Education experts have floated the idea of reviving an independent commonwealth education commission to fire up Australia’s higher education sector and implement the goals of a new Universities Accord.
The model, inspired by similar bodies deployed by federal governments in the 1940s, ’50s, ’70s and ’80s, proposes a new way to steer the national higher education system.
An interim report of the Australian Universities Accord review also suggested an independent commonwealth education commission could also align the tertiary education system so that the VET and higher education sectors were viewed by prospective students in the same regard.
“The review will continue to give consideration to the benefits of establishing a national body, a Tertiary Education Commission, working with the minister and the department … to provide oversight, coordination and expert advice to the higher education sector; lead relevant analysis; function as a pricing authority for commonwealth higher education funding; negotiate new mission-based compacts with institutions; and be expanded [over time] from higher education to encompass the whole tertiary education system,” the report said.
“[It will also give consideration to] how to facilitate and encourage change and evolution in the type, diversity, size and number of tertiary education institutions; and ensure regulation enables innovation.”
Education minister Jason Clare told an audience in Canberra that the goal to achieve “parity of esteem” for university and TAFE qualifications alike addressed a larger issue about Australia’s future skills needs. He added that his job was to ensure every school leaver who wanted to pursue a university education could.
“I want more young people to finish school, and then make the choice that they want to make about whether they go to TAFE or other forms of vocational education or go to uni,” Clare told the National Press Club.
“The report says that nine out of 10 jobs that will be created in the decade ahead will require you to finish school and then go to one of the two, TAFE or uni.
“Four of those nine jobs — TAFE. Five of those nine – university. They are equal esteem, no doubt. Full stop,” he said.
Responding to a question from The Mandarin about how the mandate of the proposed commission would be distinct from the work of the Department of Education, Clare said the report asked whether an independent body should be available to offer expert advice to the government about longer-term higher education policy.
“This is an idea that the [Universities Accord] panel has asked people to contemplate to do some of the things that are recommended in this report — to provide long-term advice to the government rather than day-to-day issues, to help with the implementation of the reforms, [and] to help negotiate those compacts with individual universities about what they should specialise in,” Clare said.
The minister added that designing a fit-for-purpose tertiary education sector meant more university graduates studying in more institutions. And that he envisaged any priority of a prospective Tertiary Education Commission would be identifying what kind of new universities should be established, and where those campuses should go.
“Today most universities are about the same size, do roughly the same things. What this report talks about is whether in the future we might have universities of a different size, scale and specialisation,” Clare said.
“One of the things this commission could do is play a leading role in helping to shape that through the agreements it strikes with universities but also in the work it might do in identifying where new universities should be,” he said.
The interim report said an independent commission could draw together higher education policy experts and sectoral representatives to “establish buy-in for Accord reforms”, working closely with state and territory education and training departments as well as bodies such as JSA, TEQSA, ASQA, professional accreditation and industry bodies, various funding bodies and other government departments.
The suggestion seems to be that such a complex ecosystem requires an authority that is more uniquely placed than a department to coordinate the wide-reaching reforms the Accord calls for.
“There are regulatory, financial, structural and historic reasons for the shape of Australia’s higher education sector. Greater diversity and innovation in institutions is unlikely to emerge without proactive government intervention,” the report said.
“The Tertiary Education Commission could provide the strategic leadership and coordination needed to develop a more dynamic and responsive system.
“A new governing body could fulfil a number of critical functions, many of which are not part of the current system, in particular focusing on the operation of the system, assessing its ability to meet new targets and priorities, and planning for how the structure of the sector should be evolving and changing.”
The draft document including 70 policy ideas was released by the government on Wednesday, with a final report due in December.
Members of the Universities Accord review panel include education secretary Tony Cook (ex officio), Jenny Macklin, Shermara Wikramanayake, Professor Barney Glover, Professor Larissa Behrendt, Fiona Nash, and chair Professor Mary O’Kane.
The minister also confirmed that five actions identified for immediate response by the interim report would be implemented. They are:
- Creating 34 new uni study hubs;
- Reversing a requirement under the Job-ready Graduates Scheme known as the ‘50% pass rule’;
- Offering all eligible First Nations students (not just those in regional and remote Australia) demand driven funding;
- Continuing the Higher Education Continuity Guarantee for a further two years to provide funding certainty to universities while the Accord is being implemented; and
- Improving university governance in partnership with state and territory governments.
:
Australia’s tertiary sector is in need of “urgent” reform, says report
Any feedback or news tips? Here’s where to contact the relevant team.