Higher education steward anoints priority skills areas

Australia’s higher education steward has adopted many of the same occupational priorities that steer vocational education and training (VET) policy, in the latest effort to build cohesion between the two sectors.

An “Interim Statement of Strategic Priorities” from the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec), which began its life as a legislated entity on 29 April, outlines six priority fields of workforce demand.

Four of them – “digital and technology”, “housing and construction”, “climate change and net zero transformation” and “sovereign capability and food security” – coincide with priorities in the National Skills Plan, which guides federal, state and territory efforts to meet Australia’s needs for VET-qualified people.

“Higher education providers will by their nature develop different but complementary responses to vocational education providers in addressing these needs,” the statement says. “Both are crucial in meeting current and future skills challenges.”

The statement also lists the priorities of the eight state and territory governments. All but two highlight tertiary harmonisation, and all but three list their own skills priorities. “These overlap with Atec’s list but are not identical,” Monash University policy expert Andrew Norton noted.

The statement says universities should consider both the national and state or territory needs in developing the “mission-based compacts” to be negotiated with Atec, and in framing requests for more funded undergraduate places.

The statement, which is required under Atec’s legislation, has been produced in interim form pending the recruitment of substantive commissioners. The agency is working on a more extensive statement covering 2027 and 2028, along with a workplan – also a legislative requirement.

Also under development is a “tertiary system roadmap” setting out “practical steps to make it easier for learners to navigate the education and training system”, according to an Atec webpage. This work will be supported by a Tertiary System Advisory Council, which will be established later this year and chaired by Jobs and Skills Australia commissioner Barney Glover, who is also Atec’s interim chief commissioner.

Glover said the selection of priority skills fields was part of Atec’s efforts to produce a “joined up” tertiary education system. “We’re not talking about combining the sectors,” he said. “We’re talking about how we make VET and higher education work better together in the interest of students and the skills needs of the economy.

“There’s a lot of complexity in it. We’re trying to unpack the issues methodically and work out how best to take that forward.”

The roadmap, which the agency hopes to complete this year, will include a “national credit recognition framework” designed to inject consistency in the recognition of prior learning of VET graduates admitted to higher education, and vice versa.

Atec has also started the process of negotiating compacts with public and private universities. While the compacts are “intended to balance institutional mission and system-wide goals”, according to Atec’s website, some commentators warn that they could undermine institutional autonomy.

The agency plans to negotiate “foundation” compacts for 2027, to give universities some funding certainty pending legislation underpinning four-year compacts which take effect from 2028.

The legislation, which education minister Jason Clare plans to introduce to parliament within weeks, will empower Atec to use the compacts to allocate teaching subsidies – known as “commonwealth-supported places” – in line with the government’s managed growth and needs-based funding models.  

The agency will also use compacts to maximise credit recognition for students. The compacts could also enshrine commitments around teaching quality, student experience, inclusivity, Indigenous outcomes, research quality, industry engagement and international strategy, among other considerations.

Other Atec projects include possible reforms to improve professionalism in higher education teaching, and research to unpack the true costs of teaching various disciplines. The agency is also part of a working group looking at ways to reduce universities’ regulatory burdens.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com