Australian Tertiary Education Commission, the new funding system and the ESOS Bill: Latest rundown of higher education
From the Chief Executive Officer
Between campus visits, a virtual briefing with senior government relations and policy staff and a UA Board meeting, I feel like I have seen many of you this week! Add in a healthy dose of political engagement and it has been another full five days.
I want to, again, thank all of you for your ongoing engagement with us during this particularly busy period for our sector, particularly as we continue to navigate significant changes in the international education landscape and the separate challenges we are facing with the implementation of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission and the new funding system.
As previously flagged, we have written to Minister Jason Clare MP asking for the deadline to provide feedback on the three major consultations papers before us be pushed back to 9 August 2024. These papers outline major structural changes to a sector that is fundamental to the social and economic success of our country. I have said it before and I will say it again, what has been put to us could very well undermine our ability to deliver in the way the Government and the nation needs universities to, so it is vital that we get these reforms right. An extended deadline will allow UA and all of you sufficient time to fully consider the proposed direction of the reforms and provide constructive and helpful feedback to the department. I will keep you updated on the outcome of our request.
Following yesterday’s Board meeting, we are refining the principles that will shape UA’s sector response to the papers and I look forward to sharing those with you all early next week to assist you in finalising your own submissions. This morning, I am also meeting with the Implementation Advisory Committee to discuss the three papers. I held a breakfast with the sector groups earlier to assist in coordinating our collective sector responses. I think we are in a good position to provide strong and consistent feedback to help guide the development of these major structural reforms. Thanks to everyone who has been in touch to share your thoughts and concerns so far – it is very helpful to hear the many and varied views across the sector.
This week, I continued my listening tour with visits to Macquarie University , Australian Catholic University , La Trobe University and Federation University Australia , as well as a second visit to The University of Queensland to address their senior leaders conference. I am grateful for the time I can spend with our members on your campuses, gaining insights and a greater understanding of the needs and views of our diverse membership. A big thank you to Bruce, Zlatko Skrbis , Theo Farrell , Duncan Bentley and Professor Deborah Terry for hosting me this week.
I also had a chance this week to meet with the NSW Treasurer’s office and Mehreen Faruqi ’s office to discuss the ESOS Bill. The Greens are dead against the legislation, while the Treasurer’s office is receptive to our concerns. I will be continuing to work closely with state governments on this issue as we seek to influence the best possible outcomes for the sector. Next week, I have a meeting scheduled with my counterparts at the Business Council of Canada , Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ACCI) , the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) and Tourism & Transport Forum Australia to plot joint advocacy opportunities. Stay tuned!
Finally, I will be appearing before two Senate inquiries next week – one on the Criminal Code Amendment (Deepfake Sexual Material) Bill 2024 and another as part of the inquiry into right wing extremist movements in Australia. I will also be travelling to Adelaide and Perth to see our members in those cities.
I’ll leave it there for today. I hope you all have a great and restful weekend – I think we all deserve one!
Chief Executive Officer, Universities Australia
Parliamentary update
- Inquiry in the Criminal Code Amendment (Deepfake Sexual Material) Bill 2024 [Provisions].
- Inquiry into right wing extremist movements in Australia.Parliament has now risen for a five-week break and returns 12 August 2024.
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Chief Economist's update
For Indian consumers, the price of Australian education in rupees has declined by 12 per cent since 2013 relative to the price of other goods and services they purchase. The real decline has been 5 per cent since 2018.
Media update
Our media activity in the last fortnight generated 23 mentions and reached a potential audience of more than 600k people across online, print, radio and television platforms.
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