……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Table of Contents • Imagining an Australia built on the brilliance of our people • Go8 names new Executive Director effective January 2015 • Learning let loose: reforming our universities • New Go8 Indicators • New Go8 Publications • Go8 sponsors Australia Day at the 64th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting • Go8 conducts pre-departure briefing for Brazilian SWB Students • Go8 submission • New Organisation Structure at the Department of Industry • Executive Files: UWA • Research with Impact • Calendar of Events ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… … [Read more...]
UA position on university reforms dumps students – Parker
08/08/2014 by
University of Canberra | 6 August 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… University of Canberra vice-chancellor Stephen Parker has has affirmed his complete opposition to the government's proposed university reform package and "distanced" himself from "what appears to be the negotiating position of Universities Australia" (that is, some sort of acceptance around a deal on interest rates on student loans). He says "we are about to inflict grievous damage on the prospects of a generation of young Australians by saddling them with enormous debt; and this is being shrugged off as a mildly distasteful consequence". ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Christopher Pyne’s … [Read more...]
An inconvenient truth
06/08/2014 by
Auditor-General | 5 August 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Auditor-general warns on stability of Vic TAFE Against all the evidence, the Victorian government insists that, despite a few local difficulties, Victoria's TAFE system is in fine fettle. The Victorian minister recently told a conference the apparent troubles besetting TAFE are the invention of a “misinformed media”. But according to the the State's auditor-general, the troubles are very real: TAFEs are facing a "significant decline" in financial stability due, in part, to State Government funding cuts. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… A report tabled in the Victorian Parliament found … [Read more...]
Uni cuts blocked
17/07/2014 by
Fairfax Media | 16 July 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The Abbott government's first Budget has taken another hit after the Senate blocked $435 million in university cuts originally proposed by Labor. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......… The vote is the first indication of how the new Senate may vote on the government's sweeping higher education reform agenda, which includes a full deregulation of fees, a 20 per cent across-the-board course funding cut and increased interest on student debts. A UMR Research poll, commissioned by the National Tertiary Education Union, has identified strong opposition to key Budget measures. An average of 69% of people opposed … [Read more...]
Group of 8 Newsletter July 2014
07/07/2014 by
……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Table of Contents Go8 Chair to deliver an Address to the National Press Club Higher Ed Deregulation Conference in Melbourne Budget Implementation Issues New Go8 Publications The Thai 9 National Research Universities Hefei Statement Signatories Working Together An Informal Guide for Australian Scientists Go8 Networking Function at NAFSA – San Diego Go8 Impact through Medical Research Calendar of Events ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… … [Read more...]
Higher education outside the universities: a better option?
03/07/2014 by
Grattan Institute | 3 July 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The likely extension of commonwealth student subsidies to non-university providers portends big changes for the higher education sector. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Australia has around 130 higher education providers outside the university system. They are a diverse group, ranging from large multinational companies to small theological colleges to the TAFEs now offering degrees. Together they enrol more than 70,000 students. These numbers could increase significantly in the future as a result of the government accepting a recommendation of the review of the demand driven funding system, to … [Read more...]
Deregulating uni fees a “crime”
03/07/2014 by
Fairfax Media | 3 July 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The government's plan to deregulate universities is "a crime" and the move for co-payments for medical services is "absurd" in the view of visiting Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Asked by Fairfax Media to nominate the two biggest mistakes the government could make that would take it down the American path of widening inequality and economic stagnation, Professor Stiglitz chose the budget changes to university fees and Medicare. Each would make Australia more like the US. He said: Countries that imitate the American model are kidding themselves," … [Read more...]
ACPET National Monday Update 30 June 2014
30/06/2014 by
In Focus Our new Quality Support Team initiative kicks off tomorrow I could just have easily entitled this week's article: 'Quality, quality, quality' - because following Minister Macfarlane's key note address to the National Skills Summit last week and his release of new draft Standards for NVR RTOs, and the ASQA Process Review - it's clear that changes are coming to VET regulation. This, combined with the changes the government is attempting to make to the way TEQSA operates as a regulator, and an upcoming review of the ESOS Act mean sensible regulation might just be on its way for the sector. What do I mean by sensible regulation? Simple: for me it means less red tape for … [Read more...]
Higher education: a “public good” or “pernicious welfare” ?
19/06/2014 by
20 June 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… In this op-ed piece originally published in The Australian, Ben Etherington (Univeristy of Western Sydney) takes issue with John Roskam's proposition that "taxpayer-subsidised higher education is one of the more pernicious forms of welfare". Among other things, Roskam queried the relevance of studying the “emergence of poetry in various Caribbean Creoles”, Etherington's current project. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… “In an era of busy government and constant change, it’s insufficiently recognised how often masterly inactivity can be the best contribution that government can make to a particular sector. A period … [Read more...]
