tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/simon-birmingham-15398/articlesSimon Birmingham – The Conversation2023-08-10T10:37:42Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2113462023-08-10T10:37:42Z2023-08-10T10:37:42ZGrattan on Friday: The Coalition’s likely embrace of nuclear energy is high-risk politics<p>Crazy brave, or just crazy? If, as seems likely, the opposition embraces nuclear power in its 2025 election policy, it will be taking a huge political gamble. </p>
<p>The Coalition might argue this would be the best (or only) way to ensure we achieve net zero by 2050. But “nuclear” is a trigger word in the political debate, and the reactions it triggers are mostly negative. </p>
<p>Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has been open since the election about nuclear energy being on the Coalition’s agenda. It’s a “no surprises” tactic – but one that has allowed the government, especially Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen, to regularly attack and ridicule the idea. </p>
<p>This week opposition climate change and energy spokesman Ted O'Brien was spruiking nuclear power, writing in The Australian about the US state of Wyoming’s plans for a coal-to-nuclear transition. </p>
<p>O'Brien visited some months ago. “What struck me was the extent to which residents were embracing their nuclear future,” he wrote. “Four coal communities had gone head-to-head in a competitive bid to host the state’s first nuclear plant.”</p>
<p>O'Brien, a Queensland Liberal, has been a vociferous nuclear advocate; he chaired a parliamentary inquiry under the former government that recommended work to deepen understanding of nuclear technology and a partial lifting of the present moratorium, dating from 1998, on nuclear energy. </p>
<p>Nationals leader David Littleproud has also been central to the push for the Coalition to back nuclear energy.</p>
<p>The Nationals, by their climate scepticism and their deep attachment to coal, held back the Coalition on climate policy for more than a decade. Ahead of the 2022 election they were dragged by Scott Morrison to agree to the 2050 target with a massive financial bribe (some of which they didn’t receive because of the change of government). </p>
<p>Now, in opposition, some of the Nationals’ rump would like the party to ditch the 2050 commitment. The nuclear option would be one means of keeping them in the tent. </p>
<p>The “nuclear” the Coalition is talking about doesn’t involve old-style plants, but “new and emerging technologies” including small modular reactors. </p>
<p>That’s one of the problems for the policy – this is an emerging technology, not a quick fix to Australia’s challenges in transiting from fossil fuels. </p>
<p>That is, however, nothing compared with the challenge of public opinion. Notably, the 2019 parliamentary report was titled Nuclear Energy - Not without your approval. </p>
<p><a href="https://poll.lowyinstitute.org/report/2022/">A 2022 Lowy poll</a> found Australians divided on the issue of nuclear power, although opinion appeared to be softening. Some 52% supported removing the ban, which was a five-point rise from 2021; 45% opposed this – six points down on the year before.</p>
<p>The government would have a ready-made “not in my backyard” campaign to launch against the Coalition’s policy. Whether the Wyoming experience suggests feeling could be different in coal communities – which might see future jobs on offer – is, however, an interesting question. </p>
<p>Another extremely hard issue is that of waste. We only have to think of the massive difficulty in finding a disposal site for the waste from the Lucas Heights facility, which is from nuclear medicine. </p>
<p>The point was highlighted on Thursday when the Albanese government abandoned its plan for a waste dump near Kimba in South Australia. This followed an adverse federal court judgement, which upheld a challenge by local Indigenous people. </p>
<p>The government has decided not to appeal, presumably influenced by the delicate stage of the Voice referendum. </p>
<p>Resources Minister Madeleine King said: “The judgement was clear, and the government is listening”. She had visited Kimba in January and saw “a town divided” on the issue. The search will continue for another site. </p>
<p>The opposition called the failure to appeal “gutless”. Shadow foreign minister Simon Birmingham said a “strong majority” of the Kimba community had expressed a willingness to host the dump.</p>
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<p>The failure to deliver this site creates huge uncertainties for nuclear medicines, leaves waste at temporary city sites all over Australia and undermines confidence that Labor is capable of the difficult decisions required to deliver nuclear powered submarines under AUKUS.</p>
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<p>The opposition argues the planned nuclear submarine program provides a foot in the door to advance its case for nuclear energy. It will require limited onshore nuclear capability, and eventually Australia will have to deal with the waste from its boats. </p>
<p>But more persuasive, one would think – if people can be persuaded – would be high power prices and the difficulties of the energy transition, which we are already seeing as baseload power goes out of the system. </p>
<p>For that argument to work, however, the economics of nuclear power would have to stack up, and at present they don’t (although O'Brien disputes that).</p>
<p>Tony Wood, Director of the Energy Program at the Grattan Institute, lists some of the arguments against nuclear that the Coalition will have to deal with. </p>
<p>“There are doubts whether a small modular reactor could provide dispatchable power similar to a gas peaking plant,” Wood says. </p>
<p>There is also little real-world evidence these reactors would deliver cheaper prices, he says. “The SMRs are still in the early stages of development and already costing more than the proponents had expected.”</p>
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<p>Nuclear in Australia is many years away, given the status of the technology and the fact we would have to train an entirely new workforce from scratch. </p>
<p>Lift the ban by all means. Nothing would change today. But the evidence that a social licence could be gained is minimal. </p>
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<p>The Coalition might believe it is ahead of the curve on the potential for small nuclear reactors for Australia. Whether or not that’s so, only technology and history will tell. </p>
<p>But even if it is right, sometimes you can be too far ahead of the political curve. Bill Shorten’s climate policy in 2019 was only a very little ahead, but it turned into one of the obstacles for his campaign when he couldn’t convincingly answer all the questions about it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211346/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Peter Dutton has been open since the election about nuclear energy being on the Coalition’s agenda - but that has allowed the government, especially Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen, to attack the ideaMichelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2080162023-06-19T07:14:22Z2023-06-19T07:14:22ZGovernment’s housing fund legislation delayed by Greens-Coalition alliance<p>The Greens and the Coalition have teamed up again to present a vote being taken on the government’s $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund. </p>
<p>Consideration of the legislation has been delayed until October 16. </p>
<p>The government at the weekend announced an immediate $2 billion for social housing – which will go to states and territories over this fortnight – hoping that would persuade the Greens to support the fund. </p>
<p>But the Greens are holding out for controls on rents, which are actually within the jurisdiction of the states. </p>
<p>Anthony Albanese, answering a Greens question in parliament, said the Greens had made themselves “irrelevant to the debate”. </p>
<p>“I understand that renters are doing it tough,” he said. “Yes, I want to do things about that”, and the government was working with the states on various measures. But “what we are not doing is destroying supply while we do it. Because the key to fixing housing is supply.” </p>
<p>If the government did what the Greens wanted there would be less supply of housing, Albanese said.. The Greens should have had “the guts” to vote against the legislation rather than deferring it. </p>
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<p>The Minister for Housing, Julie Collins, said “there is a cost to these delays.</p>
<p>"Every day of delay is more than $1.3 million that does not go to housing for people that need it. If this bill gets delayed until October, the Greens political party and the Liberals would have succeeded in delaying it for more than six months. Every six months is $250 million that could have gone to building more homes.”</p>
<p>This is the second time the Greens and Coalition have prevented a vote on the legislation. The proposed $10 billion fund would produce $500 million a year for social and affordable rental housing.</p>
<p>Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the fund was “an important piece of national infrastructure”. </p>
<p>Opposition leader in the Senate Simon Birmingham told Sky the Coalition had “always thought that adding these billions of dollars extra to government debt for no immediate impact on the housing market was a bad idea, especially so for a policy that has no benefit in terms of addressing rates of home ownership in Australia”. </p>
<p>The Senate’s action prompted speculation that the deferral could form the initial step to having the bill qualify as double dissolution legislation. Special Minister of State Don Farrell said: “If the Senate defers bills to October, the government will regard this as the Senate failing to pass the bill, and I’m sure you understand the consequences of that”.</p>
<p>Greens leader Adam Bandt said that “it says a lot about the government that they’d rather tout this as a double dissolution trigger rather than negotiating to pass their own bill”. </p>
<p>The Constitution’s Section 57 provides that if the House of Representatives passes a bill and the Senate “rejects or fails to pass it” and after three months the lower house again passes the bill and the Senate again rejects or fails to pass it, it can become the basis for a dissolution of both houses. </p>
<p>Sydney University constitutional expert Anne Twomey said the High Court has previously held that the Senate needs a reasonable amount of time to debate and deliberate upon a bill. </p>
<p>“This may include sending it to a parliamentary committee. But in this case, the delay is not due to a need to deliberate. It is for the purpose of waiting to see if the Albanese Government will change its policy and negotiate an agreement in National Cabinet which suits the policy aim of the Greens,” Twomey said. </p>
<p>“While there is no certainty, the government would have a good case to argue that a delay of this kind amounts to a failure to pass. Even taking into account the winter recess, there is still plenty of time to properly debate the bill before 16 October”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208016/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The government at the weekend announced an immediate $2 billion for social housing – which will go to states and territories over this fortnight – hoping this would get the Greens to support the fundMichelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2034162023-04-06T07:49:12Z2023-04-06T07:49:12ZPolitics with Michelle Grattan: Simon Birmingham on the Voice, Aston, the Liberals, Uranium<p>The Liberals have formally decided to oppose the Voice. Peter Dutton has declared he will campaign against it, a high risk strategy when polls are showing a majority of Australians currently support a “yes” vote.</p>
<p>Noel Pearson was scathing of the Liberal Party, calling the decision not to support the Voice “a Judas betrayal of our country”. Moderate Liberal MP Bridget Archer will campaign for the “yes” case. </p>
<p>In this podcast, Michelle Grattan and Senator Simon Birmingham, leader of the opposition in the senate, and one of the few remaining moderates in the party, discuss the Voice, the Aston byelection defeat and “where to now?” for the Liberal Party. </p>
<p>Birmingham wishes more had been done by previous governments, “in the Rudd, Gillard, or Abbott years,” to advance Indigenous recognition.</p>
<p>“If we look at the substance of recognition and Voice, there are vexing issues.”</p>
<p>“They’re also vexing in regards to how you apply them against certain philosophical traits as to whether embedding a different platform for one part of the community in terms of engagement is a liberal or an illiberal concept […] I think there are serious questions there around this.”</p>
<p>“And sadly, as I look at it, I think that achieving national consensus on this topic has only gotten harder and harder over the many years since constitutional recognition was first discussed actively in the Howard government. And in many ways I wish it had been acted upon back then in the Rudd, Gillard or Abbott years.”</p>
<p>Birmingham doesn’t see the Liberal Party being on the wrong side of history in the referendum, but wants to see an open debate. “Australians will make their own mind up and that is at least the beauty of a referendum – we’ll get a clear and decisive result one way or the other as to where Australians stand.”</p>
<p>When asked if a pollster were to call him asking which way he would vote, Birmingham avoids a straight answer, but says he is open to “bipartisanship in working through the details in any referendum”. </p>
<p>“I hope that if there is something that can still be salvaged for national unity out of having a clear bipartisan constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians, that that is achieved.” </p>
<p>“I hope if clear evidence comes forward during the parliamentary committee process to narrow the scope of the constitutional change that the government has put forward, that I listen to that evidence and try to convince a reconsideration around some of those factors.” </p>
<p>Birmingham concedes the Liberal Party has a lot of rebuilding to do, a point reinforced by the Aston trouncing. Areas needing attention include the migrant vote, women, and the younger generations, he says. </p>
<p>“We do face a vastly different electorate today to the one of some decades ago, and even not that long ago. If you look at some of the rate of change, the fastest growing segment of the workforce are professional women. And urbanisation has only continued to occur at a higher rate, particularly driven by waves of migration with significant numbers of Chinese Australians, Indian Australians and other cohorts growing in number.” </p>
<p>“Now those changes don’t mean that Liberal values are any less relevant today than they have been in the past […] but we do have to make sure that they are framed in a way that is relevant and engaging to electorates and to the modern electorate that we need to appeal to.”</p>
<p>“I think that means looking at how we can engage younger families and younger voters with effective policies about their economic security and especially in relation to the pursuit of home ownership.”</p>
<p>“That means ensuring that in all of those cases about job security, home ownership aspirations, the other aspirations they have that need to be underpinned by a strong economy. We also need to make sure that all feel included in those discussions, regardless of the background they come from, the migrant background or the construct or nature of their family”.</p>
<p>There’s a big push within the Coalition at the moment to embrace nuclear energy. </p>
<p>Birmingham sees the acceptance of nuclear-powered submarines as pointing to a wide change in attitudes towards nuclear technology. </p>
<p>He says: “I was surprised to be honest, when the AUKUS announcement was first made by the Morrison Government and of course with the recent announcements […] just how accepting and supportive the electorate has been of the use of nuclear technologies in the propulsion of our submarine fleet.”</p>
<p>“From a South Australian perspective, the reality [is] that that will mean work on the installation of the nuclear reactor component of submarines taking place at Osborne in suburban Adelaide moving forward. So I think there is a degree of maturity and understanding attached to these debates, but obviously there are lots of safeguards that need to be attached to any nuclear consideration”.</p>
<p>“Way back in my first speech, [I] was clear that I thought nuclear technology should be on the table with how we tackle some of the challenges of our time and how much has happened in the intervening sixteen years. The affordability and growth of renewable energies has changed dramatically and changed the energy landscape dramatically in that time.”</p>
<p>“I don’t think it makes sense per se to just have a ban on nuclear technologies.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203416/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In this podcast, Michelle Grattan and South Australian senator Simon Birmingham discuss the Voice, the Aston byelection defeat and "where to now?" for the Liberal PartyMichelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2014632023-03-09T09:29:49Z2023-03-09T09:29:49ZGrattan on Friday: Could Josh Frydenberg still have a path to the Liberal leadership?<p>One of those closely watching the extraordinary legal face-off between independent Monique Ryan and her former high-profile staffer, Sally Rugg, will be Josh Frydenberg, who lost Kooyong to the “teal” at last year’s election. </p>
<p>The outcome of the case, going to whether Rugg was forced to work unreasonable hours, could have significant ramifications for parliamentary staffs’ conditions. </p>
<p>But Frydenberg will be focused on whether the fight takes paint off Ryan. </p>
<p>Now in the private sector, Frydenberg hasn’t declared whether he will run again for Kooyong, but he hasn’t lost his political ambition. </p>
<p>He didn’t put his hand up for the Aston byelection, but then insiders didn’t expect him to. He’s concentrated on Kooyong – anyway the Liberals needed a woman in Aston. </p>
<p>If Frydenberg could regain his seat and Peter Dutton lost the 2025 election, one scenario for the Liberals would be for Frydenberg to take over the leadership and position the party to be competitive for the 2028 poll. </p>
<p>There are a lot of “ifs” involved, not least the 2025 result in Kooyong. Its boundaries will be affected by a redistribution. Ryan has another two years to dig in, and independents can be hard to dislodge. </p>
<p>Still, the teals were elected in very special circumstances, helped by the acute unpopularity of Scott Morrison, and some could be vulnerable next time. Ryan might be one of those. </p>
<p>Frydenberg would benefit if the economy were central at the election. But he’d need to make a decision on contesting relatively early, and run a savvier campaign than last time, when he unwisely derided his opponent as a “fake” independent. </p>
<p>There are those who cast doubt on how well Frydenberg would do as leader. Critics argue it’s hard to know what he stands for and that he wants to be popular with everyone. On the other hand, as a former treasurer and former energy minister, he has a wealth of front-line experience. </p>
<p>Frydenberg started out with the label of a conservative, but became more centrist. In 2018 he won the Liberal deputyship overwhelmingly. He carries baggage from the Morrison years, including what some saw as excessive loyalty to the then PM (he was also loyal to PMs Abbott and Turnbull). </p>
<p>Whatever his limitations, however, a Liberal party defeated in 2025 wouldn’t be replete with leadership talent.</p>
<p>Speculation about the significance of a Frydenberg return carries with it the assumption Dutton is doomed to failure. Caveats are required. I recalled being sceptical when Tony Abbott was elected leader. Then he nearly won his first election, and cleaned up at his second. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/word-from-the-hill-another-rate-rise-support-for-super-tax-hike-pms-india-trip-rugg-v-ryan-201300">Word from The Hill: Another rate rise; support for super tax hike; PM's India trip; Rugg V Ryan</a>
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<p>That said, it would be difficult at present to find anyone who’d put any money on Dutton. </p>
<p>Meanwhile he and his party are struggling for a strategy. </p>
<p>Dutton is, on a range of issues, adopting the “just say no” approach. The Liberals are opposing the legislation for implementing the government’s emissions reduction target (the safeguard bill), and bills for the national reconstruction fund (a kick-start for manufacturing), and a fund to generate a money stream to help provide affordable housing. </p>
<p>The “say no” strategy means Labor can counter Liberal attacks on the government over, for example, energy prices, by pointing out the Coalition voted against legislation last year to curb price rises. </p>
<p>Dutton jumped on the government’s superannuation tax rise, but the subsequent polling did not meet Liberal hopes they were on a winner. Newspoll showed strong support (64%) for the change, including 54% of Coalition voters. </p>
<p>While the Coalition is pursuing negative tactics (as Abbott did in opposition), this doesn’t extend to everything. There is important bipartisanship, for instance, on AUKUS. With the deal on the nuclear-powered submarines to be unveiled next week, Dutton on Thursday reaffirmed the opposition “will support the decisions of the government under AUKUS”. </p>
<p>However, one test coming up will be on the level of defence spending in the budget. Will the opposition say it should be higher than whatever the government settles on? </p>
<p>On the Voice to Parliament, Dutton has yet to declare a formal position. But he’s had nothing positive to say about it, and his party room would have a majority against. If the Liberals oppose it, that’s likely to go down poorly with younger voters. </p>
<p>Among the Liberals’ multiple problems is a weak team, which also lacks balance. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-trimming-the-tail-of-the-superannuation-tax-tiger-is-no-easy-task-200996">Grattan on Friday: Trimming the tail of the superannuation tax tiger is no easy task</a>
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<p>Senior people such as Liberal deputy Sussan Ley and shadow treasurer Angus Taylor are poor performers. </p>
<p>The moderates were decimated at the election, and those left are failing to act as a cohesive influence. </p>
<p>Backbencher Bridget Archer speaks out on issues, but comes across as reflecting and protecting her seat rather than having wider clout within the party. </p>
<p>The Liberals’ Senate leader, Simon Birmingham, is a heavyweight moderate who is not the driving force he should be. Former foreign minister Marise Payne, also a moderate, is neither seen nor heard publicly.</p>
<p>Valuable parliamentary seats are taken up by people with extreme positions, such as senators Gerard Rennick from Queensland and Alex Antic from South Australia. </p>
<p>Scott Morrison is in another category, but should make way for new blood.</p>
<p>The challenge of recruiting good potential candidates and getting them selected is only likely to get worse at a time when a political career has become unattractive to many, and the party erects road blocks to the best and brightest. </p>
<p>At the grass roots, it is vulnerable to infiltration by fundamentalist religious groups. Organisationally, it’s riven by factionalism and incompetent, with the Victorian, NSW and Western Australian divisions dysfunctional. Dutton needs to tackle this, but it’s a near-impossible task.</p>
<p>Among Dutton’s problem is Dutton himself. </p>
<p>As leader, the right-winger has shown himself pragmatic and managed to hold the party together. He is an asset in his home state of Queensland, where Labor is weak. But it is hard to see him making inroads in the south, especially in the progressive state of Victoria. Observers are looking to Aston to give an early reading.</p>
<p>Labor holds government by a very narrow margin, but as things stand now, Dutton’s only route to victory in 2025 would require the Albanese government – which faces some tough economic problems – to fail lamentably in the next two years. </p>
<p>Not impossible. Labor went into minority government in 2010 after a good win in 2007. Malcolm Turnbull turned Abbott’s 2013 landslide into a close result in 2016. </p>
<p>But if Albanese doesn’t squander power, the Liberals would be pitching for a two-stage comeback at best. And Frydenberg just might be back in the play.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201463/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Frydenberg, now in the private sector, hasn’t declared whether he will run again for Kooyong, but he hasn’t lost his political ambitionMichelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1607842021-05-12T10:13:11Z2021-05-12T10:13:11ZPolitics with Michelle Grattan: Simon Birmingham and Jim Chalmers on a big spending budget<p>This year’s budget, handed down on Tuesday, boasts plenty of winners and minimal direct losers. Spending is lavish, with the government doing its utmost to avoid offending voters.</p>
<p>The big spending commitments include:</p>
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<li>$17.7 billion for aged care over five years</li>
<li>$2.3 billion for mental health</li>
<li>$1.7 billion in changes to childcare</li>
<li>$1.1 billion for women’s safety</li>
<li>$1.9 billion for the rollout of the COVID vaccine</li>
<li>$20.7 billion in support for business through tax breaks</li>
<li>$2.7 billion in new apprenticeships</li>
<li>$15 billion over a decade for infrastructure</li>
<li>$1.2 billion for the promotion of a digital economy.</li>
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<p>Simon Birmingham, finance minister, and Jim Chalmers, shadow treasurer, are our post-budget guests on the podcast.</p>
<p>This is Birmingham’s first budget as finance minister. Usually, it’s the finance minister’s unpopular task to find spending cuts – but this time, these are minimal.<br>
Birmingham’s message to critics on the right of politics, who are claiming the government has given up the debt fight, is:</p>
<p>“You don’t manage to achieve budget sustainability and ultimately balanced budgets some time down the track without actually maintaining and having a strong economy that has strong jobs growth. And so this time, where we have an uncertain international environment [and] fragility in terms of confidence, because of those global uncertainties, we need to make sure we maintain the COVID recovery.” </p>
<p>And he notes, “debt is actually forecast to be lower over each of the next 10 years than was the case in last year’s budget.”</p>
<p>The budget includes assumptions that the international border will open around mid-2022, and that the Australian population would be fully vaccinated by the end of this year. Asked how “solid” these assumptions are, Birmingham says:</p>
<p>“We have used best assumptions that we think are cautious assumptions and realistic ones. But we equally acknowledge with honesty that these are challenging times, uncertain times.</p>
<p>"And so they are just that - assumptions.”</p>
<p>On the issue of debt, Chalmers says it’s not just the level of the debt that matters, “it’s the quality of the spending”.</p>
<p>He says the budget is “riddled with rorts” and “weighed down with waste”.</p>
<p>“There are new slush funds in last night’s budget, and that means we’re not getting the bang for buck that we need to be getting in terms of jobs and other other important objectives.”</p>
<p>Labor has homed in on flat wages, arguing working Australia’s are “copping a cut in their real wages”.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the budget has failed working people, says Chalmers.</p>
<p>“If the government is prepared to intervene in the economy as they have been and spray around what is an extraordinary amount of money, then you’d think that working people would actually get a slice of the recovery.”</p>
<p>“It’s a pretty extraordinary admission of failure.”</p>
<p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/politics-with-michelle-grattan/id703425900?mt=2"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233721/original/file-20180827-75984-1gfuvlr.png" alt="Listen on Apple Podcasts" width="268" height="68"></a> <a href="https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVjb252ZXJzYXRpb24uY29tL2F1L3BvZGNhc3RzL3BvbGl0aWNzLXdpdGgtbWljaGVsbGUtZ3JhdHRhbi5yc3M"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233720/original/file-20180827-75978-3mdxcf.png" alt="" width="268" height="68"></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-conversation-4/politics-with-michelle-grattan"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233716/original/file-20180827-75981-pdp50i.png" alt="Stitcher" width="300" height="88"></a> <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/Politics-with-Michelle-Grattan-p227852/"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233723/original/file-20180827-75984-f0y2gb.png" alt="Listen on TuneIn" width="318" height="125"></a></p>
<p><a href="https://radiopublic.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-WRElBZ"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-152" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233717/original/file-20180827-75990-86y5tg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=268&fit=clip" alt="Listen on RadioPublic" width="268" height="87"></a> <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5NkaSQoUERalaLBQAqUOcC"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237984/original/file-20180925-149976-1ks72uy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=268&fit=clip" width="268" height="82"></a> </p>
<h2>Additional audio</h2>
<p><a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/The_Big_Loop_-_FML_original_podcast_score/Lee_Rosevere_-_The_Big_Loop_-_FML_original_podcast_score_-_10_A_List_of_Ways_to_Die">A List of Ways to Die</a>, Lee Rosevere, from Free Music Archive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160784/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Michelle Grattan discusses the 2021-22 budget with Finance Minister Simon Birmingham and Shadow Treasurer Jim ChalmersMichelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1477422020-10-08T02:10:52Z2020-10-08T02:10:52ZSimon Birmingham to become finance minister and Senate leader as Australia nominates Cormann for OECD<p>Trade Minister Simon Birmingham, a leader of the Liberal moderates, will become Senate leader and finance minister following the imminent retirement of Mathias Cormann.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Australia will nominate Cormann as its candidate for secretary general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-a-budget-for-a-pandemic-147739">Politics with Michelle Grattan: a budget for a pandemic</a>
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<p>Cormann indicated in July he <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/i-ve-left-nothing-on-the-field-mathias-cormann-to-quit-federal-politics-triggering-cabinet-reshuffle">planned to leave parliament</a> late this year. He has been Finance Minister throughout the Coalition government and a central figure in the preparation of its seven budgets.</p>
<p>Morrison said Birmingham would be sworn in as finance minister at the end of the month when Cormann retired. He would continue as minister for trade, tourism and investment.</p>
<p>“I am not planning on making other ministerial changes at that time,” Morrison said.</p>
<p>But there will be a reshuffle at the end of the year. With the current COVID-19 restrictions on international travel, Birmingham will be able to juggle his trade and extra responsibilities for a time, and he has trade negotiations in train. </p>
<p>Employment Minister Michaelia Cash will become deputy Senate leader, a position Birmingham has held since 2018.</p>
<p>Birmingham has served in the Senate since 2007 and was education minister between 2015 and 2018. </p>
<p>Cormann, who came to Australia from Belgium in the 1990s, demonstrated his multilingual skills at a Thursday news conference with Morrison, giving short speeches in French and German. </p>
<p>His election to the OECD job is not certain, but Australia will campaign hard for him.</p>
<p>Morrison said this was “the most important Australian nomination for a major international body in decades”.</p>
<p>“Senator Cormann has already been an influential contributor in regional and global institutions, having attended every G20 Leaders’ meeting since 2014 and numerous G20 finance ministers, IMF and World Bank meetings over the period,” Morrison said.</p>
<p>“Over the last seven years, Senator Cormann has worked with many OECD leaders, and dozens of treasury, finance, and trade minister counterparts from developed and developing countries.”</p>
<p>Cormann will step down from the ministry and the Senate on October 30, before he is formally nominated for the OECD role. Nominations close at the end of October, with interviews and consultations beginning after that and an outcome expected in the first part of next year.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147742/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced today that following Mathias Cormann’s resignation, Cormann will be nominated as a candidate for secretary general at the OECD.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1042262018-11-12T19:01:57Z2018-11-12T19:01:57ZFactCheck Q&A: have 90% of Labor MPs worked in trade unions?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238855/original/file-20181002-98899-19s5qgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C613%2C344&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has said Labor MPs disproportionately come from unions.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">ABC</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong>The Conversation fact-checks claims made on Q&A, broadcast Mondays on the ABC at 9.35pm. Thank you to everyone who sent us quotes for checking via <a href="http://www.twitter.com/conversationEDU">Twitter</a> using the hashtags #FactCheck and #QandA, on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/conversationEDU">Facebook</a> or by <a href="mailto:checkit@theconversation.edu.au">email</a>.</strong></p>
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<p>It’s nice for Amanda to say you need to reflect society, but you can’t reflect society if 90% of your members of parliament were chosen from trade unions and worked in trade unions and that’s the background they bring to the table. </p>
<p><strong>– Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham, <a href="https://twitter.com/QandA/status/1046735270358409228">speaking on Q&A</a>, October 2, 2018</strong></p>
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<p>On an episode of Q&A, panellists discussed the extent to which the composition of the Australian parliament reflects the demographic make up of society. </p>
<p>Labor MP Amanda Rishworth said in addition to having women account for 50% of parliamentarians, there needed to be more diversity of skills and experience. </p>
<p>“So we need to move further than just looking at men and women. We need people from a whole range of backgrounds,” Rishworth said. </p>
<p>Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham later suggested to Rishworth that “you can’t reflect society if 90% of your members of parliament were chosen from trade unions and worked in trade unions, and that’s the background they bring to the table”.</p>
<p>Let’s check the records. </p>
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<h2>Response from a spokesperson for Simon Birmingham</h2>
<p>In response to The Conversation’s request for sources and comment, a spokesperson for Simon Birmingham provided a 2015-16 <a href="https://sa.alp.org.au/files/Membership_2015-16_FINAL.pdf">membership application form</a> for the South Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party and said: </p>
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<p>Based on this application, and the disclaimer that a person applying for membership must be a member of a union, it would seem the Minister may have underestimated the percentage. </p>
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<h2>Verdict</h2>
<p>On Q&A, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham said “90% of [Labor’s] members of parliament were chosen from trade unions and worked in trade unions”. In terms of federal parliamentarians, this is a gross exaggeration.</p>
<p>According to parliamentary members’ biographies, taken from the 45th Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia, 2017, about one third (33.7%) of Labor’s currently serving federal MPs have worked in trade unions, or 32 of Labor’s 95 members of federal parliament (the total comprising 69 members of the House of Representatives and 26 Senators).</p>
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<h2>Regarding the source provided by the Minister’s office</h2>
<p>The source provided by Minister Birmingham’s office doesn’t support the statement; it refers to a discounted fee offered for South Australian Labor party membership if the applicant is also a union member. Having been a member of a union isn’t the same as having worked for one, and being a union member isn’t a requirement of becoming a member of the Labor party. </p>
<h2>How many Labor MPs have worked in trade unions?</h2>
<p>A trade union is a member-based organisation that represents the interests of workers in particular industries, or groups of industries, to employers. The Australian Labor Party <a href="https://getparliament.peo.gov.au/parliament-at-work-representation-and-forming-government/history-of-political-parties-in-australia">grew out of the union movement in the 1890s</a>. Affiliated unions play a <a href="https://www.alp.org.au/media/1277/alp_national_constitution.pdf">significant role</a> in the Labor party today; in its internal structures and forums, and influence in <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-influence-of-trade-unions-on-the-labor-party-is-overestimated-57476">choice of parliamentary candidates</a>. </p>
<p>The proportion of former union officials entering parliament as Labor members peaked in 1901, at <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/labors-conflict/2F3D3F1670FBDC6059EF69A8038085F1">79%</a> of Labor representatives. The proportion has been declining steadily since then.</p>
<p>Minister Birmingham referred to members of parliament (MPs) who had been “chosen from” and “worked in trade unions” and who bring that background to the table. In this FactCheck, we’ll look at members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate who have worked in trade unions.</p>
<p>To see how things stand today, we can look to the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/about_parliament/parliamentary_departments/parliamentary_library/parliamentary_handbook">Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia 2017</a>, which includes the <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/handbook/newhandbook/2017-06-21/toc_pdf_repeat/Part%202%20-%20The%20Forty-fifth%20Parliament.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">biographies</a> of the 76 Senators and 150 members of the House of Representatives in the current (45th) federal parliament. (Four of the Labor MPs listed in the handbook, which was published in July 2017, are no longer in parliament: Sam Dastyari, David Feeney, Katy Gallagher and Tim Hammond.) </p>
<p>Included in these biographies are MPs’ qualifications and occupations before entering federal Parliament.</p>
<p>According to those biographies, the proportion of Labor MPs who have worked in trade unions is about a third (33.7%). That’s 32 of Labor’s 95 members of parliament (the total comprising 69 members of the House of Representatives and 26 Senators).</p>
<p>The proportion has declined since the previous parliament, elected in 2013. In that, the 44th parliament, the proportion of Labor representatives with a union background was <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22handbook%2Fnewhandbook%2F2014-10-31%2F0000%22">45%</a>. </p>
<p>The <em>number</em> of Labor MPs and Senators with a union background dropped slightly between the 44th and 45th parliaments, from 36 to 32, but the <em>total number</em> of Labor representatives also increased substantially, from 80 to 95.</p>
<p>In terms of how these figures compare to union representation in the broader community: around <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/6333.0Main%20Features5August%202016?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=6333.0&issue=August%202016&num=&view=">15%</a> of the Australian workforce are union members.</p>
<p>Total union membership is now around <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/6333.0Main%20Features5August%202016?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=6333.0&issue=August%202016&num=&view=">1.5 million</a>, however, unions collectively represent <a href="http://abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/ABS+Chief+Economist+-+Full+Paper+of+Wage-setting+methods+and+wage+growth+in+Australia">59.5%</a> of the workforce in bargaining for conditions through enterprise agreements or awards. </p>
<h2>From which unions have the MPs come?</h2>
<p>The three unions with the largest contingents of employees-turned-MPs are the <a href="https://www.sda.org.au/">Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Union</a>, with six former employees now MPs, the <a href="http://www.twu.com.au/">Transport Workers’ Union</a> with three (this was originally four after the 2016 election, but reduced when David Feeney resigned from the seat of Batman and was replaced by Ged Kearney in the March 2018 by-election), and <a href="https://www.unitedvoice.org.au/">United Voice</a>. </p>
<p>Other unions with two former employees each are the <a href="https://www.amwu.org.au/">Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union</a>, the <a href="https://www.awu.net.au/">Australian Workers’ Union</a>, and the <a href="https://www.cpsu.org.au/">Community and Public Sector Union</a>. </p>
<p>Another 11 unions each have one representative, and a couple of MPs did not specify their union background.</p>
<p>Many of those with a union background were university graduates appointed to union positions as political operatives before or after becoming a political staffer. Few came up through the ranks of a union, as their predecessors more commonly did. </p>
<h2>What other types of backgrounds do Labor MPs have?</h2>
<p>More than half (51.6%) of Labor MPs in the current government were party officials, or staffers for Labor Ministers or back-benchers before being elected.</p>
<p>Some have experience as public servants (18%), lawyers (16%), employees of non-governmental organisations (12%), and small business owners (8%). </p>
<p>Small numbers have a background in business, consultancy, journalism, the military and State legislatures. Many have moved between a number of these categories during their careers.</p>
<h2>What about the Liberal Party?</h2>
<p>The Liberal Party also has a high proportion of MPs who were political staffers or party officials before entering parliament, at 45%. Of those 38 representatives, 14 appear to have entered the Commonwealth parliament directly from political staffer positions, and a further three from State legislatures.</p>
<p>The main difference between the Liberal and Labor parties is that whereas Labor has former union employees, the Liberal Party has many parliamentary members with a background in business (36 MPs), especially in banking and finance (7 MPs), and large consulting firms (6 MPs).</p>
<p>Some Liberal Party MPs have backgrounds in employers’ associations (9 MPs) and think tanks (6 MPs). <strong>– Raymond Markey</strong></p>
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<h2>Blind review</h2>
<p>I agree with the conclusion that about one-third of Labor MPs in the current federal parliament have worked in trade unions. I counted 30 Labor MPs with union backgrounds. The extra two the lead author found could be because a wider definition of union official was used. <strong>– Adrian Beaumont</strong></p>
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<span class="caption">The Conversation FactCheck is accredited by the International Fact-Checking Network.</span>
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<p><em>The Conversation’s FactCheck unit was the first fact-checking team in Australia and one of the first worldwide to be accredited by the International Fact-Checking Network, an alliance of fact-checkers hosted at the Poynter Institute in the US. <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-conversations-factcheck-granted-accreditation-by-international-fact-checking-network-at-poynter-74363">Read more here</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>Have you seen a “fact” worth checking? The Conversation’s FactCheck asks academic experts to test claims and see how true they are. We then ask a second academic to review an anonymous copy of the article. You can request a check at <a href="mailto:checkit@theconversation.edu.au">checkit@theconversation.edu.au</a>. Please include the statement you would like us to check, the date it was made, and a link if possible.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104226/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ray Markey is a member of the National Tertiary Education Union. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Beaumont does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said “you can’t reflect society if 90% of your members of parliament were chosen from trade unions and worked in trade unions”. Let’s take a look at the numbers.Ray Markey, Emeritus Professor, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1058382018-10-29T04:53:37Z2018-10-29T04:53:37ZSome questions for Simon Birmingham, from two researchers whose ARC grant he quashed<p>We are two of the researchers affected by Simon Birmingham’s intervention in last year’s Australian Research Council (ARC) funding grants. The title of our application, “Greening Media Sport: The Communication of Environmental Issues and Sustainability in Professional Sport”, was on a list of 11 projects rejected by the then minister for education and training’s office after the ARC had recommended these for funding.</p>
<p>Birmingham’s action has been condemned across the higher education sector and reported extensively. The UK Times Higher Education Supplement <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/australian-minister-censored-humanities-research">noted that this “censoring”</a> of humanities research sits uncomfortably alongside the free speech credentials of the government Birmingham represents. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/simon-birminghams-intervention-in-research-funding-is-not-unprecedented-but-dangerous-105737">Simon Birmingham's intervention in research funding is not unprecedented, but dangerous</a>
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<p>One of the motivations of our project was to try to move beyond needlessly partisan political debate by investigating the capacity of professional sport – arguably the most popular form of media on the planet – to communicate environmental issues and awareness. </p>
<p>The potential for sport in this area is shown by any number of widely publicised examples including the International Olympic Committee’s <a href="https://www.olympic.org/sustainability">Sustainability Strategy</a>, the efforts of Formula One racing teams to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-race-to-make-formula-one-greener-65857">achieve carbon-neutral status</a> and the Melbourne Cricket Ground’s <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/how-the-mcg-got-ahead-of-the-recycling-game-20180503-p4zd5f.html">investment in large-scale waste and water recycling</a> facilities. </p>
<p>Our project seeks to investigate and map a growing range of environmental programs and initiatives around the world, and to help Australia – in the face of serious ecological challenges – capitalise on the fact that it is a sporting nation. It is certainly an objective thought worth pursuing by members of the <a href="http://www.sportsenvironmentalliance.org/">Sports Environment Alliance</a>, which include the AFL, Tennis Australia, Netball Australia and Cricket Australia.</p>
<p>One cannot help but wonder: did the minister or any of his staff read our application or any of the other ten he chose to reject?</p>
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<span class="caption">Simon Birmingham.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span>
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<p>Our decision to speak publicly is to pose necessary questions about what has happened here and why. As professors in the discipline of communications and media studies, we are familiar with the risks and realities of producing research on matters of social, cultural and political significance. </p>
<p>Both of us have, for example, made unexpected appearances in news stories and state and federal parliamentary Hansards at different points in our careers. This speaks to the sometimes contradictory nature of producing university-based research. Depending on the issue at hand, evidence-based research is invoked by political actors and citizens to support a particular position <em>and</em> declared hopelessly arcane and out-of-touch by those who hold a different position. This is precisely why decisions about ARC funding are usually made at arm’s length from government.</p>
<p>We can live with rejection – it is a professional byproduct of producing research. However, the rules through which funding decisions are reached should be transparent and the reasons for rejection should be communicated clearly to researchers and their universities. Neither has occurred on this occasion.</p>
<h2>A lack of transparency</h2>
<p>Last November, we received the following notification from the ARC about Greening Media Sport, relayed via the Monash Research Office: “This proposal is in the Top 10% of unsuccessful proposals within the discipline panel”. </p>
<p>It was not until last Friday morning, when news of a video posted by Labor Senator Kim Carr to YouTube started to circulate, that the truth of why our project was deemed unsuccessful became apparent. </p>
<p>Given that our project was, in fact, recommended for funding by the ARC and then sent to the minister’s office for sign-off, it turns out that the ARC’s November 2017 statement – in the context of its Humanities and Creative Arts discipline panel – was demonstrably incorrect. Who is ultimately responsible for this misleading statement? The minister? His office? The ARC? </p>
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<p>This intervention raises a number of further questions.
Why has it taken almost 12 months for information about the exclusion of the 11 grants to be made public? Why was this information not disclosed to the applicants and the universities that employ them? It might have at least stopped many of the researchers, including us, rewriting and resubmitting applications regarded as undeserving of ministerial sign-off. </p>
<p>Researchers should have the right to know if the minister has introduced an additional criterion for funding into the grant system. Birmingham has defended his intervention with confidence on Twitter. Can he further explain why he rejected the applications – and why his actions remained concealed until last week?</p>
<p>Why were the 11 projects targeted by the minister attached to only one panel out of eight: Humanities and Creative Arts? If different rules apply to applications sent to this panel, reviewers, panel members and possibly the ARC itself should be informed of this fact.</p>
<p>Finally, a new round of ARC grants will be announced shortly. Is the current minister for education, Dan Tehan, about to exercise the same discretion as his predecessor in relation to these? </p>
<p>The lives and careers of researchers are negatively affected, sometimes heavily, by funding decisions. This reality needs to be remembered in the midst of political debate about this issue. One applicant in the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award scheme has communicated that <a href="https://twitter.com/multimimetica/status/1055568853583966208">he and his family had to move overseas</a> for employment because the minister rejected his application. </p>
<p>We all rely on the transparency, if not fairness, of institutional decision-making in order to accept the legitimacy of the systems that govern our lives. Academics are no different to other citizens and professionals in this respect.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105838/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brett Hutchins has received funding from the Australian Research Council for previous projects.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Libby Lester has received funding from the Australian Research Council for previous projects.</span></em></p>Did the minister or any of his staff read our application or any of the other ten he chose to reject?Brett Hutchins, Professor of Media and Communications Studies, Monash UniversityLibby Lester, Professor of Journalism, Media and Communications, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1057372018-10-26T05:22:25Z2018-10-26T05:22:25ZSimon Birmingham’s intervention in research funding is not unprecedented, but dangerous<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242429/original/file-20181026-107695-an9y5l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In 2017 and 2018, as education minister, Simon Birmingham vetoed 11 ARC grants in the humanities. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> LUKAS COCH/AAP Image</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Senator Simon Birmingham’s <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/politics/federal/former-education-minister-vetoed-4-2-million-in-recommended-university-research-grants-20181026-p50c3a.html">personal intervention</a> during his time as education minister in 2017 and 2018 to deny funding to 11 Australian Research Council (ARC) grants, all in the humanities and worth a combined total of A$4.2 million, has sparked outrage.</p>
<p>Revealed in Senate estimates on Thursday, the vetoed projects included $926,372 for a La Trobe University project titled “Writing the struggle for Sioux and US modernity”, $764,744 for a Macquarie University project on “the music of nature and the nature of music”, and $391,574 for an ANU project called “Price, metals and materials in the global exchange”. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242415/original/file-20181026-107704-q85dwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242415/original/file-20181026-107704-q85dwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242415/original/file-20181026-107704-q85dwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242415/original/file-20181026-107704-q85dwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242415/original/file-20181026-107704-q85dwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242415/original/file-20181026-107704-q85dwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242415/original/file-20181026-107704-q85dwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242415/original/file-20181026-107704-q85dwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Projects vetoed by Simon Birmingham.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ben Eltham/Twitter</span></span>
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<p>On Friday, Birmingham <a href="https://twitter.com/Birmo/status/1055586252244713474">defended his intervention</a>, suggesting most Australian taxpayers would prefer their funding be directed to other research.</p>
<p>In a statement, Ian Jacobs, the vice chancellor and president at UNSW, from which three grants were vetoed, said “the unjustified and unexplained decision to solely deny funding for research that contributes to scholarship in arts and humanities is deeply troubling”.</p>
<p>The decisions are, in the words of Australian Academy of the Humanities president Joy Damousi, “<a href="https://www.humanities.org.au/2018/10/26/government-strips-4m-from-humanities-researchers/">political interference</a>” that “undermines confidence and trust” in Australia’s world-leading peer review system. It has incalculable effect on the lives of academics, but such action is not unprecedented, and only further evidences the vital need for strong, independent humanities research.</p>
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<h2>How does the process normally work?</h2>
<p>The Australian Research Council (ARC) administers the <a href="https://www.arc.gov.au/grants/national-competitive-grants-program">National Competitive Grants Program</a> that, alongside the National Health and Medical Research Council, provides the lion’s share of external research funding to Australian academics.</p>
<p>These are apportioned through difference schemes. Of those, Birmingham rejected six Discovery Projects; three Early Career Researcher Awards; and two Future Fellowships. </p>
<p>These grants are <a href="https://rms.arc.gov.au/RMS/Report/Download/Report/c1d284de-3f2a-410d-8cc4-71daf59bfef2/0">incredibly competitive</a>. In 2017, the ARC approved only 18% of discovery grant applications, and 17% of Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards. Only 20% of Future Fellowships were awarded in the 2018 round.</p>
<p>Such high standards <a href="https://www.arc.gov.au/process">are maintained</a> by a rigorous system of peer review. Each application is assigned two general assessors – members of a group of experts for the field of research in which the project falls. After initial review, each is sent to as many as six reviewers, who provide anonymous comments and ratings.</p>
<p>By intervening at the end of the process – what should be a ministerial “tick” for the work of the ARC’s experts – the minister undermines this exacting process. What’s more, by rejecting only humanities projects, Birmingham has placed this discipline at a decided funding disadvantage.</p>
<h2>Not unprecendented</h2>
<p>Government interference in research is not unprecedented, however. Australian Catholic University historian <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14490854.2014.11668530">Hannah Forsyth</a> writes of how, in 1956, Australian historian Russell Ward was denied a lectureship in history at what became the University of New South Wales purportedly on the grounds of his having had communist associations. </p>
<p>Brendan Nelson, minister for education in the Howard government, made a similar intervention to Birmingham’s in 2005, rejecting <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/research-floored-by-full-nelson-20051116-ge18v3.html">at least three</a>, but as many as 20, applications. All had already passed the strenuous ARC process. </p>
<p>Coming at the tail end of the <a href="https://www.mup.com.au/books/the-history-wars-paperback-softback">“history wars”</a> of the Howard era, the decision was greeted with joy by the likes of Andrew Bolt and horror by the academy.</p>
<p>Writing in The Monthly, <a href="https://www.themonthly.com.au/monthly-essays-gideon-haigh-nelson-touch-research-funding-new-censorship-214">Gideon Haigh</a> called this “the new censorship”, not only because such interference directly denied research funding to worthy candidates, but because it brought about “self-censorship”.</p>
<p>As one of Haigh’s interviewees put it, “young academics will sheer away from gender, because of the perception that it’s [the ARC process] being monitored”. That Australia has “no other form of research advancement apart from government” made this particularly problematic.</p>
<h2>Which humanities?</h2>
<p>Birmingham’s singling out of humanities grants, and his explanatory tweet appealing to populist sentiments, exposes a particular vision of the humanities. This vision also became apparent in the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/act/very-surprised-pm-to-question-anu-over-ramsay-centre-backdown-20180607-p4zk0r.html">criticisms of the ANU</a> when it broke off negotiations with the <a href="http://www.ramsaycentre.org/">Ramsay Centre</a> about introducing a degree in “Western civilisation”.</p>
<p>Government figures and conservative journalists accused the ANU and universities generally of inadequately teaching “Western civilisation”, indeed of undermining it with politically correct emphases on class, gender and race. </p>
<p>Many Australians would disagree that this is the case. One of the attributes of “Western civilisation” vaunted by government figures is the <a href="https://theconversation.com/criticism-of-western-civilisation-isnt-new-it-was-part-of-the-enlightenment-104567">secular Enlightenment</a>, which encouraged debate and criticism of established ideas. Yet this government is inhibiting the continuing process of inquiry in all spheres of the humanities. Birmingham’s decision demonstrates that the government is unwilling to leave funding decisions to the free market of ideas institutionalised in peer review. </p>
<p>The Australian Labor Party has a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/26/knuckle-dragging-philistines-labor-targets-liberals-for-blocking-arts-grants">“protocol”</a> of issuing explanatory details when a minister intercedes on these types of matters, something it accuses the present government of ignoring. However, it may be time for such informal processes to be institutionalised in changes to legislation. It may be time to limit – and perhaps forbid – the minister’s rights to intercede for political purposes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105737/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon Piccini has applied for funding from the Australian Research Council in the current (2019) round. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dirk Moses received funding from the ARC for various grants.</span></em></p>Projects submitted to the Australian Research Council are vetted heavily by panels of experts. Minister Birmingham’s decision undermines this process.Jon Piccini, UQ Research Fellow, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of QueenslandDirk Moses, Professor of Modern History, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/880822017-11-29T23:08:50Z2017-11-29T23:08:50ZSupporting part-time and online learners is key to reducing university dropout rates<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196857/original/file-20171129-28899-16i080n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Attrition rates are high for part-time and online students, but it's important we keep providing these modes of study.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The most recent statistics show <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/45216">first-year attrition rates</a> in Australian universities are at 15%. This has caused the Minister for Education and Training, Simon Birmingham, to <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/new-figures-highlight-need-for-uni-performance-funding/">say</a> universities “need to be taking responsibility for the students they enrol.”</p>
<p>Attrition does not mean dropping out. It just means the student did not continue their study in the following year. For example, attrition includes students who suspend studies due to personal circumstances, but return to study a later year. However, the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/completion-rates-cohort-analyses">evidence</a> is that most students who discontinue their studies do not end up completing. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/which-students-are-most-likely-to-drop-out-of-university-56276">Which students are most likely to drop out of university?</a>
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<h2>How does Australia compare to other countries?</h2>
<p>To analyse comparative performance, we looked at attrition rates in a number of countries, as well as regions within some countries. As with Australia, most countries focus their attention on nationals (that is, not international students) entering university for the first time. </p>
<p>Australia’s national attrition rate was 14.97%, with institutions ranging as low as 3.92% and as high as 38%. The best-performing state was New South Wales and the worst was Tasmania. Of 39 institutions, 12 had an attrition rate over 20%. </p>
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<p><a href="https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/overviews?keyword=All&&year=620&page=5">England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland</a> and Ireland all performed better than Australia.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/tertiary-education/retention_and_achievement">Aotearoa, New Zealand</a>, had an overall attrition rate of 16%, slightly higher than Australia’s. This was also the case with <a href="https://nscresearchcenter.org/snapshotreport28-first-year-persistence-and-retention/">US</a> public higher institutions offering four-year degrees, where the attrition rate was 17.7%. </p>
<p><a href="http://cou.on.ca/numbers/cudo/">Universities in Ontario</a>, which is 40% of Canada, had an average attrition rate of 12.8% for full time students. But the overall attrition rate (which includes part-time students) would likely place this figure even closer to Australia’s attrition rate, though we can’t say this for certain.</p>
<h2>What causes student attrition?</h2>
<p>Many things <a href="https://theconversation.com/which-students-are-most-likely-to-drop-out-of-university-56276">affect student attrition</a>, including age, socio-economic status, location and time on campus. Our study focused on three elements that have the potential to contribute to higher rates of attrition. The first is above-average student-to-staff ratios, as an indicator of student-lecturer interaction.</p>
<p>The second is above-average ratios of part-time enrolments, suggesting students are juggling study with work and personal commitments. The third is above-average ratios of external enrolments (such as students studying online), since these students have little or no access to the majority of on-campus support services. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/better-academic-support-for-students-may-help-lower-university-attrition-rates-66395">Better academic support for students may help lower university attrition rates</a>
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<p>The issues of part-time enrolments and external enrolments are closely related, as most students studying externally also study part-time. </p>
<p>We searched in the official higher education <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/higher-education-statistics">statistics</a> for relationships between attrition and these three elements. That is, were attrition rates higher for universities that had more students per lecturer, or higher part-time enrolments, or more students studying externally? </p>
<p>We found some links between attrition rates and student-to-staff ratios. Some 15 universities had higher than average attrition rates when they also had higher than average student to staff ratios.</p>
<p>And nine universities that had better than average student-to-staff ratios also had better than average attrition rates.</p>
<p>But that still meant 15 universities bucked the trend. They either had better attrition despite having worse student-to-staff ratios, or the opposite. </p>
<p>There was a much stronger relationship between attrition rates and external enrolment ratios. Some 20 universities had below average attrition and external enrolment rates, and ten had above average attrition and external enrolment rates. </p>
<p>The correlation was even stronger between attrition rates and part-time enrolments, with 31 universities displaying a direct relationship between the two factors. </p>
<p>Looking at our international comparisons, we saw similar trends. The overall attrition rate in the UK was 9.8%. But this hid an attrition rate of 35.5% for part-time students. For those studying through the UK Open Universities (so, externally), the attrition rate was even higher, at 43.5%. </p>
<p>In the US, the attrition rate for part-time students was 37.2%. In New Zealand, it was 26%.</p>
<h2>What type of higher education system do we want?</h2>
<p>Students who don’t complete their courses are not only missing out on a personal opportunity, there’s also lost potential to society. Students and universities must aim to further reduce attrition. Universities are changing their admission, teaching and student support to increase their students’ success. But completion rates also reflect what kind of higher education system we want.</p>
<p>That said, Australia’s attrition rates are not unusually high by these international comparisons. We should accept a modest level of attrition so we can keep providing opportunities for part-time students and others who don’t fit the conventional mould. Students studying part-time, especially those studying externally, need specialised support to help them balance their studies with their work and life commitments. But they don’t need to see their opportunities for flexible study reduced, just so an institution can improve its retention rate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88082/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We should accept a modest level of attrition so we can keep providing opportunities for part-time and online students, who might not otherwise be able to study.Tim Pitman, Researcher in Higher Education Policy, Curtin UniversityGavin Moodie, Adjunct professor, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/856032017-11-20T19:13:47Z2017-11-20T19:13:47ZEnglish test for international students isn’t new, just more standardised<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191336/original/file-20171023-545-rq78s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many English providers already meet the "new" standards.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><hr>
<p><em>Since it was introduced in the 1800s, standardised testing in Australian schools has attracted controversy and divided opinion. In this <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/standardised-testing-series-46310">series</a>, we examine its pros and cons, including appropriate uses for standardised tests and which students are disadvantaged by them.</em></p>
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<p>International students’ English language skills is a perennial topic for debate. A number of <a href="https://internationaleducation.gov.au/Regulatory-Information/Education-Services-for-Overseas-Students-ESOS-Legislative-Framework/ELICOSnationalstandards/Pages/Default.aspx">changes</a> were <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/birmingham/address-australian-international-education-conference-hobart">announced</a> by Education Minister Simon Birmingham in early October. There has been some confusion about these changes in the media, which deserve clarification. </p>
<h2>No new tests, just new standards</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/new-english-test-will-help-not-harm-inbound-education-market/news-story/e3f51b761491885f80c418dc29a4174b">The</a> <a href="http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2017/10/12/simon-birmingham-university-international-students-english-test/">press</a> has reported that international students who have completed an English studies course will now have to pass a new English test for entry into university courses. On <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/birmingham/interview-abc-am-sabra-lane-6">ABC AM</a>, the tests were also portrayed as being a new, additional measure. In fact, there is no further standardised testing being implemented by the government, but rather a change in regulation.</p>
<p>Simon Birmingham has not corrected this misconception. In response, English Australia (a national body for English language providers) produced a <a href="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/674a707bc4763b1bb4a9f32fa/files/4bf92a1e-1679-4627-a474-73a7dd4d187b/Peak_body_statement_re_ELICOS_Standards.pdf">media release</a> to reassure potential international students that there is, in fact, no additional testing involved. </p>
<p>What has changed, however, is <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2017L01349/Explanatory%20Statement/Text">Standard P4</a>, where English providers must each set their own formal measures showing that their outcomes match related pathways to university programs. Many English providers currently meet these requirements and engage in assessment using informal standardised English tests, benchmarking against other English providers, and (for the best providers) tracking students at university to verify the effective preparation of those students. The new guidelines have been made in direct consultation with the English language provider industry.</p>
<p>The expansion of the regulatory standards to the vocational sector is interesting, since <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2017L01349/Explanatory%20Statement/Text">it now applies to</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“all courses provided, or intended to be provided, to overseas students that are solely or predominantly of English language instruction.” </p>
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<p>Previously, VET English courses did not have to maintain a class size of 18 or less, nor did they have to provide a minimum of 20 hours per week face-to-face class time. This is important because VET English courses can be used as a pathway into university, and the different practices means students have different English outcomes. Students with lower English skills have a lesser ability to engage with higher-level language required for study. </p>
<p>The changes will not, however, affect foundation programs that focus on academic skills, with a lesser focus on language skills teaching.</p>
<h2>The problem with short courses</h2>
<p>One issue these changes do not address is the pressure English providers are under to produce students with proficient English in short periods of time. A quality ELICOS provider that tracks the outcomes of their students may offer a course that takes 15-20 weeks, whereas another provider might offer a similar 10-week course elsewhere. Universities will accept both. There is <a href="https://www.ieaa.org.au/documents/item/54">no standardised framework</a> to establish equivalence. The market favours the shortest course for the quickest university enrolment. </p>
<p>These short courses base their educational approach on the idea that it takes 10 weeks of intensive study to improve English by a certain amount, specifically an increase of 0.5 on the <a href="http://www.ielts.org">IELTS</a> English test (scores range from 0 to 9). University students are usually required to have IELTS 6.0-7.0, depending on the course. </p>
<p>Often, students go to an English provider until they achieve an equivalent level of English to IELTS 6.0-7.0, but note that their levels are determined internally by the ELICOS provider itself, and the student can then go to university without being tested independently. The new ELICOS standards place greater accountability on English providers, since now they need to have <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2017L01349/Explanatory%20Statement/Text">formal processes</a> to show that their student outcomes are of a similar quality to other measures or pathways used for tertiary admission. This step towards standardising, however small, is welcome, because it should reveal differences in outcomes for different types of English course. </p>
<p>This change may make ELICOS providers take into account that students get very different <a href="https://www.ielts.org/teaching-and-research/research-reports/volume-04-report-6">results</a> in 10-12 weeks. This depends on how proficient students already are when they start the English course. Low levels of English can be improved rapidly, but this slows as IELTS scores become higher, especially approaching university-level English. This effect continues for international students who go on to undertake university study. By the end of their degrees, some students will have no change or even a lower IELTS score than when they <a href="https://www.ielts.org/teaching-and-research/research-reports/volume-13-report-2">started</a> university: none seem to improve by more than 1.0 in their scores, even after three years. </p>
<h2>Sink or swim</h2>
<p>When reading media articles such as <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/opinion-foreign-university-students-with-poor-english-drag-down-grades-of-australian-classmates/news-story/ebe59aadc10df1f4726db3d20827b0ec">this</a>, people may wonder how international students are even allowed into university if their English is not adequate. </p>
<p>It is true that universities have traditionally allowed students to enrol at a level of English where the IELTS test makers <a href="https://www.ielts.org/ielts-for-organisations/setting-ielts-entry-scores">state</a> “more English study is needed”. The university’s IELTS levels are then used as a <a href="http://www.flinders.edu.au/international-students/study-at-flinders/entry--and-english-requirements/">benchmark</a> for other university entry methods, such as ELICOS, and to set scores on comparable English tests (such as <a href="https://www.ets.org/toefl">TOEFL</a>). </p>
<p>Students who need to develop their English further will either sink or swim. Many students swim and tread water, but we hear a lot about those who sink, and some are driven to <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-unis-should-take-responsibility-for-corrupt-practices-in-international-education-40380">cheat</a>. The changes in regulation do not deal with these issues.</p>
<p>Commissioning research on how long it actually takes for students at different levels of English to be ready for university study might be useful. This would provide the ELICOS sector with a realistic idea of how long their courses need to be, and the universities with a better understanding of how much preparation should be expected. </p>
<p>Universities, study agents, and overseas students also need to be made aware of how important it is to have solid English skills for university study and to become competitive in the workforce. This may help all parties understand that extra time spent on English language study may make all the difference for the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85603/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Muller does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Contrary to some reports, there is no new English language test for international students - the government is simply expanding standards already being met by most providers.Amanda Muller, Senior Lecturer (Nursing English), Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/866172017-11-01T22:23:27Z2017-11-01T22:23:27ZFive steps Australia can take to build an effective space agency<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192577/original/file-20171031-18735-m9zs3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What will it take to give Australia's space agency wings? Image from the opening ceremony at IAC2017. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usembassycanberra/37065599990/in/photolist-YMQ327-YtmTwN-YMQ1hq-YPnTMY-YtmTaf-YPnVt3-XQQHwg-XQQGZK-XMhKGS-XQQJQZ-YtmSLj-XMhMv1-XMhLSC-XQQL6V-YMQ3Ly-YPnW3Q-YMQ3hs-YMQ4gb">usembassycanberra/flickr </a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Senator Simon Birmingham’s September <a href="http://spacenews.com/australia-to-establish-national-space-agency/">declaration</a> that Australia would establish a space agency created a buzz across the space sector. </p>
<p>The announcement was unexpected. Few anticipated any government commitment until after Dr Megan Clark’s <a href="http://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/sinodinos/media-releases/expert-review-australia%E2%80%99s-space-industry-capabilities-participate">expert panel</a> reported on Australia’s space industry capability in March 2018.</p>
<p>Establishing an agency is a sensible decision and rightly has <a href="http://www.senatorkimcarr.com/a_national_space_science_and_industry_agency_to_create_jobs">bipartisan support</a>. But the hard work in determining the shape of the agency has only just begun.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-australia-will-have-a-space-agency-what-does-this-mean-experts-respond-84588">Yes, Australia will have a space agency. What does this mean? Experts respond</a>
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<p>In forming the new agency, <a href="https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/09/what-experts-have-to-say-about-australias-space-agency/">much has already been said</a> about what it might do. But how the agency is set up will be just as important to success. </p>
<p>My five steps to an effective agency are: include both “new” and “old” space, give the agency actual power, make the most of the space “brain drain” and work cooperatively with the Department of Defence. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"912119868312260608"}"></div></p>
<h2>The new pathway to space</h2>
<p>The most startling recent evolution in space is that there is more money on the table. <a href="https://brycetech.com/downloads/Bryce_Start_Up_Space_2017.pdf">Venture capital funding</a> for space projects in each of 2015 and 2016 exceeded the total of all venture capital investments in space since 2000. </p>
<p>Australia has more than <a href="http://www.globalaccesspartners.org/Australian_Space_Initiative_GAP_Taskforce_Report_Aug2017.pdf">43 small businesses focused on</a> the space sector. This growth has been driven by a rapidly falling cost to participate in space activities. The cost and weight of satellites has plummeted as the technologies that deliver small, affordable smartphones found space applications. </p>
<p>Innovation, competition and ride-sharing on launch vehicles – think Elon Musk’s <a href="http://www.spacex.com/">Space X</a> and Auckland-based startup <a href="https://www.rocketlabusa.com/">Rocket Lab</a> – have reduced per-kilo prices to space, and costs will likely fall further.</p>
<p>In this rapidly changing environment, here are my five recommendations for space agency success. </p>
<h2>1. Grow the ‘new space’ market</h2>
<p>The “new space” market is characterised by projects focused on commercial return, particularly small satellites. This is a fast growing sector with <a href="http://www.deltavspacehub.com/#space20">existing companies</a> that can deliver Australian technology jobs and export revenue. </p>
<p>To make the most of this existing pool of potential, the agency should fund widely with small amounts, just enough to prove concepts or encourage commercial participation. It should draw on venture capital in assembling this portfolio, as the <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Showcase/Innovation-fund">CSIRO</a> and the <a href="http://seraphimcapital.co.uk/focus">UK Space Agency</a> are doing. </p>
<h2>2. Do not neglect ‘old space’</h2>
<p>Despite the hype around small satellites and commercial space, Australia should not neglect altogether the “old space” of large, reliable and expensive satellites. These are still the mainstay of the industry, and the training ground from which many startups spring. </p>
<p>Precisely because the work proceeds more slowly, old space offers steady cash flow to complement the precarious financing arrangements of many of the new space businesses. New space companies that can also sell hardware or services to old space companies are particularly valuable. </p>
<p>The path here is clear: the agency should work closely with existing trade programs to help the Australian space industry break into global supply chains, in particular helping business navigate restrictive foreign export and labour laws. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192580/original/file-20171031-18704-1qdgkhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192580/original/file-20171031-18704-1qdgkhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192580/original/file-20171031-18704-1qdgkhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192580/original/file-20171031-18704-1qdgkhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192580/original/file-20171031-18704-1qdgkhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192580/original/file-20171031-18704-1qdgkhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192580/original/file-20171031-18704-1qdgkhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Images such as this one collected by NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite can be used to detect bushfires in remote Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2016/bushfires-in-western-australia">NASA</a></span>
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<h2>3. Give the space agency ‘teeth’</h2>
<p>It is not enough for the agency to develop a paper vision for the Australian space sector; it needs the power to make it a reality. </p>
<p>Historically, Australia’s civilian space strategy has been <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Civil-space-coordination/Pages/default.aspx">fragmented</a> by a bureaucratic turf war across agencies including <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Astronomy">CSIRO</a>, the <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/satellite/about_satellites.shtml">Bureau of Meteorology</a>, <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/earth-obs">Geoscience Australia</a> and the <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Pages/default.aspx">Department of Industry</a>.</p>
<p>Now state and territory governments are <a href="https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/act/northern-territory-joins-act-south-australia-in-space-lobby-efforts-20170924-gynmur.html">joining the fray</a>. South Australia recently launched a <a href="https://indaily.com.au/news/2017/09/21/state-govt-launches-space-industry-centre/">Space Industry Centre</a>, and in October Australian Capital Territory Chief Minister Barr visited SpaceX and other aerospace giants on the US West Coast “<a href="http://www.cmd.act.gov.au/open_government/inform/act_government_media_releases/barr/2017/chief-minister-looks-to-continue-growth-of-cbr-space-industry">to discuss opportunities</a>”. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"923073206595940352"}"></div></p>
<p>Australia’s agency needs the authority to impose national strategic discipline. The government could give the agency undisputed policy authority, for example, by making it a small group within Prime Minister and Cabinet. Or the agency could be given purse-string power by allocating the civilian federal space budget through it rather than the existing patchwork of agencies. </p>
<p>Anything less will make the agency a contested and ineffective leader for the Australian space sector.</p>
<h2>4. Bring back home-grown talent</h2>
<p>There is a <a href="https://quokkaspace.wordpress.com/space-expats/">wealth</a> of Australians who have gone overseas to pursue space careers. Many were back home for September’s <a href="http://www.iac2017.org/">International Astronautical Congress</a> in Adelaide, and were keen to contribute to the success of the agency. </p>
<p>The federal government should be flexible enough to include these dynamic individuals and accelerate the first years of the agency. For example, somebody like Christopher Boshuizen, the <a href="https://www.advance.org/christopher-boshuizen/">Australian co-founder</a> of <a href="https://www.planet.com/">space startup Planet</a> – on the path to “unicorn” US$1 billion <a href="https://brycetech.com/downloads/Bryce_Start_Up_Space_2017.pdf">valuation</a> – would be a great asset working on behalf of Australian space startups. </p>
<p>Such talent would kick-start the late-blooming agency with world-class credibility and instant connections to global activity. </p>
<h2>5. Work with Defence</h2>
<p>A civilian space agency needs to establish a relationship of mutual respect with the <a href="http://www.defence.gov.au/">Department of Defence</a> space sector, while each maintains primacy in its own sphere. </p>
<p>Defence has substantial space experience, both directly and through Australia’s US alliance. And investments in national security space dwarf civilian spend. For example, Defence recently <a href="https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/minister/christopher-pyne/media-releases/500-million-enhanced-satellite-capability">announced</a> a decade-long program worth A$500 million to develop domestic satellite imagery capabilities. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/collecting-satellite-data-australia-wants-a-new-direction-for-earth-observation-84678">Collecting satellite data Australia wants: a new direction for Earth observation</a>
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<p>With the right relationship, Defence would increase access to the agility and innovation of the commercial sector and the civilian agency would benefit from the experience of Defence personnel.</p>
<p>As Senator Birmingham announced Australia’s plans to the world’s largest civilian space conference (September 2017’s <a href="http://www.iac2017.org/">International Astronautical Congress</a>), he was speaking to many who have lived through Australia’s big talk on space. We’ve experienced <a href="http://www.satmagazine.com/story.php?number=131406989">failed launch proposals</a> on Christmas Island and Cape York, and the rise and fall of the Hawke government’s “<a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/CIB/CIB9798/98cib12">Australian Space Office</a>”. </p>
<p>Birmingham made an announcement on the biggest possible stage. The “how” will be as important as the “what” if we are to make good this time on high expectations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86617/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Wicht is affiliated with the Space Industry Association of Australia and the Centre for a New American Security.
The Alliance 21 program receives funding from the Australian Government and industry. </span></em></p>The excitement over the announcement of a space agency for Australia has now quietened. So it’s time to work out what we want, and how to get there.Anthony Wicht, Alliance 21 Fellow (Space) at the United States Studies Centre, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/847022017-09-29T06:12:25Z2017-09-29T06:12:25ZAustralia’s new national space agency will help students reach for the stars in STEM<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188009/original/file-20170928-1442-1nuceaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> </figcaption></figure><p>The establishment of a new Australian national space agency <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/birmingham/doorstop-interview-adelaide-16">was announced</a> by federal minister for education and training, Simon Birmingham, at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Adelaide this past week. The announcement was met with loud cheers from the 4,300 delegates attending from around the world, 30% of whom were Australians. </p>
<p>While the details are pending, it’s worth considering whether the space agency could play a vital role in inspiring students to take up science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.</p>
<h2>Inspiration matters</h2>
<p>The broad answer to that came during a debate at the IAC this week among heads of space agencies (not including Australia – yet) on whether science comes before business, or business before science. The acting head of NASA, Robert Lightfoot, said it was neither, but in between science and business is inspiration.</p>
<p>And that’s the point. It is why all space agencies have education and outreach programs. Space inspires. That is why there a number of space education facilities have already sprung up in Australia, such as the Victorian Space Science Education Centre <a href="https://www.vssec.vic.edu.au/">(VSSEC)</a>, the <a href="http://www.themarslab.org/">Mars Lab</a> at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney, the South Australian Space School <a href="https://www.spaceschool.com/">(SASS)</a> and the CSIRO education program at the <a href="https://www.cdscc.nasa.gov/Pages/welcome.html">Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex</a>.</p>
<p>Michael Pakakis, Director of VSSEC, has taught high school students for 32 years. He maintains: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Take any subject and make it space-related. Engagement goes up by 100%.” </p>
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<p>An example might be a plant biology subject and then relating that to remote sensing and what we can see from space. VSSEC, on the grounds of a high school in Victoria, has seen 100,000 students go through its facility since 2006, according to Pakakis. </p>
<p>VSSEC has also provided 3,000 teachers with professional development. Pakakis says teachers seek this professional development because few have been taught the skills to teach STEM in an interdisciplinary way. Space education offers the basis for an inspirational and interdisciplinary approach to STEM.</p>
<h2>Engagement matters</h2>
<p>Engagement is a word that is often used, but rarely defined. I have heard it said that engagement is the number of students paying attention in class and passing the subsequent test. As an evidence-based science communicator, I see engagement as half my online University of New South Wales (UNSW) astrobiology course students continuing to access the materials two months after the course has ended because they want to. Space education in Australia already attracts thousands of students - not because they are required to pay attention to pass a test, but because the students want to participate. By this definition, space education engages students in STEM. </p>
<p>For example, the Mars Lab at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney attracts 3,000 students a year, according to MAAS. The Mars Lab education program was partly funded by the Australian Space Research Program in 2010 and created in a partnership between UNSW, the University of Sydney and MAAS. Students create their own Mars missions in the 140 square metre Mars Yard and drive the three experimental Mars rovers from their classrooms. The video below was made by students of their experience.</p>
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<h2>Space education influences student choice in STEM</h2>
<p>One of the papers given at the IAC was from SASS charting its own experience how space education is influential in STEM. SASS ran a survey earlier this year of program participants over the 20 years they have been running. 84% of those who responded said they had been influenced by their experience to take at least one STEM subject at university level. </p>
<p>CSIRO has long been convinced of the impact space education has on students in encouraging them in STEM related study and careers. It attracts tens of thousands of students and hundreds of teachers every year across a wide range of programs. The Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex education program alone attracts 10,000 students a year, according to CSIRO.</p>
<h2>Why should we care about STEM education and outreach?</h2>
<p>We only need look at the <a href="http://www.maths.usyd.edu.au/u/SMS/MMW2015.pdf">national</a> or <a href="http://www.compareyourcountry.org/pisa/country/AUS?lg=en">international</a> reports to know Australia suffers the same problem as other developed nations: students are not engaging in STEM subjects or skills. That’s a problem for the future, where <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/science/outreach/inspiring/news/STEM-skills-key-to-future-growth.shtml">75% of the fastest growing occupations</a> are predicted to need at least some STEM skills. As Planetary Society CEO, Bill Nye (better known as Bill Nye the Science Guy) pointedly said at the IAC, innovation does not happen without science, or indeed STEM skills – and these drive the economy of a nation. </p>
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<p>The Australian space agency has the opportunity to transform the way STEM is taught by building on the innovative home-grown space education programs that already exist here. These effective and successful programs enable an engaging and interdisciplinary approach to STEM education as well as critical thinking, collaboration and communication skills needed in the workplace. </p>
<h2>The Space Agency is well positioned to engage more students in STEM</h2>
<p>There are already a number of examples that indicate activity in primary and high school education will result in the space skilled workforce Australia needs.</p>
<p>Will Read is a student who was inspired by a VSSEC program and who eventually came to the Mars Yard to create an experimental Mars Rover, which was on show at the IAC. He has now completed his doctoral degree and has been snapped up by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to work on a similar rover.</p>
<p>Read is not alone. For example, the Australian Centre for Astrobiology at UNSW has three past students at NASA. Dr Abby Allwood is the first woman and the first Australian to lead an experiment on Mars rover mission, slated for 2020. Working as one of her co-investigators in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is David Flannery. At NASA Headquarters, Dr Adrian Brown is Deputy Program Scientist for the Mars Exploration Program.</p>
<p>Not everyone goes overseas, either. Solange Cunin, an alumnus of the UNSW astrobiology course, now runs <a href="https://www.cuberider.com/program-overview">Cuberider</a>. This STEM education program is aimed at educating thousands of young people in near-space satellite use. </p>
<p>The good news is that a substantial part of the space education infrastructure for an Australian space agency already exists, in the VSSEC, the Mars Lab, SASS and the CSIRO programs based in states around Australia. </p>
<p>These existing facilities are the foundation on which an Australian space agency can build a world class national STEM education and outreach program. This national space initiative has the potential to inspire thousands more Australian students to take up STEM studies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84702/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carol Oliver received funding from the Australian Space Research Program, the Broadband Enabled Education and Skills Program (both of which helped create the Mars Yard), and the Australian Maths and Science Partnerships Program. She is a member of the Australian Academy of Science's National Committee on Space and Radio Science, and an academic at the University of New South Wales.</span></em></p>Space inspires, and the establishment of a Space Agency in Australia is well positioned to drive engagement in STEM.Carol Oliver, Deputy Director, Australian Centre for Astrobiology, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/822172017-08-10T02:24:42Z2017-08-10T02:24:42ZFee increases still on the table after Senate committee reports on higher education changes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181615/original/file-20170810-13327-hflzcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Where to next on higher education reform?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Paul Miller</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Wednesday, a Senate committee <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/HigherEducation2017/Report">reported</a> on the government’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/2017-higher-education-reform-cuts-to-universities-higher-fees-for-students-63185">proposed changes to higher education</a>.</p>
<p>Though more moderate than <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-just-about-student-fees-its-about-institutionalised-inequity-27178">the 2014 version</a>, the new higher education package represents groundhog day for the major political parties. The committee, chaired as it was by the Coalition, recommended passing the measures, stating that they will:</p>
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<p>… balance the Commonwealth’s need to recover student debts over time with the need of students to access a fair and high-quality system of higher education without facing high upfront fees.</p>
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<p>However, the Labor members of the committee dissented. They strongly argued for the bill to be rejected, arguing that: </p>
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<p>Australian students will have to pay more, for less, sooner.</p>
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<p>Where to next?</p>
<h2>What are the changes?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/driving-innovation-fairness-and-excellence-australian-education">reforms’</a> explicit intent is to rein in government spending on higher education without compromising teaching quality or restricting access to higher education by making it unaffordable.</p>
<p>The headline changes are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>An increase in the student contribution toward the cost of the degree to, on average, 46% for Australian students (currently they pay on average 42%).</p></li>
<li><p>According to the government, the maximum cost of a Commonwealth-supported course would be A$50,000 for a four-year degree, or $75,000 for a six-year medical degree.</p></li>
<li><p>Students paying for their degree through <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/higher-education-loan-program-help">HECS-HELP</a> would start paying it back when they earn $42,000 (the current threshold is $54,869).</p></li>
<li><p>The universities would be subjected to a 2.5% funding cut (the government calls it an efficiency dividend), which amounts to around $380 million in 2019. </p></li>
<li><p>Access to Commonwealth-supported places for Australian permanent residents and New Zealand students would be removed. These students would have to pay the full tuition rate. This would typically double or even triple the cost of their degree. To offset the fee increase, these students will be able to access HECS-HELP loans like Australian citizens, whereas previously they had to pay up front. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>For context, when higher education reform was last attempted in 2014, proposed cuts to university teaching funding were around 20%. And student fees were to be deregulated, leading to fears that degrees could cost more than $100,000. </p>
<p>The 2014 proposals proved almost universally unpopular but the legislation lingered, zombie-like, for several years before being shelved. This new proposal is an attempt to press the reset button and move forward. </p>
<p>Those opposed to the latest proposal have pointed to reduced funding for universities, higher costs to students, and tougher loan repayment requirements. </p>
<p>Those supporting the changes feel the fee increases and funding cuts are moderate in comparison to the 2014 proposals, and in line with the overall fiscal reality. </p>
<h2>How was the new reform agenda received?</h2>
<p>Since announcing the changes, the government has received more than 1,200 submissions from a wide range of higher education stakeholders, including students and their parents. </p>
<p>Further submissions were made to the <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/HigherEducation2017">Senate committee</a>. The vast majority opposed the proposed changes to student tuition fees and repayments. </p>
<p>The general sentiment revealed by the submissions was a belief that “students will end up paying more to get less”. This phrase, or similar versions of it, appeared in multiple submissions.</p>
<p>Many submissions were from permanent residents and New Zealanders, worried about the intended increase to the cost of their education. In the words of one:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am pretty sure there are countless others who have had their dreams of studying higher education crushed … We should take care of the people living in this country, and give them a chance to progress into university, before they like us feel as though they may have to return back to their home countries just to follow their educational dreams.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=e0c7a835-3ee3-4045-9e14-4a71ff1ad941&subId=512537">its submission</a>, the University of South Australia supported the student fee increase but opposed the lowering of the repayment threshold.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=4599b508-9c1e-47dc-8c06-050a1050029e&subId=511791">Victoria University proposed</a> the money raised by increasing student tuition fees should be given to the universities rather than the Commonwealth:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… in order to directly improve the student experience of those paying the fees.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>All other universities either opposed the student fee increases, or avoided the issue in their submissions. </p>
<p>All universities opposed the proposed funding cut to the universities themselves.</p>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>In its dissenting report, Labor calculated, for example, that a graduate with a HELP debt earning $51,000 will have less disposable income than someone earning $32,000. </p>
<p>Labor also expressed its concern about the impact of student debt on New Zealanders and permanent residents, given they will be required to pay full fees.</p>
<p>Similarly, the Greens members of the committee dissented, stating that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… young people from low socioeconomic backgrounds would be priced out of an education.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Assuming the government proceeds with the changes, the Senate will debate and vote on the bill in due course. If so, its fate lies with the minor parties and independents – just as it did the last time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82217/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Pitman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Though more moderate than the 2014 version, the new higher education reform package represents groundhog day for the major political parties.Tim Pitman, Researcher in Higher Education Policy, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/798282017-06-23T00:13:29Z2017-06-23T00:13:29ZThe passage of Gonski 2.0 is a victory for children over politics<p>In the early hours of this morning, the Senate did something profound. It voted to improve the way we fund our schools. This is a victory for the children of Australia.</p>
<p>A Senate packed with cross-benchers and minor parties was supposed to make political compromise harder, and good policy all but impossible. </p>
<p>But the cross-benchers have proved the naysayers wrong. Not only did they pass Education Minister <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-announces-schools-funding-and-a-new-gonski-review-77011?sa=pg1&sq=gonski&sr=13">Simon Birmingham’s needs-based funding plan</a> – an olive branch <a href="https://theconversation.com/giving-a-gonski-will-be-torrid-test-for-the-greens-77593">summarily dismissed by Labor</a> – but they negotiated amendments to improve the plan.</p>
<h2>What will change with the passage of Gonski 2.0?</h2>
<p>Birmingham’s original package, the so-called Gonski 2.0, makes key improvements to the national school funding framework established by the Gillard government in the 2013 Education Act (explained further in our <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Grattan-Institute-Submission-to-the-Senate-Inquiry-into-the-Australian-Education-Bill-2017.pdf">Senate Inquiry submission</a>).</p>
<p>First, Commonwealth funding of schools increases and is also more consistent across all states and sectors. </p>
<p>Commonwealth funding to government schools will rise from an average of 17% of their needs in 2017 to 20% by 2023. Funding to non-government schools will rise from an average of 77% to 80%. </p>
<p>Second, Gonski 2.0 removes some of the special deals so that underfunded schools will get the Commonwealth share of their target funding within six years – much sooner than under the 2013 Act. Many overfunded schools will have their funding growth rates slowed, and a small number of the most overfunded schools will have their funding cut over the next ten years. This is an important break from the former Labor government’s promise, embedded in the 2013 Act, that “no school will lose a dollar”. </p>
<p>Third, it makes several changes to the funding formula. One big change is a revised parental “capacity to contribute” measure, which removes the “system weighted average” approach for non-government systemic schools. The Catholic schools hate this change, because it overturns a generous funding arrangement that enabled them to keep primary school fees low regardless of how wealthy the parents are. </p>
<p>Fourth, Gonski 2.0 reduces the indexation rate for school funding in line with low wages growth. It will remain at 3.56% a year until 2020, but from 2021 a new and lower floating indexation rate will apply, based on the wage price index and CPI. (A minimum floor of 3%, added at the urging of stakeholders, is problematic but far from a deal-breaker.) </p>
<p>Lastly, Gonski 2.0 creates a stronger link between Commonwealth funding and agreed national initiatives to improve student performance.</p>
<h2>What tweaks were made at the 11th hour?</h2>
<p>A number of <a href="http://wbfinancial.feedsynews.com/govt-reaches-deal-on-schools-funding/?utm_content=buffer3b596&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer">last-minute “tweaks”</a> were made to secure the required Senate votes.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Underfunded schools will get much-needed extra money more quickly – over six years rather than ten. This change means an extra $4.9 billion will be provided on top of the $18.6 billion in the May budget. </p></li>
<li><p>A 12-month “transition package” of $50 million will be provided to systemic schools, whether Catholic or independent, and there will be an (overdue) review of the parental “capacity to contribute” measure. </p></li>
<li><p>State government funding appears to be subject to a “clawback” mechanism, similar to what we proposed in our <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Grattan-Institute-Submission-to-the-Senate-Inquiry-into-the-Australian-Education-Bill-2017.pdf">Senate inquiry submission</a>. This is designed to ensure state governments step up. It is not clear exactly how it will work, but if a state fails to provide at least 75% of the target funding to government schools, or 15% of the target for non-government schools, the federal government will withhold some funding to that state.</p></li>
<li><p>A body will be established to conduct independent reviews of the school funding formula and ensure transparency on the distribution of funds.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>What this means for schools</h2>
<p>Schools will now have more certainty on how they will be funded – at least from the Commonwealth. </p>
<p>The concept of needs-based funding now has across-the-board support, even if there are differences on the details and how much money each party is promising. Importantly, Commonwealth funding to disadvantaged schools will be delivered a lot faster. </p>
<p>Attention will now turn to the states, given that they provide most of the funding for government schools, which educate the bulk of Australia’s disadvantaged students. Further questions will continue to be raised about the impact on students with disabilities.</p>
<h2>Winners and losers</h2>
<p>The only way to determine which schools are “winners” and which are “losers” is by looking at what would have happened if the Senate had voted down Gonski 2.0. So,
here’s the “scoreboard” under Gonski 2.0 compared to the 2013 Education Act.</p>
<p><strong>Government schools are (mostly) winners</strong></p>
<p>Government schools in all states, and in the ACT, will get more Commonwealth funding. </p>
<p>Based on the new six-year timeframe for underfunded schools, our latest modelling suggests government schools in NSW will get between $200 million and $300 million more federal funding over the next four years. For Victoria, the boost is between $300 million and $400 million. Both Queensland and South Australia appear to get between $100 and $200 million extra. The boosts for government schools in Tasmania and the ACT are smaller in dollar terms, but still substantial per student. </p>
<p>The biggest winners are state schools in Western Australia, which will get about $500 million more over four years, and at least $2 billion more over a decade.</p>
<p>Government schools in the Northern Territory will lose compared to their current level of Commonwealth funding, which is higher than other jurisdictions – but a transition package has been provided.</p>
<p><strong>Catholic schools will lose</strong> </p>
<p>Catholic schools are right to say they will be worse off than under the 2013 Act. Their federal funding is projected to be $3.1 billion less over the next ten years. </p>
<p>This loss arises mainly from the interaction of two changes to the capacity-to-pay measure. The first is the removal of the generous “system weighted average” in the capacity-to-pay measure, which treated all Catholic schools as average rather than basing their funding on each school’s parent body. The second change is to the curve used to calculate parents’ capacity to contribute in primary schools. The previous curve had limited how much parents were expected to contribute in even quite advantaged primary schools.</p>
<p>The loss is biggest for ACT Catholic schools, which will see virtually no funding growth for a decade. </p>
<p>A core complaint from the Catholic leadership is that the socioeconomic status (SES) score disadvantages Catholic schools. Accordingly, one of the first jobs of the new National Schools Resourcing Board will be to review the SES scores. The final impact on Catholic schools will depend on the findings of that review.</p>
<p>In the meantime, a one-off transition package of around $50 million over the next year will be delivered to help “vulnerable” Catholic and independent schools adjust to the new arrangements.</p>
<p><strong>Independent schools have mixed outcomes</strong></p>
<p>The impact on independent schools is mixed. Those serving low socioeconomic communities are winners. A handful of (mostly wealthy) private schools will have their overly generous funding arrangements whittled back.</p>
<h2>The Senate has done its job today</h2>
<p>It is worth celebrating a day when the Australian system of democracy did its job well. </p>
<p>With a better model of school funding approved, policymakers can shift their focus to the harder job of finding ways to lift the performance of Australian students.</p>
<p>Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham deserves credit for Gonski 2.0: he originated the plan and stared down the scaremongers. The 11th-hour amendments improve the package, and there are no special deals of the type that infected every previous funding settlement for decades.</p>
<p>In light of the opposition from Labor, the fate of Gonski 2.0 came down to the supportive cross-benchers: The Nick Xenophon Team, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, Derryn Hinch, Lucy Gichuhi and Jacqui Lambie. The Greens, having done good work to secure the key amendments, succumbed at the last to the pressure of the Australian Education Union. </p>
<p>Paul Keating once memorably dismissed the Senate as unrepresentative swill. If that epithet was ever fair, it is not fair today. Because early today, the Senate cross-benchers stood up for Australia’s children and passed a package that, while it may not be perfect, might just help us move on from Australia’s <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/the-educational-consequences-of-the-peace">oldest, deepest and most poisonous debate</a> – how to fund our schools.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79828/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and Grattan uses the income to pursue its activities.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Sonnemann does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The passage of the new schools funding program is a big win for Australian children.Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteJulie Sonnemann, Research Fellow, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/796452017-06-18T11:58:29Z2017-06-18T11:58:29ZWill the Greens let the teachers’ union bully them over schools funding?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174293/original/file-20170618-10505-i1ooyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sarah Hanson-Young has come up against the pressure of the Australian Education Union.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some Liberals love to deride Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young. In the past, the government’s immigration minister and attack dog, Peter Dutton, was particularly insulting when she was spokeswoman in his area.</p>
<p>Now it’s Hanson-Young, handling the education area for the Greens, who is battling to get her party to pass the schools package that, in political terms, Malcolm Turnbull desperately needs.</p>
<p>The package is a truer version of the original Gonski needs-based system, and so would benefit deserving government schools, which are Hanson-Young’s priority. She’s gone out on a limb within her own ranks to attempt to promote a deal.</p>
<p>The government hopes to have the legislation through this last week before the winter break. “We’ll make sure we land this,” Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said on Sunday. The question is: who can it get to be its dancing partners? The Greens, or other crossbenchers?</p>
<p>Negotiations between Hanson-Young and Education Minister Simon Birmingham – one of the better ministers, with an admirably low-key style – have seen the government showing a good deal of flexibility.</p>
<p>Hanson-Young says what the government has put on the table moves the package closer to what the Greens have been advocating.</p>
<p>It involves setting up the independent body to oversee funding that was recommended originally by Gonski, and legislation to tie the states into pulling their weight on money. The negotiations have also canvassed shortening the timeframe of the government’s A$18.6 billion plan from ten years to possibly six years, which could cost the government an extra $4.5 billion-$5 billion over a decade.</p>
<p>The government is coy about the details of concessions it would make to the Greens. But if a deal with those sorts of changes could be done, you’d think the Greens would be trying to clinch it as quickly as possible. It would represent a major win for them.</p>
<p>There is, however, an internal battle – the party is divided. </p>
<p>This is an issue on which one would think Greens leader Richard Di Natale could adopt the more pragmatic style he seemed to promise when he became leader.</p>
<p>Yet on Sunday he showed he was conflicted when he appeared on Sky. Rather than displaying leadership and saying he will urge his party room to accept a deal if it is favourable – which would allow him to claim credit for delivering a better system – he stressed not being hurried and speaking to “all the key stakeholders”, who have in fact already been consulted.</p>
<p>So what’s going on here?</p>
<p>This is going on: the Australian Education Union (AEU) is standing on the Greens’ neck. The AEU wants this as an issue at the election. And the Greens are frightened of the union, especially what it could do to the party’s aspirations in inner city seats. </p>
<p>The teachers’ union has a lot of political clout and there is extensive overlap between its membership and the support base of the Greens. The New South Wales branch of the Greens is strongly identified with the union line.</p>
<p>On Sunday the union position was simply that the Greens must block the legislation this week. It will be lobbying them hard in Canberra over the next few days.</p>
<p>It’s a sordid tale of the power of politics over policy – and it leaves the Greens exposed in their periodic bids to present themselves as the party of principle.</p>
<p>Just as they are responsible for Australia not having a better climate change policy, because they refused to accept the Rudd government’s efforts to put one in place, so too if they don’t cut a schools deal, they will be open to the criticism of trying to stymie the introduction of a more needs-based schools policy.</p>
<p>But if they opt for staying pure – or indeed even if they don’t – the government might get its way via the rest of the crossbench.</p>
<p>These players have demands of their own. But it’s possible a deal with the non-Green crossbench could come at a cheaper price than one with the Greens. If that was the case, the Greens would likely find themselves sidelined.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Labor’s performance has been hypocritical. It has said all along that because the government’s schools plan fell $22 billion short of the ALP’s original proposals, it wouldn’t even bother negotiating.</p>
<p>As far as one can see, Labor has three motives. </p>
<p>First, it wants to reap the advantage of the discontent in the Catholic system, which loses out in relative terms when there’s a more needs-based system, because it has been feather-bedded with special arrangements by successive governments.</p>
<p>Second, it doesn’t want to allow the Coalition any win on schools policy.</p>
<p>Third, like the Greens it is unwilling to get the teachers’ union offside.</p>
<p>If the ALP really cared as much as it claims about state schools, it would not oppose the government’s policy but promise at the election that a Labor government would top up the money.</p>
<p>But that would be putting policy ahead of politics.</p>
<p><strong>POSTSCRIPT</strong></p>
<p>The Coalition trails Labor 47-53% on the two-party vote for the third consecutive <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/newspoll/newspoll-turnbull-fails-to-turn-corner-with-power-battle/news-story/79ce414773ab471673e3cf1e1935f1f6">Newspoll</a> – the 14th consecutive one in which it has been behind.</p>
<p>Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten both lost ground on net satisfaction – they are tied in deeply negative territory on minus 23. Turnbull’s satisfaction rating fell from 35% three weeks ago to 32%.</p>
<p>Turnbull has a 13-point margin over Shorten as better prime minister, 44-31%, compared with a 12-point lead in the last Newspoll.</p>
<p>The ALP primary vote is up one point to 37%. The Coalition vote is steady on 36%, for the fifth consecutive time. Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is up from 9% to 11%; the Greens are down from 10% to 9%. </p>
<iframe src="https://www.podbean.com/media/player/teu9e-6be86f?from=site&skin=1&share=1&fonts=Helvetica&auto=0&download=0" height="100" width="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player"></iframe><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79645/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Some Liberals love to deride Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young. In the past, the government’s immigration minister and attack dog, Peter Dutton, was particularly insulting when she was spokeswoman in his…Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/784692017-06-01T20:08:11Z2017-06-01T20:08:11ZExplainer: how does funding work in the Catholic school system?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171371/original/file-20170529-25201-12jbkv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Catholic schools haven't always received government funding.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gonski 2.0 has provoked substantial debate about how much money schools get, who gets too much, and how the money will be distributed. </p>
<p>Catholic schools in particular have <a href="http://www.skynews.com.au/news/politics/federal/2017/05/20/catholic-schools-to-challenge-gonski-2-0.html">expressed concern</a> about the impact of Gonski 2.0, with many Catholic schools <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/may/03/gonski-20-catholic-schools-not-singled-out-for-funding-cuts-minister-says">facing potential funding cuts</a>. </p>
<p>In response, the Catholic Education Commission Victoria (CECV) <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/catholics-declare-war-on-liberals-over-school-funding/news-story/71cd8ec9c08646d856e09172c3097580">claims</a> some schools may have to increase their fees by as much as A$5,000 per year. </p>
<p>The federal Education Minister <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-03/minister-hits-back-at-catholic-sector-school-funding-outcry/8492890">Simon Birmingham has hit back</a>, accusing the Catholic sector of “exaggerating” claims of potential cuts and their impact. He has defended Gonski 2.0 stating that it will treat all schools - government and non-government - consistently. </p>
<p>Amid all of these debates is a lot of confusion about how and why the federal government funds Catholic schools. Catholic schools, like all non-government schools, receive their primary government funding from the federal government. However, there is not necessarily a direct funding flow from the government to schools. </p>
<p>Most Catholic schools are systemic schools, situated within the Catholic system across the states and territories, and these systems make their own decisions about school funding. </p>
<p>So how does government funding of Catholic schools actually work? </p>
<h2>Government hasn’t always funded Catholic schools</h2>
<p>In the current context, it’s perhaps easy to take for granted that Catholic and other non-government schools receive government funds. However, this was not always the case. The market-based system we have today has been encouraged by a number of key policy decisions. </p>
<p>This all began in the late 1960s and 1970s when, in response to a struggling Catholic sector, the federal government decided to provide school funding. </p>
<p>Up until then, the federal government had little involvement in the funding of Australian schooling (with the exception of the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory). </p>
<p><a href="https://www.education.gov.au/funding-schools">Constitutionally</a>, it is the states and territories – not the Australian government – that have legislative authority to regulate, register, and deliver schooling. Therefore, it was really the states that funded schools. Indeed, it is still the state and territory governments that primarily fund government schools. </p>
<p>It started in earnest with capital funding for schools <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/binaries/library/pubs/bn/sp/schoolsfunding.pdf">introduced in the 1960s</a>. The <em>States Grants (Science Laboratories and Technical Training) Act 1964</em> funded science laboratories in both government and non-government schools. </p>
<p>Federal funding for non-government schools was then cemented in 1970 with the <em>States Grants (Independent Schools) Act 1969</em>. This provided non-government schools with a flat rate of federal government money per student. </p>
<p>Yet, it wasn’t until 1973 that an ongoing and systematic approach to federal funding of schools was enshrined. Then, the Whitlam-appointed <a href="http://dehanz.net.au/entries/karmel-report-schools-australia/">Karmel Report</a> introduced a “needs-based” school funding approach from the federal government. </p>
<p>The significance of the Karmel Report cannot be understated. Based on a “needs-based” formula, it provided <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rearvision/education-religion-and-the-state-in-australia/5546816">much needed funding for the struggling Catholic system</a>, and in many ways cemented reliance on - and expectation of - federal funding across the non-government sector. </p>
<p>Since the Karmel Report, successive governments have retained federal funding, albeit with a range of policy changes to the funding formula over the years. </p>
<p>School funding has also become a lever for the federal government to intervene into schooling policy (while constitutional authority is retained with the states and territories). This includes, for instance, the buttressing of a market-based system premised on the existence of the three sectors – government, Catholic and independent. </p>
<p>For instance, non-government schools <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/children-of-the-whitlam-education-revolution/news-story/0e11f930d82c700dcd706c847d0d6e51">fared particularly well under</a> the Howard government’s SES model. At this time, federal education policy became pinned to the notions of marketisation and the rhetoric of “<a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/academic-professional/education/School-Choice-Craig-Campbell-Helen-Proctor-Geoffrey-Sherington-9781741756562">school choice</a>”. </p>
<p>Importantly, over the years the trend has been for a <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=aer">higher increase</a> in federal funds for the non-government sector than the government sector. </p>
<p>Now, after over 40 years, it is taken for granted that in addition to state and territory funding (which is primarily targeted at government schools), the federal government funds schools and that it does so inequitably, funding non-government schools at a higher rate than government schools. This is despite the fact that it is government schools, far more than non-government schools, that cater for disadvantaged students (as noted in <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf">Gonski 1.0</a>).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171740/original/file-20170601-25684-5diu00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171740/original/file-20170601-25684-5diu00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171740/original/file-20170601-25684-5diu00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171740/original/file-20170601-25684-5diu00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171740/original/file-20170601-25684-5diu00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171740/original/file-20170601-25684-5diu00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171740/original/file-20170601-25684-5diu00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Catholic schools receive most of their government funding from the federal government.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How does government funding for Catholic schools work now?</h2>
<p>Catholic and other non-government schools receive the bulk of their government funding from the federal government. </p>
<p>Yet, they also receive funding from the state governments. This is because of the legislative authority that states and territories have in relation to schooling. Thus, each state and territory has its own arrangements for funding non-government (and government) schools. </p>
<p>In Victoria, for example, the state government in 2016 provided over <a href="http://www.cecv.catholic.edu.au/getmedia/12cc6732-290d-47cd-8d79-d3c1d6eabf3f/CECV-Annual-Report-2015.aspx">A$440 million funding</a> to Catholic schools. </p>
<p>This recurrent funding was calculated as a part of the <a href="http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/Domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/PubStatbook.nsf/f932b66241ecf1b7ca256e92000e23be/938886C085A1A9A5CA257E0400099911/$FILE/15-001aa%20authorised.pdf">Education and Training Reform Amendment (Funding of Non-Government Schools) Act 2015</a>, which sets out the arrangements for the Victorian state government to fund non-government schools at 25% the rate of government school funding per student. </p>
<p>State funding of non-government schools can also include targeted special grants, such as the Victorian government’s <a href="http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/funding-boost-for-victorian-independent-schools/">$32.8 million facilities funding announced in December 2016</a>.</p>
<p>Gonski 2.0 represents another iteration of federal funding policies in schooling. In this model, the <a href="http://www.budget.gov.au/2013-14/content/glossy/gonski_policy/html/gonski_overview_06.htm">Schooling Resource Standard</a>, as set out in Gonski 1.0, is retained. This formula produces a base rate for the cost of schooling. </p>
<p><a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/new_fairer_school_funding_from_2018.pdf">Gonski 2.0</a> sets out that by 2027 the federal government will fund non-government schools 80% of the SRS, with government schools receiving 20%. </p>
<p>The bulk of funding for the Catholic system comes from the government. For example, the CECV <a href="http://www.cecv.catholic.edu.au/getmedia/12cc6732-290d-47cd-8d79-d3c1d6eabf3f/CECV-Annual-Report-2015.aspx">reported</a> that in 2015 it received: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>$440 million recurrent and $9.2 million targeted state government funding</p></li>
<li><p>$1.6 billion recurrent and $7.5 million targeted federal government funding</p></li>
<li><p>$96 million in school levies and almost $11 million from bank deposit interest and other income streams. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>How does the Catholic system fund its schools?</h2>
<p>When funding flows from the federal and state governments to the Catholic and independent sector it does not necessarily flow straight to the school. </p>
<p>For schools that exist within a system (such as most Catholic schools) government funding is managed and allocated by the system. This is different to the many schools within the independent sector that are not organised within a system. </p>
<p>Importantly, a <a href="http://www.audit.vic.gov.au/publications/20160309-Grants-to-NG-schools/20160309-Grants-to-NG-schools.pdf">recent report</a> from the Victorian Auditor-General suggested there was a lack of transparency and accountability within the Catholic (and other non-goverment) system’s allocation of government funds. </p>
<p>To continue with the Victorian example, Catholic schools in Victoria are managed through the CECV. Similar systems exist for Lutheran, Ecumenical and Seventh-Day Adventist schools. Independent non-government schools that do not belong to a system receive government funds directly. </p>
<p>The CECV manages all but two of the 493 Catholic schools in Victoria and the <a href="http://www.cecv.catholic.edu.au/getmedia/71d7f374-228e-44ab-839c-d0f69cd8e4ca/Allocating-govt-grants.aspx?ext=.pdf">combined $2.1 billion in funds from both the federal and state government</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.cecv.catholic.edu.au/getmedia/71d7f374-228e-44ab-839c-d0f69cd8e4ca/Allocating-govt-grants.aspx?ext=.pdf">According to the CECV,</a> funding allocation is decided through a number of committees. </p>
<p>For primary schools, the CECV decides on the share of funding that each of the four Victorian diocese will receive (the Archdiocese of Melbourne, the Diocese of Ballarat, the Diocese of Sandhurst and the Diocese of Sale). </p>
<p>The CECV uses its own <a href="http://www.cecv.catholic.edu.au/getmedia/71d7f374-228e-44ab-839c-d0f69cd8e4ca/Allocating-govt-grants.aspx?ext=.pdf">funding model,</a> which - among other things - takes into account each schools “capacity to contribute” based on the school’s SES scores. </p>
<p>According to the CECV, once the funding flows to the diocese each diocese has their own funding model they use to decide funding allocation. For secondary and combined schools, funding decisions of the CECV flow straight to the school. </p>
<p>The question, therefore, of how particular Catholic schools will fare under Gonski 2.0 is a complex one. There are layers of decision making, within multiple funding models, which occur before funding reaches each school. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, as with the first Gonski report, Gonski 2.0 is supportive of our current market-based model. </p>
<p>Despite particular “winners” and “losers”, <a href="https://thewest.com.au/news/education/funding-surge-for-high-fee-schools-ng-b88491810z">government funding of highly resourced and elite schools</a> remains intact. Arguably, then, it will also do little to address the rising inequalities that are entrenched within our market-based education system.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78469/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Gerrard does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Federal and state government funding to the Catholic sector does not necessarily then flow straight to the school.Jessica Gerrard, Senior Lecturer in Education, Equity and Politics, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/771792017-05-04T14:00:56Z2017-05-04T14:00:56ZPolitics podcast: Simon Birmingham on the government’s education reforms<p>This week, the government made big announcements about the future funding of schools and universities. Haunted by the unpopular 2014 budget, it is treading more carefully with its new education policies.</p>
<p>Education Minister Simon Birmingham says one of the challenges of the 2014 budget was that there were “a lot of different pieces of policy reform all announced simultaneously”.</p>
<p>Birmingham – who took on the education portfolio after Christopher Pyne – is at pains to emphasise the government’s preparation this time around. “We’ve gone through, in university reform, a very methodical process – putting out a discussion paper before the last election that aired, if you like, all of the different options and scenarios very openly,” Birmingham says.</p>
<p>“In terms of schools funding – I’ve met with David Gonski, members of his panel, I’ve had numerous discussions with state and territory ministers, with independent and non-government Catholic school representatives.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77179/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Haunted by the unpopular 2014 budget, the government is treading more carefully with its new education policies.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/769782017-05-02T04:44:29Z2017-05-02T04:44:29ZHigher education reform: small changes for now but big ones to come<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167438/original/file-20170502-17299-wyex8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There could be much bigger changes ahead for universities.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The pre-budget announcement of <a href="https://theconversation.com/2017-higher-education-reform-cuts-to-universities-higher-fees-for-students-63185">changes to higher education funding</a> made by Education Minister Simon Birmingham last night includes an increase in student fees of 1.8% per year between 2018 and 2021, totalling a 7.5% increase over all. </p>
<p>This will equate to a rise in fees for Australian undergraduates of $2,000 to $3,600 over the course of their degree. </p>
<p>The repayment threshold for Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) will also be lowered. </p>
<p>These increased fees and faster repayment schedules for students will be accompanied by an “efficiency dividend”, which cuts funding for teaching by about 2.8% in 2018 and 2019 (equivalent to a A$380 million reduction in 2019).</p>
<h2>What does this mean for students?</h2>
<p>For students, this means that they will need to borrow more for an education, and will pay it back sooner. And the education they pay for will be delivered by universities under increased financial stress. </p>
<p>This is straightforward “no winners” austerity politics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/austerity-2893">common now</a> around the developed world.</p>
<p>The way the proposed changes were introduced to the public was particularly interesting, with the government sending out a <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/news/consultation-future-higher-education-reform-cost-of-delivery-report">press package</a> that included a <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/43506">paper by Deloitte</a> on the cost of teaching (very technical reading) as well as a list of vice chancellors’ pay and links to building projects being undertaken by universities. </p>
<p>Clearly the scene was being set for a reduction in funding on the basis that universities are presently overfunded – yet the fee increases and funding reductions revealed later in the day were modest compared to expectations. </p>
<p>Fee increases starting at 25% had <a href="http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2017/04/29/federal-budget-to-target-uni-fees.html">been speculated</a> on across the <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/budget-to-lift-fees-for-university-students-scrap-funding-cuts/news-story/5725169a6df0dfbe5ed0b699b5408be7">national media</a>, and the proposed 20% cut to funding had been hanging over the sector since 2014.</p>
<h2>What the Deloitte paper reveals</h2>
<p>Analysis of the <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/43506">Deloitte paper</a> makes interesting reading. A comparison with the conclusions drawn from it by government is particularly revealing. </p>
<p>For example, the ministerial release asserts that the Deloitte paper shows: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[university] revenue has grown faster than costs – between 2010 and 2015 the average costs of delivery per student have increased by 9.5%, compared to per student funding growth of 15%.“</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Deloitte, however, specifically cautions that the cost of teaching figures from their earlier 2010 paper and the new 2015 data,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>cannot be compared as direct growth or decline in costs relative to funding over the five years to 2015, given the differences in the sample, and differences in cost collection approaches.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Deloitte also warns: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Similarly, caution should be taken in drawing inferences about the sufficiency of [Commonwealth Grant Scheme] funding directly from these [cost of teaching to funding] ratios.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yet the government media release accompanying the report was accompanied by talking points including that universities "have been pocketing taxpayer funds beyond the costs of their operations”.</p>
<p>The difficulty here, as Deloitte notes, is that, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>while not specifically stated in the Higher Education Support Act 2003, there is a general view that CGS funding is intended to cover some level of base research activity (which may be excluded from the definition of teaching and scholarship costs used in this study), and the cost of such research may vary as a proportion of teaching costs.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Impact on research and teaching</h2>
<p>What appears to be happening is that research is being uncoupled from teaching.</p>
<p>At present, universities are legislatively required to undertake research and to offer research higher degrees. </p>
<p>This is <a href="https://theconversation.com/civilisation-as-we-dont-know-it-teaching-only-universities-28505">not the case universally</a>, and is somewhat of an Australian quirk - a legacy of the Dawkins reforms a quarter of a century ago. </p>
<p>The Dawkins reforms transformed 19 universities and 46 colleges, often unwillingly, into 36 public universities. All were required to undertake research, which caused some angst against teacher-practitioners at the time.</p>
<p>Since then, the connection between higher education teaching and active research has become entrenched in Australian ideas of what a university education is. This is despite the heavy reliance of most universities on research-inactive sessional teaching staff for much of their course delivery.</p>
<p>Since Dawkins, the intensity of research activity had been extremely uneven across the sector, and costly for many institutions to maintain.</p>
<p>By uncoupling the funding for staff research time from expectations around what Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding is intended for, the scene has been set for a possible reconfiguration of the sector.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/ed17-0138_-_he_-_glossy_budget_report_acc.pdf">discussion package</a> released is also telling. </p>
<p>The final paragraph of the final page before the concluding section foreshadows the potential for the biggest shift in higher education since Dawkins. Announcing a benign sounding “Review of the Higher Education Provider Category Standards”, the paper says that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The review will include public and stakeholder consultation around options to change provider categories, including the possibility of a teaching-only university category… It is expected that the government will consider the outcome of the review in the 2018–19 Budget context.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So while the changes to fees and funding will be hard on students and universities – more job losses look certain, especially for the many institutions <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/up-to-115-jobs-cut-as-victoria-university-battles-financial-instability-20170310-guvlm6.html">already struggling</a> – the game-changers look set to be deferred until next year’s budget. </p>
<p>Will Dawkins’ large, research-heavy university sector be unpicked? What would teaching-based universities look like? Could the sector manage real institutional differentiation if it was forced to? </p>
<p>And the most important question is what all this might mean for our future students.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76978/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emmaline Bexley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Hidden in the detail of the latest higher education reform package, there are talks of creating teaching-only universities.Emmaline Bexley, Senior Lecturer in Higher Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/750462017-03-27T05:21:51Z2017-03-27T05:21:51ZPolicyCheck: the government’s new child care plan<p>The government’s new child care plan has <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-23/governments-childcare-reforms-passed-the-senate/8381908">passed the Senate</a>, subject to last minute amendments passed by independent Senator Derryn Hinch. The bill, known officially as the <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_LEGislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r5696">Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Jobs for Families Child Care Package) Bill 2016</a>, will now return to the lower house. It is expected to pass, and implementation to begin in July 2018. </p>
<p>This new law will change the way that families are given assistance with paying for child care.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/jobsforfamilies">main changes</a> include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Replacing the Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate with a new Child Care Subsidy. The new subsidy will have eligibility rules and be subject to means testing. Total Child Care Subsidy payments will be capped at A$10,000 for wealthy families and there will be zero subsidies for families earning more than A$350,000.</p></li>
<li><p>Introducing an hourly fee cap on the subsidies that governments will pay in an attempt to control child care price increases.</p></li>
<li><p>A new activity test, meaning that families will be eligible for either 36, 72 or 100 hours of subsidised care per fortnight depending upon the combined hours of work, training, study or other recognised activity undertaken. Both parents must work or study at least eight hours a fortnight to receive the new subsidy.</p></li>
<li><p>A new A$1 billion Child Care Safety Net aimed at helping families on less than A$65,710 who do not meet the activity test. These families will be able to get up to 24 hours per fortnight of subsidised care.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Before: two complicated payments</h2>
<p>Families in Australia currently receive two types of support for child care: the Child Care Benefit and the Child Care Rebate (originally called the <a href="http://guides.dss.gov.au/family-assistance-guide/1/2/7">Child Care Tax Rebate</a>). </p>
<p>The Child Care Rebate covers 50% of families’ out-of-pocket costs of childcare up to A$7,500 per child – after you hit the A$7,500 threshold, you don’t get any more rebate.</p>
<p>The Child Care rebate is not means tested but the Child Care Benefit is.</p>
<p>How much Child Care Benefit you get depends on whether children are school-aged or pre-school aged, on the family’s current year income, the number of children in care and on the hours of care used.</p>
<p>Child care providers typically charge anywhere between around A$100 and around A$150 per day per child.</p>
<h2>Now: a single payment</h2>
<p>Under the new plan, the old Child Care Rebate and Child Care Subsidy will be rolled into a single new payment called the Child Care Subsidy.</p>
<p>Instead of a flat 50% rebate rate on what they pay, families with a household income of up to A$65,710 will get up to 85% of what they pay. The rate tapers down from there.</p>
<p>Families receiving more than A$185,710 in household income will also be subject to a cap of $10,000 on total Child Care Subsidy payments.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162587/original/image-20170327-3283-994gq6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162587/original/image-20170327-3283-994gq6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162587/original/image-20170327-3283-994gq6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=202&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162587/original/image-20170327-3283-994gq6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=202&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162587/original/image-20170327-3283-994gq6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=202&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162587/original/image-20170327-3283-994gq6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162587/original/image-20170327-3283-994gq6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162587/original/image-20170327-3283-994gq6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/a3_overview_16_feb_2017_1.pdf">Department of Education and Training</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162589/original/image-20170327-3308-9oycmo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162589/original/image-20170327-3308-9oycmo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162589/original/image-20170327-3308-9oycmo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162589/original/image-20170327-3308-9oycmo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162589/original/image-20170327-3308-9oycmo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162589/original/image-20170327-3308-9oycmo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162589/original/image-20170327-3308-9oycmo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162589/original/image-20170327-3308-9oycmo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/a3_overview_16_feb_2017_1.pdf">Department of Education and Training</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>New hourly fee cap</h2>
<p>An additional layer of complexity is added by the new policy’s fee caps – an attempt by the government to prevent higher subsidies from leading directly to increased prices.</p>
<p>The new child care subsidy rate will not apply to what families actually pay but rather to the new hourly fee caps. The fee caps will be indexed to the consumer price index (CPI). Over the last 12 years, child care prices have <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-what-are-the-facts-on-rising-child-care-prices-71014">grown much more rapidly</a> than inflation. That’s due mainly to increased demand and the <a href="http://www.acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework">National Quality Framework</a>, which meant higher-skilled staff and smaller classes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chart by the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods, using Australian Bureau of Statistics data.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is very hard for governments to control prices in any market. These hourly price caps, given the price increases associated with quality improvements in child care, may end up creating a two-tiered market, with high-end providers charging what the market will bear and low-end providers tying themselves to the subsidy rate. </p>
<p>This two-tiered system of high- and low-priced childcare centres already exists to some extent in most urban areas in Australia. The gap between these may be exacerbated by the attempt to control prices.</p>
<p>As many child care providers currently charge <em>daily</em> rates, and have the power to determine how many hours of care are provided in any given day, it’s unclear how the new system of <em>hourly</em> fee caps will work in practice.</p>
<h2>Which families will get more and which will get less?</h2>
<p>It is clear that wealthy families will receive less money. Those earning over A$350,000 – who, under the old scheme, could get as much as A$7,500 per child – will now receive nothing. This increases the effective marginal tax rates on second earners in wealthy households.</p>
<p>The policy effect on other income groups depends on household income, whether the hourly price of the care they currently use is more expensive than the fee cap, and whether they are affected by the new activity test.</p>
<p>Most, though not all, families earning over A$250,000 will be negatively affected. Those that will be better off are those who work long hours and use relatively inexpensive childcare and are near the A$250,000 threshold.</p>
<p>A substantial fraction of households earning less than the A$65,710 will be worse off, mostly because they will fail to meet the activity test.</p>
<h2>How might the new plan affect workforce participation and productivity?</h2>
<p>It’s not clear what effect all this will have on workforce participation. On average, women from the wealthiest families will work less.</p>
<p>On average, women from less well-off families may end up working more in response to the new policy.</p>
<p>One might expect an overall positive impact on total female labour force participation but this depends greatly upon the economy’s ability to deliver jobs. This will vary greatly by geographic region.</p>
<p>Female labour force participation is already widespread, so this policy will not generate a huge new pool of workers. It will have small positive effects on willingness to work and working hours, but these will be small compared to macro-economic effects such as global commodity prices or the performance of the Chinese economy.</p>
<p>Long-term productivity should be higher because <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/early-childhood-education-3187">experts</a> think better and more early childhood education and care will produce better long term outcomes.</p>
<p>Overall, the policy seems tilted towards less expensive child care for families, which is good. However, it may work against improving <a href="http://www.acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework">quality child care</a>, which is expensive. </p>
<p>Policymakers have to decide whether there are more productivity gains to be had in increasing women’s workforce participation or, in the longer term, in investing in higher quality child care.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75046/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Breunig does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Here’s how the government’s new childcare plan will change the way families are given assistance with paying for child care.Robert Breunig, Professor of Economics, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/710142017-01-18T01:34:47Z2017-01-18T01:34:47ZFactCheck: what are the facts on rising child care prices?<blockquote>
<p>We’ve already had great success in terms of reducing the rate of price growth. We saw during the Rudd-Gillard years price spikes of up to 14% over a 12 month period. Under the Coalition, that’s been brought down to around 6% on average. So we actually have much lower growth in relation to child care costs, but to achieve the real changes we need, we need to get our child care reforms through to Parliament. <strong>– Education Minister Simon Birmingham, <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Interview-Transcripts/ID/3335/Doorstop-Adelaide">doorstop interview</a>, January 8, 2017.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>As the working year starts again and many children return to formal child care, Education Minister Simon Birmingham has called on Labor to support a suite of reforms he says will ensure prices rise more slowly.</p>
<p>Simon Birmingham said the Coalition has “had great success in terms of reducing the rate of price growth”. Under Labor, he said, there were price spikes of up to 14% over a 12 month period but under the Coalition, “that’s been brought down to around 6% on average”.</p>
<p>Is that accurate?</p>
<h2>Checking the source</h2>
<p>When asked for sources to support his statement, a spokesperson for Simon Birmingham referred The Conversation to the Department of Education and Training’s <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/child-care-update">Early Childhood and Child Care in Summary reports</a>, and in particular page 11 of the <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/42331">March quarter 2016 report</a>, which contained this table:</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152217/original/image-20170110-16999-1ngcjee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152217/original/image-20170110-16999-1ngcjee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152217/original/image-20170110-16999-1ngcjee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152217/original/image-20170110-16999-1ngcjee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152217/original/image-20170110-16999-1ngcjee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152217/original/image-20170110-16999-1ngcjee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152217/original/image-20170110-16999-1ngcjee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152217/original/image-20170110-16999-1ngcjee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Average and annual percentage change to Long Day Care hourly fees, March quarter 2007 to the March quarter 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/eccc_in_summary_mar_quarter_2016.pdf">Australian Department of Education and Training, Early Childhood and Child Care in Summary March quarter 2016</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The spokesperson also referred The Conversation to Simon Birmingham’s January 8 <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Media-Releases/ID/3334/Child-care-fee-increases-highlight-need-for-Turnbull-Governments-reforms">media release</a>, in which the minister discussed the release of the government’s <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/eccc_in_summary_mar_quarter_2016_0.pdf">March quarter 2016 report</a> on child care costs.</p>
<h2>A one-off price spike and longer term trends</h2>
<p>Simon Birmingham was correct when he said child care prices spiked to 14% over a 12 month period during the Rudd-Gillard years. Department of Education data from 2007-2016 show prices spiked up to 14% in the 2008-09 financial year.</p>
<p>But with the exception of the one-off spike in 2008-09, child care prices over the last decade have continued to increase close to their usual trajectory of average annual price increases of 6.8% – whether it was the Coalition or Labor in power. </p>
<p>Annual price growth has been slightly below that 6.8% average since the Coalition came to power in 2013 – closer to 6%, as the minister correctly said. The chart above provided by the minister’s office clearly shows the blue line (the rate of price growth) has been below the red line (the average increase) for the entire period of the Abbott/Turnbull government.</p>
<p>But, as that chart also shows, that trend began before the Coalition took office in 2013 and child care pricing and rebate policy hasn’t changed much since Labor lost the 2013 election. The Turnbull government does have a package of new measures it hopes to get through parliament, but it hasn’t passed yet.</p>
<p>So to say “we’ve already had great success in terms of reducing the rate of price growth” is taking credit for a reduction in the rate of growth that is likely due to broader market forces – like low inflation and slow wage growth – not government policy.</p>
<h2>Why was there a spike?</h2>
<p>The 14% price spike in the 2008-09 financial year was likely due to a one-off event – the major expansion of the <a href="https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/child-care-rebate">Child Care Rebate</a>. In that year, the maximum Child Care Rebate payment was <a href="http://www.budget.gov.au/2008-09/content/overview2/html/overview_10.htm">increased</a> by around $3,000 to $7,500 per child, per year. </p>
<p>A portion of the higher payment was likely taken by child care providers through record price rises. Department of Education figures show marked price increases in the September and March quarters of the 2008-09 financial year, marked with circles below.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152419/original/image-20170111-4585-1e5540l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152419/original/image-20170111-4585-1e5540l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152419/original/image-20170111-4585-1e5540l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152419/original/image-20170111-4585-1e5540l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152419/original/image-20170111-4585-1e5540l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152419/original/image-20170111-4585-1e5540l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152419/original/image-20170111-4585-1e5540l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Department of Education ABS Centre for Social Research and Methods.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s the overall trend?</h2>
<p>The ABS Consumer Price Index shows the amount paid by parents after the <a href="https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/child-care-benefit">Child Care Benefit</a> and the <a href="https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/child-care-rebate">Child Care Rebate</a> have been taken into account. This is the “net” price paid by parents. Removing the impact of the changes in childcare benefit and rebate changes leaves the “gross” price index – the prices charged by childcare operators.</p>
<p>The chart below confirms the continued long-term trend of strong child care price inflation. The gross price index (purple line) has continued to increase strongly throughout the period. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chart by the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods, using Australian Bureau of Statistics data.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over the long-term, the net cost of child care – the cost after subsidies are received, shown as a green line in the chart above – has not grown as quickly as household income (the red line). That’s largely due to increases in the Child Care Rebate. </p>
<p>More recently, however, affordability has deteriorated significantly. According to the ABS Consumer Price Index, there have been real cost increases of around 56%. That’s because child care subsidies haven’t increased in real terms – at rates greater than inflation – since 2008-09. </p>
<h2>What factors affect child care prices?</h2>
<p>Child care prices are determined within a complex market. Government does have a role to play, but a host of other forces also play an important part in determining child care prices.</p>
<p>These factors include the supply of child care centres and centre vacancies (both of which have increased recently), demographic and labour market changes (particularly the strong growth in female workforce participation), and regulatory changes (such as the <a href="http://www.acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework">National Quality Framework</a>, which seeks to increase the quality of child care). </p>
<p>Major child care subsidies have remained largely unchanged since 2008 and there has been little change in other areas of child care policy since the Rudd and Gillard Labor governments. So it’s unlikely that the Coalition government has had any major influence on prices beyond broader market forces. </p>
<h2>Verdict</h2>
<p>Simon Birmingham got his numbers right on child care price increases – but he overstated how much of the change was due to government policy.</p>
<p>The minister was correct when he said there had been a 14% price spike during the Rudd-Gillard years. However, this was a one-off spike in 2008-09 most likely related to the expansion of the Child Care Rebate.</p>
<p>He was also right that price growth has now fallen to around 6% on average. According to the Department of Education price data, annual price growth has been below the decade-long average of 6.8% for the entire period of the Abbott/Turnbull government. That decrease began before the Coalition came to power.</p>
<p>But was it accurate to claim “we’ve already had great success in terms of reducing the rate of price growth”? No – that’s overstating the impact the government has had, and understating the effect of broader market forces.</p>
<p>Major child care subsidies have remained largely the same since 2008 and there has been little change in other areas of child care policy since the Rudd/Gillard Labor governments. So it’s unlikely that the current government has had any major influence on prices. <strong>– Ben Phillips</strong></p>
<hr>
<h2>Review</h2>
<p>This is a sound analysis, providing the full details and statistics to put the minister’s statement in context. <strong>– Guyonne Kalb</strong></p>
<hr>
<p><div class="callout"> Have you ever seen a “fact” worth checking? The Conversation’s FactCheck asks academic experts to test claims and see how true they are. We then ask a second academic to review an anonymous copy of the article. You can request a check at checkit@theconversation.edu.au. Please include the statement you would like us to check, the date it was made, and a link if possible.</div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71014/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The education minister says that under Labor there were child care price spikes of up to 14% over a 12 month period, but under the Coalition those have fallen to “around 6% on average”. Is that right?Ben Phillips, Associate professor, Centre for Social Research and Methods (CSRM), Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/689182016-11-17T04:35:40Z2016-11-17T04:35:40ZMaking university admissions more transparent is important, but won’t improve equity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146330/original/image-20161117-13367-1q5bjo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Universities will now need to use common language around their admissions processes.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The government <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Interview-Transcripts/ID/3321/Press-conference-Melbourne">has announced</a> it will accepted the <a href="https://education.gov.au/news/release-higher-education-standards-panel-report-improving-transparency-higher-education">recommendations</a> put together by the Higher Education Standards Panel earlier this year on making the university admissions process more transparent. </p>
<p>The changes will make it easier for young people to compare entry requirements for university courses and find out how to meet these criteria. </p>
<h2>Recommendations</h2>
<p>The government has accepted all recommendations put forward by the panel. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li>a new national admissions website</li>
<li>adopting a standard information template</li>
<li>ensuring common language is used between universities</li>
<li>making it easier to compare course admissions criteria between states and territories</li>
<li>publishing minimum entry and bonus point schemes for all courses</li>
<li>making information from admissions centres more easily available</li>
</ul>
<h2>Why we need a more transparent system</h2>
<p>The rapid expansion of the university sector has led to a disparity of admissions practices, with equivalent courses at different institutions potentially having wildly different admissions requirements. </p>
<p>Earlier this year, a <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/nsw-universities-taking-students-with-atars-as-low-as-30-20160125-gmdvr6">Fairfax media investigation</a> revealed up to 63.5% of students at some universities were being admitted to courses of study below the advertised Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) “cut off” scores. </p>
<p>However, <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/unsw-reveals-full-atar-story/news-story/4cfd51b5cee7fce1dc4b8720b8ba0e59">subsequent disclosure</a> by a number of prestigious universities has illustrated that this practice tends to be isolated to particular institutions, and courses of study. </p>
<p>In their recommendations, the panel was careful to point out that offers to students with an ATAR of “50 or less” made up slightly over 2% of all offers in 2016 – and more than half of these students <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/36745">rejected</a> their offer. This fact is often overlooked in the broader debate around higher education admissions.</p>
<p>Across the sector, universities have been <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/atar-charade-universities-will-be-forced-to-increase-transparency-on-admissions-20161115-gspiod.html">accused</a> of not being transparent about how they deploy “bonus point” schemes. The review found that almost all providers offer bonus points of some kind. These points are commonly allocated for:</p>
<ul>
<li>high academic achievement in particular subjects;</li>
<li>participation in elite sport or arts;</li>
<li>students facing social, geographic, or economic disadvantage.</li>
</ul>
<p>The panel suggested that the opacity is at least in part the result of successive waves of expansion and diversification of the sector that have gone relatively unchecked since the 2008 Review of Australian Higher Education (the <a href="http://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A32134">Bradley Review</a>). </p>
<p>Education minister Simon Birmingham has flagged cuts to funding for those institutions that fail to publish accurate minimum entry and bonus point schemes for all courses.</p>
<p>The government has also agreed to adopt a common language around admissions processes across all higher education providers. However, in a diverse system of relatively autonomous providers and discrete state and territory admissions centres (TACs), this will be difficult.</p>
<p>The centrepiece of the government’s plan is the adoption of a national higher education admissions information platform. This is a good step, and aligns with a long held view to revamp the Quality Indicators of Learning and Teaching (QILT) website.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/we-need-to-scarp-the-atar-as-the-main-judge-of-student-potential-20160127-gmf87v.html">Substantial research</a> has shown that simply making information available does not necessarily address the challenges many young people face in completing secondary education and choosing higher education courses.</p>
<p>Too often, students from disadvantaged backgrounds are unaware of the options available to them. Commonly, they come from backgrounds with no history of higher education. </p>
<p>These students tend to have lower completion rates and report a <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/completion-rates-domestic-bachelor-students-2005-2013-cohort-analysis">poorer experience</a> of higher education. Many do not feel that higher education is for “<a href="https://theconversation.com/which-students-are-most-likely-to-drop-out-of-university-56276">people like them</a>”.</p>
<h2>Is the ATAR still useful?</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146318/original/image-20161117-13506-15b9l7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146318/original/image-20161117-13506-15b9l7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146318/original/image-20161117-13506-15b9l7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146318/original/image-20161117-13506-15b9l7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146318/original/image-20161117-13506-15b9l7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146318/original/image-20161117-13506-15b9l7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146318/original/image-20161117-13506-15b9l7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Four in ten students admitted to a course with an ATAR lower than 60 do not complete.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For many senior leaders, the ATAR remains an efficient and <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-scrap-the-atar-what-are-the-alternative-options-experts-comment-55501">convenient tool</a> for allocating Commonwealth supported higher education places.</p>
<p>However, researchers have <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/ranking-the-best-and-brightest-for-varsity-intake-no-simple-operation-20151218-glqy2t.html">suggested</a> that the current policies contribute to “gaming” practices at some of the country’s most elite schools. </p>
<p>Research has <a href="https://www.mup.com.au/items/119746">shown</a> how academic success concentrates in elite public and independent schools through subject and curriculum selection, intensive test preparation, and academic tutoring.</p>
<p>While debate continues regarding the <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/completion-rates-domestic-bachelor-students-2005-2013-cohort-analysis">effectiveness</a> of the ATAR for <a href="https://theconversation.com/atar-found-to-be-a-poor-predictor-of-how-well-students-do-at-uni-41677">predicting success</a> for young people once they enter university, data does support the predictive power of the ATAR at a group level. </p>
<p><a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/cohortanalysis2005-2013.pdf">Data shows that four in ten</a> students admitted to a course with an ATAR lower than 60 do not complete it.</p>
<p>But scholars have been at pains to point out that ATAR performance and retention rates both <a href="https://theconversation.com/which-students-are-most-likely-to-drop-out-of-university-56276">correlate strongly</a> with factors of disadvantage such as Indigenous, remote, part-time, and socio-economic status. </p>
<h2>Transparency won’t necessarily help to improve equity</h2>
<p>Equity of access to higher education remains an area of <a href="https://theconversation.com/there-is-more-agreement-between-the-parties-on-higher-ed-than-slogans-suggest-61510">broad agreement</a> between political parties.</p>
<p>Diversity schemes such as the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/higher-education-participation-and-partnerships-programme-heppp">Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program</a> (HEPPP) are currently being reviewed in line with the government’s intended shake up of the higher education sector. </p>
<p>Over the next three years, HEPPP is marked for a A$152 million cut. Along with the shift to a demand-driven system, targeted <a href="https://theconversation.com/has-the-push-to-get-more-disadvantaged-students-into-universities-been-a-success-65100">HEPPP programs</a> are thought to be partly responsible for the over 50% growth in low-SES participation in higher education since 2010. </p>
<h2>More information needed for school leavers</h2>
<p>The government’s decision to adopt these recommendations presents an opportunity to ensure young people have accurate information for making decisions about their intended courses of study. </p>
<p>But they will not address continued concerns about Year 12 completion rates. </p>
<p>It is <a href="https://theconversation.com/careers-education-must-be-for-all-not-just-those-going-to-university-49217">too late</a> to begin the careers counselling process at the point of applying for courses, no matter how clear and accurate the information provided.</p>
<p>Helping students make an informed choice about higher education is critical. However, information about the admissions process itself is not enough.</p>
<p>Greater attention must also be given to ensuring that students are provided with the <a href="https://www.ncsehe.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Completing-University-in-a-Growing-Sector.pdf">skills to navigate</a> higher education. </p>
<p>It is increasingly likely that for the majority of young people, this engagement will be a <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/generation-y-overqualified-but-unprepared-for-work-20151106-gkt2ud#ixzz3r3DEImpa">lifelong activity</a>. </p>
<p>Beyond this, helping students to develop a <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/L/bo3630345.html">sense of belonging</a> is key for boosting engagement and retention.</p>
<p>A successful reform must also include a more <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/reigniting-higher-education-admissions-reform">comprehensive approach</a> to working with young people to identify a diversity of pathways and opportunities. </p>
<p>It must actively <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-more-transparent-university-admissions-process-heres-what-we-should-be-talking-about-58414">challenge</a> and seek to redress the prioritising of university over technical and trade options. </p>
<p>It must be inclusive of broader questions of the benefits of having young people engage in education beyond school without reducing that discussion to one of “budget constraints”. </p>
<p>Despite recent concerns about the economic value of degrees, post-school qualifications are <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/generation-y-overqualified-but-unprepared-for-work-20151106-gkt2ud#ixzz3r3DEImpa">more important than ever</a>.</p>
<p>Any reforms must enshrine principles of student equity both in how young people are supported to access higher education, and in their experiences in those institutions once they arrive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68918/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shane Duggan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The government has announced it will accept recommendations to make the university admissions process more transparent. But that alone isn’t enough.Shane Duggan, Lecturer in Youth Studies and Education Policy, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/673032016-10-19T00:53:42Z2016-10-19T00:53:42ZArts training is an essential part of an innovative nation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142274/original/image-20161019-20336-3ok6c5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">More than 50 arts training programs across the nation, including circus, may no longer be supported by the federal government. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julian Smith/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The past two years have not been happy ones for the arts sector in Australia. It all began in early 2014 with federal Ministers Brandis and Turnbull telling artists at the Sydney Biennale that they were ungrateful and selfish to protest about the role of Transfield in Nauru. </p>
<p>It then emerged that the Federal Minister for the Arts, George Brandis, believed he could do everything better in arts funding than the existing structures. He began his campaign by taking away a large portion of literature funding from the Australia Council in December 2014. </p>
<p>He then “trumped” this move by taking a third of the Council’s ongoing arts funding in May 2015 to set up his own ministerial fund for the arts naming it the National Program for Excellence in the Arts. Brandis’s concept of “excellence” though was tainted by a limited and élitist perspective of what constitutes the arts and by demonstrating overt favouritism and protectionism towards large arts organisations.</p>
<p>The arts sector protested and a Senate Inquiry was instituted. More than 3000 submissions were received by the Inquiry. The Coalition Government did not participate in the process and appeared to be ignoring the furore in the arts sector. However, with a new Prime Minister in place in late 2015, it was not long before a new Minster for the Arts emerged, Mitch Fifield. </p>
<p>In November 2015, Fifield announced he would give back a portion of the money taken from the Australia Council. However, he kept the rest and changed the name from Program of Excellence to Catalyst. Then there was an election in May 2016 and Minister Fifield’s Catalyst Fund played an interesting electoral role in allocating arts funding to some unusual recipients. </p>
<p>Further, with its reduced funding, the Australia Council cancelled project funding rounds for small groups and individuals in 2015 and then cut funding to over 60 arts organisations across the country in May 2016. There have been <a href="https://dailyreview.com.au/fifield-set-restore-raided-arts-funds-australia-council/50036/">recent rumours</a> that more of the Ministerial funds might be returned to the Australia Council but as yet there is no evidence of this.</p>
<p>But sadly this is not the only action that will harm and continue to damage the arts sector. The Federal Government is now considering cutting funding to students who wish to undertake creative arts training. Education Minister Simon Birmingham has said he believes <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Media-Releases/ID/3238/New-VET-Student-Loans-course-list-focussed-on-employment-outcomes">training in the creative arts is a ‘lifestyle’ choice</a> and cannot lead to a satisfactory career or any economic outcome. He says,</p>
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<p>VET Student Loans will only support legitimate students to undertake worthwhile and value-for-money courses at quality training providers.</p>
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<p>As the government’s priorities are related to demonstrating economic outcomes, they say that their preference is for technology programs and agricultural science courses related to the STEM educational model.</p>
<p>In this context creative arts training is perceived as irrelevant and Minister Birmingham intends to cut loan support for students to undertake this form of education and training. If this occurs, more than 50 arts training programs across the country will no longer be supported. These include programs in ceramics, photography, dance, acting, animation, all forms of design, circus, music, film, fashion and journalism.</p>
<p>To describe creative arts training as a “lifestyle” choice in my view demonstrates a lack of knowledge of what is involved and what is produced. There seems to be no understanding or recognition that artists/arts workers are trained professionals who are highly skilled, knowledgeable and adept. They are also highly employable in many industry sectors – not just the arts.</p>
<p>Australia talks constantly about supporting innovation and wanting to be seen as a “smart” country. Training people in the creative arts is a sure way of doing this. Confining education only to technology and the sciences does not create a nation that is necessarily clever or innovative.</p>
<p>Arts training provides the capacity to problem solve, think outside the square, be divergent and come up with new and untried solutions. These are skills that are essential for innovation and change. The arts are a basic foundation of the culture of this country. </p>
<p>Australia is presented internationally by its artists, by its films, by its literature - it is the soul of the country. If the arts training sectors are not funded by this Federal Government, there is a clear message that the government does not think that the arts matter in Australia and, ipso facto, Australian arts and culture does not matter to the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67303/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<h4 class="border">Disclosure</h4><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jo Caust has previously received funding from the Australia Council and the Australian Research Council. She is a member of the Arts Industry Council (SA) and NAVA.
</span></em></p>The past two years have not been happy ones for the arts sector in Australia. It all began in early 2014 with federal Ministers Brandis and Turnbull telling artists at the Sydney Biennale that they were…Jo Caust, Associate Professor and Principal Fellow (Hon), The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/668272016-10-13T00:14:59Z2016-10-13T00:14:59ZVET student loan changes will help gain back control of the sector<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141316/original/image-20161012-15629-1nkuosa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some 478 courses, including one in hairdressing creative leadership, will not be subsidised from 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The government’s decision to <a href="https://theconversation.com/government-knocks-out-478-courses-from-loans-under-vet-crackdown-66748">reduce the number</a> of current vocational education and training (VET) courses that will be subsidised under the <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/41951">new VET Student Loan</a> scheme is important if we are to take back control of the sector that has been subjected to <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/stop-the-rorts-30-million-crackdown-looms-for-vocational-sectors-dodgy-training-providers-20150919-gjqbuk.html">rorting</a>.</p>
<p>The ever expanding number of VET courses available were created in an “industry-led” market where you could get a <a href="http://www.lhmartininstitute.edu.au/insights-blog/2012/06/89-vet-has-too-many-qualifications-and-is-too-complex">qualification for almost anything</a>. </p>
<p>Around 478 of the current 800 VET FEE-HELP courses will be excluded for the new student loan - which is due to come into effect from 1 January, 2017. </p>
<p>These subjects include diplomas in: musical theatre, journalism, mind body medicine, clinical hypnotherapy and creative arts in christian ministry, circus arts, facilitation, life coaching, butler service management and dance movement therapy. </p>
<p>Labelled “lifestyle courses” by the government, they had low enrolment rates and were unlikely to directly lead to employment. </p>
<p>Department of Education figures show that there are currently around 144,000 students enrolled in VET FEE-HELP course in Australia. Of those, about 7,000 (5%) <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/vet-feehelp-loans-reform-will-leave-courses-unfunded/news-story/bf9cacc395891ec30d42498caca01774">will be affected by the changes</a> to which courses are eligible for VET Student Loans </p>
<p>The government has left open a two week period for feedback and consultation to see if a case can or will be made that any of these courses would have strong employment outcomes.</p>
<p>Courses and qualifications that will be subsidised were <a href="http://theconversation.com/government-knocks-out-478-courses-from-loans-under-vet-crackdown-66748">identified as “STEM courses”</a> or ones that will <a href="https://docs.employment.gov.au/node/31447">most likely get students jobs because they are identified on skill needs lists.</a>.</p>
<p>In a VET context, “STEM courses” can mean anything from sports science to nursing, information technology to horticultural, and agriculture. Ensuring that students who undertake a STEM course or a course connected with the skill needs lists – whether in VET or at university – can get work represents a real policy challenge for all levels of government.</p>
<h2>Impact on industry</h2>
<p>So what impact will this have on industry? The list of courses eligible for student loans are all diplomas and advanced diplomas. </p>
<p>Courses like hairdressing are at certificate 3 level, so are not considered under this policy. The states retain funding responsibility for these courses. </p>
<p>While courses like the diploma in journalism, or professional writing and editing are on the list, prospective students would likely pursue at a degree-level course in higher education. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Participation-in-Tertiary-Education-in-Australia.pdf">Research on participation</a> has shown VET enrolments and participation are in decline and students are instead choosing to go down the higher education route. </p>
<h2>Importance of loan cap on courses</h2>
<p>The new VET student loans policy <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-vet-loan-scheme-to-exclude-shonky-providers-66507">places three bands</a> of loans, with caps of $5,000, $10,000 and $15,000 for a variety of diplomas and advanced diplomas. </p>
<p>The capacity to repay student loans for VET studies in the new scheme can only be improved by connecting the three bands of student loans to an eligible course list that has better employment outcomes.</p>
<p>The cap is important to ensure that students are not subjected to excessive pricing by providers, resulting in overblown debt burdens. </p>
<p>Under the former <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/vet-fee-help-27209">VET FEE-HELP</a> scheme, a diploma in nursing, for example, would leave students in around $20,000 worth of debt. These students would often end up in low-paid jobs in health care, meaning that they would struggle to pay off their loan. </p>
<p>In the eligible courses list, the loan for Diploma of Business has been capped at $5000. This is because courses like this have low overheads. </p>
<p>On the other hand, a Diploma of Nursing, capped at $10,000, requires providers to have special equipment such as hospital beds for students to practice skills such as bed making and patient transfers. </p>
<p>The Diploma of Agriculture, capped at $15,000, involves providers training students in the use of farm implements and the safe use of machinery like tractors, loaders and irrigation equipment – and will therefore be more expensive to teach. </p>
<p>Student loans should ideally provide the financial basis for tuition, not for returns to colleges and providers as profit but rather as a mechanism to assure quality education and training. </p>
<p><em>• Since publishing, we have amended a few of the references to ‘VET’ to read ‘VET FEE-HELP’ to make these points more accurate.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66827/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Pardy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The government is right to cut back on funding certain VET courses that have low-enrolment rates and are unlikely to lead to work.John Pardy, Education Lecturer and Researcher, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/665752016-10-07T04:38:39Z2016-10-07T04:38:39ZNew VET Student Loans unlikely to weed out dodgy private providers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140821/original/image-20161007-32718-w4po67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women are likely to be disproportionately affected by the new VET student loan scheme.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Education Minister Simon Birmingham <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Media-Releases/ID/3227/New-VET-Student-Loans-a-win-win-for-students-and-taxpayershttp://example.com/">argues that the new VET Student Loans program</a> – which will replace the flawed and highly controversial VET FEE-HELP scheme – will “restore credibility” and rebuild trust in vocational education and training. </p>
<p>He claims that the new loans program will help weed out dodgy private providers. These providers, however, have proved very adept at finding creative ways around regulation. </p>
<p>Without additional reforms to improve teaching and learning, it will be difficult to guarantee the quality vocational education needed to restore the confidence of students, employers and the wider community.</p>
<h2>VET Student Loans</h2>
<p>If the government’s legislation is passed, the new VET Student Loans program will operate from 1 January 2017. </p>
<p>Designed to stamp out practices that flourished under VET FEE-HELP, the proposed <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Media-Releases/ID/3227/New-VET-Student-Loans-a-win-win-for-students-and-taxpayers">new loan scheme</a> will be harder to access. </p>
<p>It sets a higher entry barrier for providers based on their industry links, student completion rates, employment outcomes, and track record as educational institutions. </p>
<p>Student loans are capped with three bands – A$5,000, $10,000 and $15,000 – which are designed to reflect differences in course costs. </p>
<p>Eligibility is restricted to courses that lead to employment. Students will be required to engage with the VET Student Loans portal to ensure their enrolment is legitimate. </p>
<p>Participating providers will be prohibited from using brokers and direct soliciting to recruit prospective students. There are also restrictions on the subcontracting of training delivery. </p>
<h2>Why was VET FEE-HELP flawed?</h2>
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<p>VET FEE-HELP was introduced in 2007 to <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/VET_funding_in_Australia_Background_trends_and_future_directions.pdfhttp://example.com/">address an equity issue</a>. Students in higher education courses have accessed <a href="http://www.assa.edu.au/publications/occasional/2006_No2_Income_contingent_loans.pdfhttp://example.com/">income contingent loans</a> for over 25 years, but the same opportunity to defer payment of tuition fees was not available to vocational students. </p>
<p>Initially VET FEE-HELP was restricted to courses that provided students with credit into higher education courses – a <a href="http://www.stoptafecuts.com.au/blog/redesigning-vet-fee-help-mess/">requirement removed</a> from 2012. </p>
<p>The introduction of VET FEE-HELP was one part of a broader reform process that included the establishment of a narrow form of competency-based training and, more recently, public funding of for-profit vocational education providers.</p>
<p>In this context the VET FEE HELP scheme presented the most extraordinary opportunity for unscrupulous operators. </p>
<p>Eligible Registered Training Organisations could sign up any number of students, and shortly after receive full course payment funded by the students’ VET FEE HELP loans. </p>
<p>Until 2015, this payment was not contingent on student progress. If students failed to start their course the provider was saved the cost and trouble of delivering an educational program and conducting assessments. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/careers-australia-undertakes-to-repay-commonwealth-for-vet-fee-help-diploma-courseshttp://example.com/">Evidence emerged</a> of exploitative organisations signing up students who had little or no prospect of completing their qualification. Some students were not aware of the extent and nature of their financial commitment.</p>
<p>A minority of registered training organisations relied on <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/VET_funding_in_Australia_Background_trends_and_future_directions.pdf">VET FEE-HELP as a major source of revenue</a>, but there was rapid growth in the number and value of loans they facilitated. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Media-Releases/ID/3227/New-VET-Student-Loans-a-win-win-for-students-and-taxpayers">cost of the scheme</a> increased dramatically from $325 million in 2012 to $1.8 billion in 2014 and $2.9 billion in 2015. </p>
<h2>Quality vocational education</h2>
<p>Although there is broad support for taking action, public debate reveals uncertainty about the likely impact of this new loans initiative. </p>
<p>Reported concerns include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The effect of the loan caps on <a href="http://www.afr.com/news/policy/education/seek-may-be-hit-by-vet-feehelp-crackdown-says-ceo-andrew-bassat-20161005-grvcfnhttp://example.com/">access</a> to courses, such as nursing, which cost more than $15,000 to deliver. The fear is that additional fees could be prohibitive, especially for people from disadvantaged backgrounds.</p></li>
<li><p>The potential <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/student-loan-change-to-target-womens-courses/news-story/babe14c1bda3d4fa54803f6c09ff5344">impact on women</a> given that two thirds of VET FEE-HELP borrowers are women, and courses attracting a higher proportion of women were identified as falling outside the program (for example, beauty therapy). </p></li>
<li><p>Whether <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/vocational-education-industry-reforms-could-cripple-quality-providers-20161005-grvaye.htmlhttp://example.com/">legitimate providers will be harmed</a> through the introduction of more stringent requirements aimed at the dodgy providers. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Will it be effectively regulated?</h2>
<p>A key question is: How will the new scheme be regulated? </p>
<p>Against what standards will providers be measured? And who will be responsible for ensuring these standards have been met? The main regulatory body, Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), does not have the resources or the powers to address existing problems. </p>
<p>More work is required to define and measure a provider’s track record as an educational institution. </p>
<p>The proposed shift in the structure of payment also raises questions about the quality of vocational education courses and trust in qualifications. </p>
<p>Introducing “payment in arrears” – payment following completion of all or a component of the course – is understandable given the abuse of VET FEE-HELP. </p>
<p>However, without being held accountable for the quality of teaching and learning, there is a risk that some providers will take what is referred to as a “tick and flick” approach, pushing students through within minimal engagement in the shortest time possible. </p>
<p>The student will be issued a qualification, but if the course did not develop their knowledge, skills and attributes it will have limited value. This outcome is the opposite of the thrust of the proposed reform. </p>
<p>Placing greater control over student fees will not, in itself, lift the quality of student outcomes and ensure the integrity of the qualifications issued. </p>
<p>One clear way of distinguishing legitimate vocational education providers from the shysters and rent seekers is by looking at their commitment to teaching and learning. </p>
<p>There are no national level mechanisms to directly measure the quality of teaching and learning within the vocational education sector. </p>
<p>This means it is not possible to make registered training organisations accountable for their quality of programs. </p>
<p>To restore trust and confidence in the sector, the focus needs to be centred on developing and supporting teacher expertise. This involves improving the quality of teaching to achieve a greater impact on student learning. </p>
<p>If we cannot offer high quality of vocational education we betray our students, their future employers and the wider community. We waste money and destroy aspirations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66575/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Leahy receives research funding from governments and non-government organisations. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shelley Gillis has received research funding from a range of government organisations to investigate quality issues in vocational education and training.</span></em></p>Placing greater control over student fees will not lift the quality of student outcomes and ensure the integrity of the qualifications issued.Mary Leahy, Senior Lecturer, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of MelbourneShelley Gillis, Associate Professor, Deputy Director, Centre for Vocational & Educational Policy, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.