Update on year-long review of Australian Universities

An Interim Report released by the federal education minister during July lays out the progress on the government’s year-long Australian Universities Accord review. This report follows a discussion paper and consultation earlier in the year. It includes three pillars, ten system shifts needed, five immediate priority actions, and areas for further consideration that involve 70 policy ideas.

The report paints a broad vision and case for reform of Australia’s university sector.  The Interim Report suggests that by around 2050 approximately 55% of all jobs will require higher education qualifications. 

To reach 55% attainment for people aged 25 to 34 years by 2050, the Australian higher education system would need to have at least 1.2 million Commonwealth supported students in 2035 and 1.8 million in 2050. This requires the higher education system to grow by at least 300,000 Commonwealth supported students by 2035 and an additional 900,000 Commonwealth supported students by 2050. 

While these projections focus on attainment for people aged 25 to 34 years, the changing nature of the workforce will mean we can also expect increased participation and attainment from older age cohorts as they upskill, reskill, or even gain their first qualification. 

Enrolling more students will also require substantial growth in participation from groups currently underrepresented in Australian higher education. Given the increase needed in 2035, and to meet population parity, around 60% of the additional students in the system will need to be from low SES backgrounds, around 53% from regional and remote areas, and around 11% would need to be First Nations students. 

The University Accord Interim Report has three core pillars: 

• evolving the mission for higher education  
• creating the foundations for a high functioning national system  
• building an enduring Accord process. 

The University Accord panel identified ten ‘system shifts’ to improve Australia’s higher education system: 

• It will be an integrated tertiary system, with a commitment to access for everyone with the potential and application, achieving significant growth in pursuit of ambitious national skills and equity targets. 
• First Nations will be at the heart of higher education. 
• There will be population parity in participation by 2035, supported by student-centred, needs- based funding. 
• There will be systematic investment in student support and equitable, efficient HELP arrangements. 
• Research will be re-prioritised, to strengthen its foundations and bring about widespread impact through translation and use. 
• Learning and teaching will be transformed, with an ambitious commitment to student experience and use of technology. 
• Higher education and vocational education will be connected through pathways, partnership and an up-to-date qualifications framework. 
• Re-skilling and lifelong learning will be provided through more modular, stackable qualifications, including microcredentials, with full scaffolding and pathways. 
• A new approach to mission-based compacts will address future planning, distinctive place-based impact, and institutional governance responsibilities. 
• National governance will be coordinated and forward-looking through a new Tertiary Education Commission. 

 The Government has committed to act on five immediate actions recommended by the Accord Panel including: 

• Establishing up to 20 additional Regional University Study Hubs (formerly Regional University Centres), building on the 34 existing Regional University Study Hubs currently operating across the country, and establish up to 14 Suburban University Study Hubs. 
• Abolish the 50% pass rule, introduced as part of the Job-ready Graduates Scheme, which has had a disproportionately negative impact on students from poor backgrounds and from the regions, and require increased reporting on student progress. 
• Extend demand-driven funding to all First Nations students who are eligible for the course they apply for. Currently this only applies to First Nations students in regional and remote Australia. 
• Extend the Higher Education Continuity Guarantee for a further two years to provide funding certainty to universities as the Accord process rolls out, and as part of this, require universities to invest any remaining funding from their grant each year on additional academic and learning support for students from poor backgrounds, from the regions and from other under-represented groups. 
• Work with State and Territory governments to improve university governance. This includes university governing bodies having more people with expertise in the business of universities, and a focus on student and staff safety and making sure universities are good employers. 

In addition to the five immediate actions, the report identifies more than 70 policy ideas the Accord Panel is considering for presentation to the Minister for Education in December 2023. This final report will consider responses to the Interim Report from interested parties. Ai Group will make a submission relating to the Interim Report. 

Ai Group released an initial statement in response to the Accord Panel’s Interim Report, noting it lays down important directions for reform including the improved integration of Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Higher Education, an elevation of access and equity issues, and prioritisation of the recommendations of the Review of the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). 

The Centre presented a webinar examining the Universities Accord with Chair of the Universities Accord Panel, Professor Mary O’Kane AC, and Ai Group Chief Executive, Innes Willox, on 21 August. Watch the webinar here.

Read Ai Group’s response to the release of the interim report here.