The Australian | 3 December 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… … [Read more...]
Universities warned to brace for funding cut
02/07/2015 by
The Australian | 1 July 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Universities have been warned their funding will be cut by 20% almost immediately, an average of $32 million a university, if the government can get its higher education reform package through the Senate by the end of the year. The legislation, rejected by the Senate in March, was due to be reintroduced during the budget sittings of Parliament but has been left to "lie fallow" as education minister Christopher Pyne presumably cultivates the Senate crossbenchers. Most informed commentary is that the legislation has little prospects of passing in its present form. So will the government amend the bill? … [Read more...]
High Wired
21/05/2015 by
The Australian | 21 May 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The Scan always checks The Australian's offbeat but always insightful High Wired for its take on higher education issues. The edition of 21 May is a particularly informative one. Here are snippets. …………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Cutting to the chase Amid all the welcoming noises about education minister Christopher Pyne’s review of the research training sector, HW was relieved to see the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations finding a different narrative. They made the (obvious) point that the review comes as the government is cutting the research training scheme by 10 per cent — … [Read more...]
GDP spending on higher education set to fall to half OECD average
14/05/2015 by
The Australian | 13 May 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Spending on higher education as a proportion of GDP will fall from 0.56% in 2015 down to 0.48% in 2018, well below the OECD average of 1%, an analysis of the 2015 Budget figures has determined. …………………………………………………………………………………….......…… According to Vin Massaro, an honorary professorial fellow with the Centre for the Study of Higher Education, higher education spending is slated to drop from $9.3bn in 2015, to $8.9bn in 2016, $9.1bn in 2017 and back to $9.3bn in 2018, representing a drop in GDP every year. Massaro told The Australian that “we need to have a serious conversation about the sustainability of … [Read more...]
The Zombies that make the numbers look good
13/05/2015 by
13 May 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The Australian's editor-at-large Paul Kelly says the 2015 Budget has "one idea above all else right at its heart and that's about saving the Abbott government." Quite clearly The Oz's stable of writers and analysts think it's very much about positioning for an early election, should the portents seem promising. …………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Too right it's about positioning for an early election. As Fairfax Media's Peter Martin observes, "the coalition's second budget is propped up by "zombie measures" from its first. Announced a year ago but not yet passed in the Senate, they are politically dead but not yet formally … [Read more...]
The Budget in their own words: Group of 8
13/05/2015 by
12 May 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Hidden behind all the hyperbole – cutting research funds is a step too far. …………………………………………………………………………………….......…… It may be cleverly hidden behind words like “adjustment” but the Budget has made a targeted cut to University research block grants. $262 million over three years has been ripped away to fund the essential National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). “While the Go8 absolutely welcomes the NCRIS funding,” said Vicki Thomson Chief Executive of the Group of Eight, “cutting research block grants is a step too far. It should not come at the expense of essential research which is the … [Read more...]
