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IMPROVING AUSTRALIA'S HIGHER EDUCATION

The Australian Government’s review of Australia’s higher education system, the Universities Accord, has released its interim report.

The interim report recommended five immediate actions and identified more than 70 policy ideas that  may be included in its Final Report due in February 2024.

In our three submissions to the Accord, the Curtin Student Guild called for action on the Jobs Ready Package, funding, income support, university governance and student experience.

A lot of what we recommended has been earmarked for reform by the Accord report.

Australian Universities Accord Iterim Report

 

 

Immediate Actions

The Government will act on the five immediate actions identified in the report. It will:

  1. Establish up to 20 additional Regional University Study Hubs (formerly Regional University Centres), building on the 34 existing Regional University Study Hubs currently operating across the country, and establish up to 14 Suburban University Study Hubs.
     
  2. Abolish the 50 percent pass rule, introduced as part of the Job-ready Graduates Scheme, which has had a disproportionately negative impact on students from poor backgrounds and from the regions, and require increased reporting on student progress.
     
  3. Extend demand driven funding to all First Nations students who are eligible for the course they apply for. Currently this only applies to First Nations students in regional and remote Australia.
     
  4. Extend the Higher Education Continuity Guarantee for a further two years to provide funding certainty to universities as the Accord process rolls out, and as part of this, require universities to invest any remaining funding from their grant each year on additional academic and learning support for students from poor backgrounds, from the regions and from other under-represented groups.
     
  5. Work with State and Territory governments to improve university governance. This includes university governing bodies having more people with expertise in the business of universities, and a focus on student and staff safety and making sure universities are good employers.

 


Final Report - Areas of further consideration

The Accord Panel will consider the following policy areas and is seeking feedback for inclusion in its final report.

  • Improving Work Integrated Learning (WIL) and placements by providing participating students with better incentives and financial support
     
  • Establishing a national jobs broker system, to assist students to find work placements and part-time jobs in their fields of study.
     
  • Increased micro credentials, stackable qualifications, recognition of prior learning 
     
  • Vet and unis and employers and unis to work more closely
     
  • Reducing the cost of living barriers to higher education through improved income support measures and more opportunities for part-time study
     
  • Revising student contribution amounts and HELP repayment arrangements to ensure students are not being overly burdened with debt and that repayment arrangements are fair and integrate more effectively with the wider tax and social security system.
     
  • Encouraging and rewarding effective learning and teaching practices, including best practice for digital and hybrid delivery modes and use of new technologies and structures, particularly artificial intelligence and knowledge repositories
     
  • Encouraging improvements in quality learning and teaching, responds to new curriculum approaches
     
  • The Review sees international education less as an industry and more as a crucial element of Australia’s soft diplomacy, regional prosperity and development.
     
  • Moving over time to ensure National Competitive Grants cover the full cost of undertaking research and developing a national, holistic policy for research training
     
  • Establishing a new national body, a Tertiary Education Commission to advise Government on policy and funding, facilitate change, overseeing TEQSA, align VET and universities, protect and promote student voices, in light of the new, student-focussed vision for the sector, including the role for a new Equity Commissioner
     
  • Improved student well-being and safety
     
  • Improved governance to avoid underpayment of staff
     
  • Redesign of Jobs Ready Package (JRP)
     
  • Examining a funding mechanism such as a levy on international student fee income, location and demographic  and or a universal learning entitlement so that if a student is qualified for admission to a course in higher education, they will receive Government support
     
  • Examining changes to HELP to make it fairer and support growth in participation including  changes to indexation, marginal repayment
     
  • Discussion of States paying for nursing and teaching degrees
     
  • Reducing the extent to which core higher education functions rely on funding from insecure income streams, and decreasing the extent of cross-subsidisation throughout the system
     
  • Developing a national student charter, in collaboration with domestic and international students, ensuring a national commitment and consistent approach to the welfare, safety and wellbeing of all students
     
  • Creating new structures and empower existing ones for students to advocate for their interests in institutional and national-level decision making
     
  • Providing a greater percentage of the Student Services and Amenities Fee to student unions to ensure the support and representation of students.
     
  • Moving over time to ensure National Competitive Grants cover the full cost of undertaking research and developing a national, holistic policy for research training
     
  • Supporting post-doctoral staff for their future careers whether in the sector or beyond
     
  • Providing significant professional development for the academic workforce in research skills

 


Background

The key areas for review by the Universities Accord were:

  1. Meeting Australia’s knowledge and skills needs, now and in the future.
  2. Access and opportunity.
  3. Investment and affordability.
  4. Governance, accountability and community.
  5. The connection between the vocational education and training and higher education systems
  6. Quality and sustainability
  7. Delivering new knowledge, innovation and capability

 

 

Curtin Student Guild Submissions

You can read the Curtin Student Guild's submissions to the Accord below:

September 2023 - Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report

February 2023 - Response to the Australian Universities Accord Discussion Paper

December 2022 - A Submission to the Australian Universities Accord