Tertiary commission greenlighted by Australian Senate

Australia’s new higher education steward is set to become a reality, after the Senate approved an amended version of the bill to formally establish the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec).

In a rushed sitting, federal parliament’s upper house greenlighted seven amendments proposed by the Australian Greens and independent senator David Pocock.

They included enhancements to Atec’s independence, an increase in the number of commissioners and a legislated role for Atec to advise on research and research training.

The Higher Education Standards Panel will also find a new lease of life as a committee of Atec. The objective of the bill will also be amended to recognise the importance of academic freedom, the “public‑focused mission” of higher education and its crucial role in “developing knowledge and critical inquiry for the benefit of society”.

Universities Australia said Atec would help bring “long-term coordination and stability” to higher education. “This bill is better than where it started,” said chief executive Luke Sheehy. “The changes secured through parliament give the Atec greater independence, better resourcing and a clearer focus on research.

“But a key piece is missing. The decision not to allow the Atec to advise on student contributions is disappointing. Without [that], we risk entrenching the very funding challenges the sector is trying to solve.”

A Greens amendment adding student fees to Atec’s remit, which would have enabled it to advise on a replacement to the unpopular Job-ready Graduates reforms, was among 13 rejected by the Senate. Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi said this would leave Atec with a “half-cooked cost estimate” of higher education.

“Students…are being crushed under spiralling debt,” Faruqi told the Senate. “A one-off 20 per cent debt cut by the government really does nothing for those who start university this year or after and…those that are now considering never starting university at all because the cost is becoming prohibitive.”

Pocock said the ability to advise on fees was crucial to Atec’s success. “We hear a lot about intergenerational inequality in this country,” he told the Senate. “We see rising wealth inequality.”

Another rejected Greens amendment would have removed the education minister’s “effective veto rights on the publication of Atec’s work”, Faruqi said. “I hope the government can consider that in the future.”

But she said the amendment to boost Atec’s independence, empowering it to lodge advice of its own accord, addressed a shortcoming that had been raised by “every single witness to the inquiry into this bill. We were told again and again – and I agreed with that sentiment – that Atec risked becoming just another administrative arm of the Education Department.”

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com