Australian higher education policy
A slew of proposed changes and interim measures around university entry is making student numbers and university incomes difficult to predict. As the legislation paving the way for the new regulator trundles through parliament, many administrators don’t know which way to turn. John Ross reports
Treasury reaps the rewards from high contribution rates which appear to be pushing disadvantaged students away from university, analysis finds
Business leaders might scoff but they benefit most from an educated populace, according to former opposition leader turned vice-chancellor
While soaring fees are blamed for turning people off university, programmes to forgive fees lure few graduates to the bush
Technical document, which cast doubt on methodology used in influential study, hit with legal take-down notice from Australian Human Rights Commission
While ‘doing an Albo’ and wiping proportion of student debt unlikely to make any difference to English graduates’ cost-of-living fears, evidence from Australia shows it was a vote-winner
Horse-trading looms, as opposition senators reject legislation outright and crossbenchers demand changes
The legislation must also ensure mission-based compacts protect equity, academic freedom and civic engagement, say Jesse Gardner-Russell and Richard Lee
Quid pro quo recognition of prior learning seen as a ‘game-changing opportunity’ for Australian students and universities
Leeser promises ‘consultation’ on international education while pruning the ‘thicket of regulation’ in speech to Universities Australia conference
Findings outline need for systemic whole-of-sector reforms, commissioner says
Proposed set-up will not delay Job-ready Graduates overhaul, stand-in boss tells Senate hearing
Researchers brace for renewed funding uncertainty as security checks prove ‘more time-consuming than imagined’
Joint statement declares support for ‘new form of stewardship’ as legislation faces rocky ride through Senate
Legislation to create Australia’s tertiary education steward has passed the lower house of federal parliament ahead of a looming Senate showdown
Institutional blind spots around part-time Australian students seen as making life unnecessarily difficult ‘for people on the breadline’
Government faces horse-trading in the Senate, as shadow minister flags outright rejection of bill to establish commission
Recommendations from strategic R&D review still unknown, but Australian representative groups want them funded anyway
Fund underspent even as its value rises, as government curbs payouts and grant success rates head south
Multiple calls to extend Atec’s remit, as the cost of arts degrees edges past A$54K
‘Do it properly or don’t bother,’ commission sceptic advises, as others argue for more chiefs
Former University Alliance head returns to UK to lead research universities group after more than a decade in Australia
Shadow minister calls for newly established Australian Royal Commission to scrutinise universities in wake of deadly Bondi beach attack
Interim leaders’ early departure the latest snag in controversial commission’s troubled birth
Serial reviewer and interim higher education steward to head governing body of sunshine state’s sandstone university
Australia’s new higher education steward may lack the power to overhaul widely opposed system of university fees and subsidies
Political battles over a planned New Zealand medical school illustrate how the subject of where doctors are trained excites public passions like no other in higher education, explains John Ross
Esteemed practitioner and defender of the humanities Graeme Turner dies months after seminal treatise on the state of the academy
New legislation creating Australian commission represents ‘the obliteration of the idea that universities have purposes independent of government’, critics say
As government finalises legislation for forthcoming commission, architect expands its to-do list
Even though minor downswing could be no more than ‘statistical noise’, governance inquisitor chides sector for ‘stunning’ lack of curiosity
People climbing down the qualification ladder shows that higher education has not gone to plan, study suggests
Legal restrictions prevented Australian universities from sharing financial documents despite completing merger, former deputy vice-chancellor reveals
Hands-off councils said to have contributed to ‘governance crisis’ that Australian sector ‘needed and in many respects deserved’
Government and business should pick up the tab for national priorities, says opposition leader turned university boss
Federal government must ‘take proper responsibility’ for a university sector ‘which in practice it controls’, MPs told
Macquarie insists due diligence on joint institute has been ‘comprehensive’, despite partner’s links with surveillance research
Governments leaning on agencies to convert autonomous institutions into ‘strategic national asset’ but face task like ‘herding cats’
‘Unjustified’ and ‘vague’ proposal would vest too much discretion in Australian ministers, critics say
Focus on educating locals, education minister says, as international enrolments creep over half on some campuses
Tertiary harmonisation agreement in Canberra sees students guaranteed direct university entry and up to a year’s credit if they want to progress
Antisemitism and Indigenous voice campaigner Julian Leeser appointed Liberal education spokesman
UK offers reassuring familiarity for Charles Darwin’s TNE ‘push’ but vice-chancellor says its MBA courses will be unlike anything already available
Lingering financial pressures mean country is ‘not out of the woods’ despite strong showing this year, expert warns
Atec needs to ensure that compacts genuinely strengthen social licence and drive meaningful change – not just compliance, says Zlatko Skrbis
Entry scores for overseas students increasingly disparate, as immigration authorities approve more tests
Shadow minister promises bipartisanship but ‘no blank cheque’, with commission’s funding activities set for particular scrutiny
Good progress has been made on implementing the Universities Accord but much more is needed to achieve parity, say five deputy vice-chancellors
A ‘disconnect’ between aspirational rhetoric and the realities of ‘live’ admissions risks undermining Australia’s inclusion goals
Foreign arrangements scheme an example of the regulatory ‘thicket’ smothering universities’ core business, v-cs tell governance inquiry
‘Intrinsic worth’ of university experience a ‘protective factor’ against poor well-being and psychological stress, survey suggests
Universities need extra funding for ‘important’ but unfancied subjects, and permission to collude without contravening competition law, says Evans
A$770m measure would be a ‘serious downpayment’ on reversal of Job-ready Graduates ‘excesses’, representative group says
Recognition of prior learning is feasible at scale if done systematically and could generate new business for universities, experts say
Broadening traditional conceptions of what it means to be ‘smart’ must now be part of HE’s mission, say Adelaide University’s David Lloyd and Peter Høj
Australia shadow minister promises ‘nuance’ and a far less combative approach following ‘thumping election loss’
Australian race commissioner criticises proposal to withhold university funding, as watchdog begins ‘landmark’ survey of racism
As tertiary education representatives gather for the round table before the round table, university voices remain mostly absent from the main show
Educators hail ‘stability and certainty’, as government stresses ‘sustainable growth’ mantra
Amalgamation of Perth institutions up for discussion again, two years after review went nowhere
