Lesson in deregulation delay: students

Tasmanian university students have welcomed news of delayed fee deregulation and say the federal government should heed their feelings before making future plans.

After Thursday's announcement that universities and students can be certain about funding for 2016, with deregulation plans delayed by at least a year, Tasmania University Union president Heidi La Paglia thanked Labor, Greens and crossbench senators for standing strong against the legislation in the upper house.

"This should be a lesson to the government that legislation is not successful if it does not have the support of all stakeholders," she said in a statement.

The government should consult with student representatives before making future plans, Ms La Paglia said.

"We will be continuing to contact politicians over the coming months to advocate for more support for students, and more funding for the sector," she added.

The Tasmania University Union has been fighting the higher education reform bill for more than 18 months and celebrated a decision by new Education Minister Simon Birmingham, who will rethink all aspects of a package to overhaul higher education that has so far been rejected twice in the Senate.

"We would like to extend a special thanks to the Labor Party, the Greens and the crossbench senators for vehemently opposing the Liberals' unfair legislation," Ms La Paglia said.

The changes were meant to have started in 2016 but instead existing arrangements, with indexed funding, will continue.