‘NSW Government indicates travel concession policy won’t change, despite petition’. City Hub (20 April 2024).

‘City of Sydney pushes for public transport concessions for all students’. City Hub (18 April 2024).

‘NSW government signals no change to travel concessions in response to petition’. Honi Soit (17 April 2024).

‘City of Sydney council passed motion supporting Fair Fares campaign’. Honi Soit (10 April 2024).

‘International student in NSW need public transport concessions’. The Australian (9 March 2024).

‘Travel concessions for all students: demands for equality ignored for 20 years’. Honi Soit (14 February 2024).

‘Students want cheaper trains’. The Sunday Telegraph (26 November 2023).

‘Usyd SRC and SUPRA launch petition for opal concessions for all students’. Honi Soit (30 September 2023).

‘Student organisations demand equal travel concessions for international students’. City Hub (29 September 2023).

‘International students deserve concession Opal cards’. Pulp (7 May 2021).

Fair Fares is a student-led campaign, co-hosted by SUPRA and the SRC. The working group includes student unions from across NSW universities, including SUPRA, the SRC, and the UNSW Postgraduate Council (PGC).

Campaign coordinators: SRC President Harrison Brennan and SUPRA President Weihong Liang

Secretarial support: SUPRA Caseworker Jet Hunt.

Contact: admin@supra.usyd.edu.au

University of Sydney pre-budget submission to treasurer (8 March 2024).

1989

Then-NSW Premier Nick Greiner’s government oversaw an amendment to the Transport Administration Act 1988, which excluded international students from the state’s Transport Concession Scheme.

2006

Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA)’s then-president, Jenny Leong, took the Labor Transport Minister John Watkins to the NSW Civil and Administrative Decisions Tribunal (NCAT).

SUPRA gathered several individual international students into a class, and argued that excluding international students from transport concessions constituted discrimination on the basis of nationality, a subset of discrimination based on race. SUPRA’s position was upheld by NCAT, and the individual students were awarded compensation for the extra money they had spent on fares during their studies.

2007

The NCAT victory was short-lived. The NSW Transport Administration Act 1988 was amended to exclude it from complying with the Anti-Discrimination Act. As a result, the NSW government did not need to extend the transport concession scheme to international students.

2017

Led by student leader Daneile Fulvi, Bankstown Student Campus Council of Western Sydney University supported a campaign for international students to have access to public transport concessions. In September of the same year, Bankstown Student Campus Council of Western Sydney University signed on to the campaign.

2018

International and domestic students rallied outside the NSW State Labor Party conference on 30 June 2018, calling for ‘an end to the discriminatory policy under which international students are ineligible for student travel concession cards’.

The rally was organised by the Concession Campaign Coalition, a campaign group of students from multiple universities, including University of Sydney, University of NSW, Western Sydney University and University of Technology Sydney.

2019

The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA), in partnership with the Council of International Students Australia (CISA) and National Union of Students (NUS), released a discussion paper outlining the case for international student concessions. The discussion paper was signed by 10 different student representative associations across the state.

2020

Jenny Leong, Member for Newtown, brought a bill to the NSW Legislative Assembly. Ms Leong argued that in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic and associated cost of living crisis, the cost of full fare travel was simply too much for students to bear. Additionally, Ms Leong highlighted the ongoing racial discrimination perpetrated by the ongoing exclusion of international students from any form of travel concession.

After 2 scheduled debates in the NSW Legislative Assembly, the debate was adjourned.

2023

August: Sydney University’s SRC hosted an open meeting to revive the Fair Fares campaign. In the wake of this meeting, then-SRC president Lia Perkins and SUPRA president Weihong Liang committed to revive the campaign for fair fares for all students.

September–December: Weihong and Lia developed their campaign strategy, including a petition to the NSW Legislative Assembly, as well as lodging a submission to the review of the Anti-Discrimination Act.

The petition was launched on 7 October 2023.

2024

January–March: SUPRA President Weihong and SRC President Harrison Brennan coordinated a mammoth effort between SRC and SUPRA staff, council and volunteers to collect 20,000 signatures for the petition to NSW parliament. Once a petition has 20,000 signatures it must be debated in the NSW Legislative Assembly.

March: The petition achieved its goal of 20,000 signatures. Parliamentary debate on the petition is scheduled for Thursday 9 May 2024.

Sign our petition to the NSW Parliament now.

If you would liked to get involved with the campaign or volunteer to help share the petition, please email international@supra.usyd.edu.au.