An estimated crowd of up to 200 gathered outside the venue at Docklands on Friday night to protest against the Federal Government's proposed cuts to higher education and the deregulation of course fees.
Protesters carrying signs and placards pushed and shoved with police, and horses were brought in to help control the melee.
A number of protesters, along with an ABC News cameraman, were hit with pepper spray.
Dozens of people were treated by paramedics after the scuffle.
Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull and former prime minister John Howard were at the function.
Monash Student Association president Abby Stapleton said the protesters posed no threat and police were unnecessarily heavy-handed.
"People were thrown to the ground and punched," she said.
"I saw a man who was pulled by his hair and thrown to the ground and then kicked in the stomach by a policeman. Absolutely horrendous.
"We were all manhandled quite a bit, we were shoved and pushed and pulled to the ground and kicked and beaten essentially."
Ms Stapleton said a 10-year-old was among those pepper sprayed.
"There was nothing that was done that would warrant the actions of the police last night … we were there as peaceful protesters," she said.
"The police took things way too far, they completely overreacted."
The Refugee Action Collective of Victoria were also at the protest to voice anger about offshore processing of asylum seekers.
The group's spokeswoman Lucy Hanan agreed the police were heavy-handed with protesters.
"The pepper spray was completely unnecessary," she said.
"You can't come in with horses and pepper spray like that and try to wipe away people's concerns."
In a statement, Victoria Police said pepper spray was used after several attempts by the protesters to get into the venue and their refusal to obey directions.
Acting Senior Sergeant Kris Hamilton said he was not aware of any 10-year-old being caught up in the scuffle.
He said he was not yet aware that any formal complaints had been made, but said the incident would be reviewed.
"Every time police attend or are involved in an incident such as last night we review our response to understand if any learnings come from it," he said.
Police said the crowd dispersed about 8:30pm. No arrests were made. [abc]
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