15 May 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The 2014 federal budget asks all Australians to take one for the team and tighten their belts. And by 'all' we mean the poor, students, the sick, scientists, and anyone in the arts, writes Ben Eltham in New Matilda. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Joe Hockey’s much-leaked first budget promised wholesale surgery to the Australian body politic. It has delivered something very different: a modest and indeed timid path back to surplus, nine years hence. Instead of widespread slashing and burning, the knife has mainly been taken to the most vulnerable, with special nasties saved up for Coalition’s … [Read more...]
Looking on the bright side of the budget
14/05/2014 by
14 May 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Last week it seemed that New Matilda, which has been publishing intelligent coverage of Australian and international politics, media and culture since 2004, was about to fold. but it has found a white knight in the person journalist and former Tracker magazine editor, Chris Graham. New Matilda's regular cartoonist is Fiona Katauskas. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… … [Read more...]
UA: Budget drives sweeping changes to higher education
14/05/2014 by
UA | 13 May 2013 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… " By resisting some of the more severe recommendations made by the National Commission of Audit in relation to the higher education loans program (HELP), the Government has sought to keep higher education affordable and accessible." ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… The budget puts higher education on a path of radical change that the Federal Government anticipates will deliver the twin aspirations of financial sustainability and the world’s best higher education system. “These reforms will fundamentally alter the shape of Australian higher education”, said Ms Belinda Robinson, Chief Executive of Universities … [Read more...]
IRU: A package to explore for the future
14/05/2014 by
IRU | 14 May 2013 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… "Ensuring the open charges system is introduced well, is a major challenge. The changes move more of the cost of higher education onto students, including research students. We need to ensure that this works and that students gain the education they deserve and need for the additional impost." ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… The IRU will engage actively with the Government on the final shape of the interlinked set of changes to the structure of higher education in Australia it announced in the 2014 Budget. Bringing together all higher education provision in Australia with a combination of base Government … [Read more...]
Go8: Structural reform of higher education long overdue
14/05/2014 by
Group of Eight | 13 May 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… “These historic reforms reconcile access and quality, and make growth affordable.” ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… The Group of Eight (Go8) commends the Government for progressing structural reform of higher education in its first budget. “The Government has announced a number of important measures to position the Australian higher education sector for the future,” said Go8 Chair, Professor Ian Young AO. “These historic reforms reconcile access and quality, and make growth affordable.” The Government has announced its intention to extend the demand-driven system to non-university … [Read more...]
VET in the Budget – the government’s statement
14/05/2014 by
13 May 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The “tools for your trade payments” for apprentices will cease from 1 July 2014. It will be replaced immediately with a Trade Support Loans Program providing $439m over five years to provide apprentices with financial assistance up to $20K over a four year apprenticeship through a student loan repayment scheme. The Government will also establish an Industry Skills Fund to provide $470m over four years to support the training needs of small to medium enterprises that cannot be met by the national training system. Expenditure is budgeted to decline about 13% in 2014-15 over 2013-14 (from $1.67 billion to $1.45 billion) and 8% over the … [Read more...]
Science and research funding
14/05/2014 by
13 May 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The Australian Academy of Science says the 2014-15 Budget is mixed for science, investing in some areas while pulling funding from others. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… The Budget announcement of a new Medical Research Future Fund provides a positive vision, but the rest of Australian science is left substantially weakened. The Budget cuts at least $420 million over the forward estimates to five vital science agencies — the Australian Research Council (ARC) ($74.9 million), the CSIRO ($111.4 million), the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) ($120 million), Australian Nuclear Science and Technology … [Read more...]
Commission of Audit on higher education arrangements
01/05/2014 by
1 May 2014 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Key recommendations Retain demand driven funding. …reduce the average Commonwealth contribution per student from 59% to 45% per cent, increasing average student contribution from 41% to 55%....examine options for partial or full deregulation of fees for bachelor degrees....HELP debt securitisation rejected.…increase HELP interest rate…. reduce the repayment threshold to the minimum wage ($32,000 pa) with a 2.5% of income payment rising to 4% at $51,000….recover student debt from deceased estates… abolish Industry Innovation Precincts, Collaborative Research Networks and support for international scientific … [Read more...]
Demand system expansion to be funded from fees…?
28/04/2014 by
The Australian | 28 April 2014 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… The Abbott government is evidently preparing to open up the university sector to greater competition by making government subsidies available for students to study at private colleges and funding sub-degree places, at a cost to students of increased fees. ………………………………………………………………………………………………….................................... Education minister Christopher Pyne, in a speech to be delivered to London-based think tank The Policy Exchange, is expected to put the case for tertiary sector deregulation, saying the Coalition wants to set providers “free” from red tape and bureaucracy. A “preview” of his … [Read more...]
$5 ‘GP fee’ – a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist
30/12/2013 by
30 December 2013 The government has refused to rule out a proposal to make patients pay a $5 fee for bulk-billed GP visits. But it solves a problem that nobody can show exists, writes Mark Fletcher. Tinkering with policies because you want to save cash is nearly always considered a terrible idea. In Policy Heaven, policy experts sit down, work out what we want to achieve, work out what that will cost, and then raise the revenue. In theory, we should be able to work out what the policy priorities of a Government are through how it distributes funds. After all, there’s a reason why schools have fundraisers for infrastructure, but the military doesn’t. Politics, being what … [Read more...]
