Uni protesters interrupt minister's speech

Protesters have disrupted a speech by federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham just days after he unveiled a plan for higher university course fees and a lower income threshold for loan repayments.

"No fees, no cuts, no corporate universities," they chanted as they were pulled off the stage by security at the National Press Club in Canberra on Thursday.

Senator Birmingham was using the speech to defend scaling back university funding and requiring students to pay back their course loans sooner.

The minister brushed off the interruption, describing it as side entertainment.

"I think there has probably not been a year in the last few decades when we haven't seen university students protesting at some stage," he said.

"It is part of the rite of passage of university students nowadays."

About 15 students in Adelaide also staged a protest outside the minister's electoral office.

Earlier in Sydney, a small group of university students briefly blocked traffic outside Malcolm Turnbull's electorate offices.

About 20 students initially tried to occupy the prime minister's office in Edgecliff but were stopped by half-a-dozen NSW police officers.

One student was dragged off after drawing devil horns on a glass window in front of a poster of Mr Turnbull, but was released within minutes after receiving a police warning.

The prime minister wasn't in Sydney on Thursday having flown to the United States for his first face-to-face with President Donald Trump.