In 2005, the Australian Government imposed VSM (branded as VSU) on every campus in Australia. Two major studies independent of students' associations have been conducted -The Impact of Voluntary Student Unionism on Services, Amenities and Representation for Australian University Students, undertaken by the Australian Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations in 2008 and the Voluntary Student Unionism Impact Study undertaken by Australian University Sport (AUS) with the Australasian Campus Union Managers’ Association (ACUMA) in 2007. They confirm VSM devastated services on Australian campuses and failed to achieve any of the professed aims of pro-VSM campaigners.

Services - gutted: VSM stripped $170m AUD from student services and amenities, causing a widespread decline and in some cases closure of health, counselling, employment, childcare, welfare and academic advocacy services. 85% of students' associations reported "substantial or near total" job losses while 72% reported "substantial or near total cuts" to expenditure on activities, campaigns and student support programmes.

Nearly all of those who maintained or only partially reduced services did so by accepting substantial funding from their institutions meaning all students continued to fund the associations' activities. Students are now paying through their fees and through user pays service.

Unis and polytechs - under pressure: Tertiary institutions have copped it from every angle since VSM was introduced. Some have stepped in to take over the responsibilities of their students' associations or provided them with substantial financial support, drawing resources away from teaching and research. Other institutions who let their students' associations wither or die have had to contend with the hidden costs of services provided by associations, dealing with a substantial uptick in low level inquiries previously handled by student advocacy services.

In short, VSM has made the services institutions provide more expensive, made institutions responsible for more services and diverted money away from teaching and research.

Government - out of pocket: To try and stem the predicted flow of savage service cuts on regional campuses, the Australian Government established a $120m NZD VSM "transition fund". The money is nearly spent but service levels are substantially down, as outlined above. VSM was introduced with promises of saving students money and giving them meaningful control over their associations. The result has been the opposite: fewer services, higher costs across the board and $120m NZD lost.

Don't let New Zealand go down the same path. Take action by making a select committee submission, emailing your MPs and connecting with the campaign on Facebook now.AP.S