Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has received an honorary doctorate at the University of Adelaide, but the title has not stopped student protesters from heckling her.
About a dozen students rallied against the federal government's proposed changes to tertiary education funding as Ms Bishop arrived at the university, where she studied law, to receive the award at a graduation ceremony.
She did not acknowledge the protesters who shouted "Julie Bishop shame on you, we deserve a future too" as she entered Bonython Hall on Wednesday.
It was the same hall where she learnt, during a constitutional law exam in 1975, that former prime minister Gough Whitlam had been sacked.
The examiner sought to quiet the students by reminding them lawyers must be prepared to expect the unexpected, words that have stuck with Ms Bishop.
"We can't predict our future, we don't know what lies ahead. But we can be better prepared to face the future," she said in an address.
Later she told reporters the tertiary funding changes would help keep Australia's "very high quality" higher education system strong into the future.
"The system has to be sustainable," she said.
But University of Adelaide student representative Daniel Neser said the protesters thought the Liberals "don't give a damn" about students.
"This is about saying to the Liberals, 'No, we're not going to be walked on'," he told AAP.
The government's proposed overhaul of funding arrangements includes a $2.8 billion cut to universities as well as a fee increase for students.
