policy would violate the following articles:

  • Article 9.2b – Accessibility via ensuring private entities offer services that are open to the public take into account all aspects of accessibility for disabled people
  • Article 17 – Protecting the integrity of the person
  • Article 20 – Personal mobility (affordably)
  • Article 24.5 – Access to education (tertiary)
  • Article 27.1 – Work and employment in environments that are inclusive of disabled people
  • Article 29 – Participation in political and public life
  • Article 30.5 – Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport via organisations

This policy would slash a significant amount and reliable source of funding to students' associations and unions, resulting in the decimation of services, support, care, and representation provided to ākonga. The removal of these services would disproportionately impact disabled ākonga, who are more likely to rely on these services and may have significantly fewer alternatives available to them. 

Additionally, Student Services Fees fund a number of services outside of students’ associations which are often required by learners during times of need. Subsidised healthcare, counselling, cultural services, hardship grants, and financial advice are all key supports to ensuring ākonga receive the help they need, when they need it. These services will all be affected by the policy proposed by the ACT Party.

A fundamentally impractical model

Beyond its discriminatory impacts on disabled ākonga, ACT’s proposed model raises serious questions regarding whether the practical and administrative consequences of this proposal have been properly considered.

A menu-style, user-pays system may sound simple in theory, but tertiary education providers and students’ associations would be left to administer an extraordinarily complex system of determining who has paid for what, who is entitled to access which service, and how shared services are funded — something that is not feasible, and increases administrative burdens and the need to share student information.

Many student services are designed to be universal because their value extends across the student population — subsidised transport, childcare support, advocacy, mental health support, healthcare, and more — whether or not every individual student utilises them. It is not practical to divide these services into neat individualised products and tell ākonga that they can purchase only the parts that they personally intend to use. 

The same applies to hardship services and advocacy. A disabled ākonga may not know when they will need advocacy, hardship assistance, transport assistance, counselling or other services. Their needs may change throughout their studies. The whole purpose of collective student services is that students have access to support when they need it, not that they have to predict every possible need in advance and purchase it individually. They shouldn’t have to do this when they would need these services the most. 

This model will also result in services partially funded by both Student Services Fees and other budget allocations being unable to determine how these services are provided to ākonga. Services for Māori, Pasifika, rainbow, and disabled learners will undoubtedly experience significant losses; further impacting how institutions meet their obligations under the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021.

Potential breaches under the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)

As noted earlier, ACT’s proposal may put New Zealand in breach of several articles of the UNCRPD. Ratified in 2008, New Zealand agreed with the United Nations that disabled people were entitled to certain rights, and agreed that as a state party, they would uphold them. 

UNCRPD Article 9.2b “States Parties shall also take appropriate measures to ensure that private entities that offer facilities and services which are open or provided to the public take into account all aspects of accessibility for persons with disabilities.” The policy would cut a significant amount of funding being directed to students’ associations, which in turn would result in the shutting down of many of the current campaigns to foster this attitude of respect, and would significantly detract from students’ associations’ future efforts to offer satisfactory facilities and services. The lack of funding would also impact the many disabled students’ clubs and associations which aid in these campaigns and education, and which provide important feedback and consultation for students’ associations. 

UNCRPD Articles 17, 24.5, 27.1, 29, and 30.5 require that disabled persons are able to engage in all aspects of society on an equal and fair basis to non disabled people. Article 17 requires that disabled persons have a right to respect for his or her physical and mental integrity on an equal basis with others. The policy does not provide the right to respect for disabled persons’ physical and mental integrity on an equal basis with others. Disabled learners often would not have a choice to “opt out” of many of these services, or else they would lose access to critical services which provide them with support for their individual accessibility and disability needs. Additionally, these services are immediately at risk of being discontinued due to lack of funding as a result of these changes, directly affecting many disabled learners who may rely on them for their physical and mental integrity.

Auckland University of Technology Students’ Association (AUTSA) President James Portegys says “Some of our students, like our disability community, have to fight tooth and nail for their rights and to receive reasonable accommodation. This is something AUTSA prides itself on, making sure students can do this. This proposal would rip away students’ advocacy and harm both disabled students and everyone who has a right to be heard.”

UNCRPD Article 20 requires that parties must facilitate the personal mobility of persons with disabilities in the manner and at the time of their choice, and at affordable cost. Many students’ associations, including VUWSA, have set up or advocated for schemes providing cheaper or free bus and shuttle fares for students which are disproportionately used by disabled students who lack other methods of travel. Should funding be cut, these services may disappear, negatively affecting many disabled learners. 

Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association (VUWSA) President Aidan Donoghue says: “We’re deeply concerned that service providers will find themselves in the horrible position of turning away students in need because they aren’t already existing members of said service. Oftentimes with services like financial aid, career guidance, or independent advocacy,  you are interacting with them for the first time because you need them.”

Article 24.5 requires that disabled ākonga be provided with access to tertiary education on an equal basis. As already stated, disabled learners would not get a choice to “opt out” of these services that they might rely on for their accessibility needs. If these services are cut due to lack of funding, many disabled learners might be unable to attend classes, or would be unable to access advocacy resources to ensure that their accommodations are met by tertiary providers when they need it most.

Article 27.1 requires that disabled persons are provided with access to work opportunities on an equal basis. Many disabled learners work with or for students’ associations, especially in disability-dedicated roles, providing care and services to other disabled students. These roles are directly at risk should funding be cut further for students’ associations. 

Finally, Article 29 and 30.5 requires that disabled persons are provided the right to participation in political and public life on an equal basis, and the right to participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure, and sport. Many disabled ākonga are only able to access these activities required under the UNCRPD through their institutions’ clubs, disabled students’ associations, or through events run and directed by their students’ associations. These events rely on steady funding and must be open to all learners, regardless of whether or not they are paying Student Services Fees. In particular, significant parts of Orientation Week at tertiary institutions are run by students’ associations, and it is not “fair and equal” for disabled learners to bear a majority of costs for these events when they are not able to “opt out” of these service fees.

A statement from Nikita Van Dijk, NDSA Co-President

The NDSA Co-President Nikita Van Dijk said the following about the proposal: “ACT’s latest proposal is yet another example of recent attacks on the most vulnerable groups in our society to benefit those with the most privilege. This is not simply an attack on the students’ associations or the services that they provide, but it is a blatant attack on disabled ākonga, and on the ability for students to access the support, representation, community and services they need to succeed.

For disabled ākonga in particular, students’ associations and the services they provide are not luxuries, nor are the services we can simply “opt out” of. They are a critical part of our journey in navigating the tertiary education system. Our ability to access advocacy, and our ability to build community and ensure that our lived experiences must be taken into consideration when our institutions fail to meet their obligations to us — particularly under the Pastoral Care Code (PCC) or Disability Action Plans (DAPs). Making student services something students can simply “opt out” of undermines the collective systems that make education more accessible and equitable. 

What we are seeing is a continued willingness that is shared across different parties to treat future generations as bargaining chips for political gain. Ākonga are being used, yet again, as a political football, and we are apparently expected to take that lying down. We won't.

Our voices will never be silent. The student movement will not die quietly, and we will not stop fighting for our ākonga simply because it is politically convenient to make their lives harder. Alongside our allies in the other students’ associations, the NDSA will continue to represent, advocate for and provide for disabled ākonga until the very end. Our ākonga deserve better than to have their education, wellbeing, services and futures sacrificed to be someone else’s political football.”

In summary

The National Disabled Students’ Association vehemently opposes ACT’s proposal to make Student Services Fees voluntary and introduce a menu-style, user-pays model. This is not simply an attack on students’ associations or the essential services that they provide, it is a direct attack on the most vulnerable ākonga groups in tertiary education such as disabled ākonga, and their ability to access education, advocacy, support, community and services.

Student Services Fees fund collective services that ākonga rely on when they need them most. These services include, but are not limited to: counselling, advocacy, hardship support, transport subsidies, healthcare, childcare, and community support. These services cannot realistically be reduced to a menu where ākonga purchase only what they think they might need. Disabled ākonga cannot be expected to predict when they will need advocacy, financial aid, transport support, or any other services — especially as those needs can change throughout their studies.

A user-pays model would also create an unworkable administrative nightmare for both the students’ associations and tertiary institutes. Providers and students’ associations would have to determine who has paid for which services, who is entitled to them, and how shared services are funded. Many services exist precisely because they are all collective — all ākonga contribute, and all ākonga can access them when they are needed. They cannot simply be divided into individual products.

For disabled ākonga, this could directly undermine our ability to participate in tertiary education on an equal basis to our non disabled peers. Losing affordable transport can mean losing access to campus.

NDSA considers the proposal to be in breach with New Zealand’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), including rights relating to accessibility, tertiary education, employment, mobility, participation in public and cultural life, and respect for disabled people’s physical and mental integrity. 

The NDSA will not accept this quietly. The student movement will not die quietly. Our voices will not be silenced, and we will continue to fight alongside our allies in the students’ associations for disabled ākonga. We all deserve better.