00:00You'll find Maxim Buckley in the lab five days a week, doing what he loves.
00:07I look at blood cancer, in particular acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
00:12It's a blood cancer that predominantly affects children.
00:15But carrying out his vital research has come at a cost.
00:19He's earning well below minimum wage through his PhD stipend.
00:23When rents due to increase, which it normally does at the end of year, that's a really stressful
00:28experience for me.
00:29And it seems the financial challenges PhD candidates are facing, especially during a
00:34cost of living crunch, are taking a toll.
00:37There was an 8% drop in the number of domestic PhD enrolments from 2018 to 2023, according
00:45to a new report from Universities Australia and the Australian Council of Graduate Research.
00:51To blame, the low PhD stipend, set this year at $33,500 per annum.
00:57We want to see a modest lift to 36 and proper indexation from here on in.
01:02The average PhD student is around 37 years old and we know at that time in your life,
01:07you often have a mortgage or rent and you've often started a family.
01:11Jesse Gardner-Russell's PhD aims to figure out how to reverse blindness in stroke sufferers.
01:18It's very common for PhD students to be coming in at 9am and leaving at 9, 10, 11pm.
01:24We're not calling for a six-figure stipend, we're calling for a living wage.
01:30We don't want to suffer a brain drain where the best and brightest leave Australia for
01:34other opportunities elsewhere.
01:36A broad review of the higher education system, dubbed the University's Accord, has recommended
01:42that the Federal Government increase the minimum stipend.
01:45The Minister hasn't ruled it out.
01:47He says the Government has implemented 31 Accord recommendations in part or in full
01:53and is still considering the others.
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