ABSTRACT
The introduction of the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) in 1989 is one of the most successful policy formulations in Australia because it is both radical and enduring. In 1988, when the policy was developed, it was a radical change for the governing party that sponsored it because it seemed to repudiate a deep commitment of that party to free university education and was at first strongly opposed not only by students but also by other important constituencies of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). In 1974 ALP Prime Minister Gough Whitlam abolished fees for higher education in Australia. By 1999 HECS had become an established feature of the higher education system in Australia, at least in the eyes of students, and the government recognised that changes to HECS could pose serious electoral hazards. The Green Paper was essentially an elaboration of the increasingly difficult environment confronting higher education, leading to the broad conclusion that radical change was inevitable.
