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On December 28 last year, when most Australians were enjoying the beach, the federal government got a late Christmas present. The expert panel that had been reviewing Australia’s higher education system for more than a year delivered its findings to Education Minister Jason Clare.
Since the work began, the talk around the Universities Accord has always been ambitious. The review team called for “bold ideas”, while the government has talked about a “visionary plan” and “lasting reform”.
With rising costs to study, increasing pressures for academics, challenges posed by online learning and artificial intelligence, and universities trying to attract international students and produce world-class research on tight budgets, there are many big and complex issues to grapple with. Universities also hold a huge place in our economy and society. Without them, you wouldn’t have your GP, your child’s school teacher or your family lawyer.
Today, Clare released the final report of the Universities Accord and its 47 recommendations. With the full report coming in at 400 pages, there is plenty to digest. But already some recommendations stand out.
As Gwilym Croucher writes today, the report says the Job-ready Graduates scheme (which made arts degrees so expensive) should be replaced with a scheme that bases course fees on a student’s expected lifetime earnings. There are also recommendations to make HECS-HELP indexation fairer and provide more financial support to students on their way through university.
Looking beyond the individual level, Peter Hurley and Melinda Hildebrandt write about the recommendation to introduce “needs-based” funding for universities. This would mean a “Gonski-style” system like we have for schools, under which all universities get a base loading, with extra funding to support students from disadvantaged groups.
This is important because, as Sally Patfield writes, equity is a major theme of the report. The panel wants to double the number of university students by 2050 and this will be driven by students from currently underrepresented groups. But, as Patfield notes, we need to be careful about how we talk about equity. It’s not just about “bums on seats” – it’s about truly supporting a diverse range of students to go to uni and be included when they get there.
You can read our full roundup of the report’s recommendations, and catch up with all our previous coverage here. Meanwhile, we’ll keep digging into the report to bring you even more analysis from our expert authors. Please also watch out
for Michelle Grattan’s podcast with Education Minister Jason Clare on Monday.
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