The times I was a "failing university student" was because: (1) I was struggling trying to understand the mechanics of being at university, given I was the first person in my family to finish high school, yet alone get a tertiary education. (1/6)

(2) My cousin& #39;s suicide in second year almost made it impossible to study. A tutor at the time graciously bumped up my mark, as he had lost a friend to suicide when he was my age. I got a ten day extension on another assignment. Ten days. (2/6)

(3) I didn& #39;t have the confidence to access resources or speak to my tutors. I was too proud to ask for help. Asking for help meant admitting to being a "failing university student." It meant all of my parents sacrifices were wasted on someone who didn& #39;t deserve to be here. (3/6)

If the government had told me that too, I never would& #39;ve finished my degree. Sometimes & #39;extenuating circumstances& #39; are abstract and complex. Sometimes, who you are proves to be its own hurdle. Often, when I was a "failing university student", I didn& #39;t have an & #39;excuse& #39;. (4/6)

And I felt all of this as a scholarship kid who had the privilege of getting a private education. Whose ATAR fell in the mid-90s. I ticked all of the boxes, bar a few... historical exemptions and hick ups. There was no excuse for doing badly on paper. For failing. (5/6)

Who does Dan Tehan think this legislation is helping? How will this motivate individuals to & #39;work harder& #39;? All this will do is inject tertiary spaces with more shame, exclusion and discrimination than it knows what to do with. It is a truly authoritarian move. (6/6)