tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/fee-deregulation-3029/articlesFee deregulation – The Conversation2017-08-10T02:24:42Ztag: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>
<blockquote>
<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>
</blockquote>
<p>However, the Labor members of the committee dissented. They strongly argued for the bill to be rejected, arguing that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Australian students will have to pay more, for less, sooner.</p>
</blockquote>
<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/704862016-12-27T21:01:41Z2016-12-27T21:01:41Z2016, the year that was: Education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150265/original/image-20161215-2478-15kohj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A year of high expectations, yet little action.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This has been the year of consultation but <a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-2016-education-experts-react-58592">little reform</a>. In the lead up to the general election in July, rumours spread about big changes being made to school and higher education. Alas, for higher education at least, we were told to <a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-education-in-policy-paralysis-after-budget-2016-what-now-58815">wait another year</a> before any policy changes would be made.</p>
<h2>Higher education – chatting about reform</h2>
<p>Instead, the sector was given a <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/he_reform_paper_driving_innovation_fairness_and_excellence_3_may_2016.pdf">shopping list of possible reform ideas</a> by the government for higher education. The sector has spent the past year discussing these ideas, which include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Whether we should <a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-education-in-policy-paralysis-after-budget-2016-what-now-58815">deregulate fees</a> for some <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-university-flagship-courses-actually-workable-and-will-they-be-a-disaster-for-equity-63521">university courses</a> (most unis are <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/aliceworkman/what-the-hecs?utm_term=.cy5gL0djA#.dn3pB61lW">against this idea</a>).</p></li>
<li><p>If the <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-scrap-the-atar-what-are-the-alternative-options-experts-comment-55501">ATAR is a useful admissions tool</a>. (<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-more-transparent-university-admissions-process-heres-what-we-should-be-talking-about-58414">Research shows</a> that few students – around one third – are recruited into a university course with an ATAR alone. The government’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/dec/16/university-admissions-confusion-to-be-addressed-with-my-school-style-website">recent decision</a> to make the admissions process more transparent is a step in the right direction, but it <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-university-admissions-process-more-transparent-is-important-but-wont-help-improve-equity-68918">won’t improve equity</a>.)</p></li>
<li><p>Reducing the <a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-education-in-policy-paralysis-after-budget-2016-what-now-58815">repayment threshold</a> for students loans from A$54,126 to $40,000-$45,000.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>VET – a new loan system</h2>
<p>There has also been discussions around Vocational Education and Training (VET) reform – and the government has finally taken some long-awaited action in this area. </p>
<p>From January 1, 2017, there will be a <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-vet-student-loans-unlikely-to-weed-out-dodgy-private-providers-66575">new VET student loan program</a>. This will replace the current flawed VET FEE-HELP scheme, and according to the government, will help to “restore credibility” and rebuild trust in the sector.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/new-vet-loan-scheme-to-exclude-shonky-providers-66507">The program</a> will place tight caps on students loans and issue tougher entry requirements for providers.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-vet-student-loans-unlikely-to-weed-out-dodgy-private-providers-66575">some aren’t so sure</a> that it will be so easy to weed out dodgy private providers who have, in the past, “proved very adept at finding creative ways around regulation”.</p>
<h2>Schools – less funding and slipping standards</h2>
<p>As for schools, the government <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-gonski-gone-we-can-expect-more-demand-for-private-schools-52760">announced that it would abandon</a> the last two years of Gonski funding – a needs-based funding model aimed at supporting children from low socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds, including those with limited English, Indigenous children and those attending small, rural or remote schools. </p>
<p>This is despite figures showing that these students <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-change-the-way-we-measure-student-progress-in-schools-56422">continue to fall further behind their peers</a> from high SES backgrounds by nearly <a href="https://theconversation.com/pisa-results-dont-look-good-but-before-we-panic-lets-look-at-what-we-can-learn-from-the-latest-test-69470">three years of schooling</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Latest-News/ID/2995/Address-to-the-Independent-Schools-Council-of-Australia-Assoc-of-Heads-of-Independent-Schools-of-Australia-National-Education-Forum">government</a> has repeatedly argued that the continued <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-schools-continue-to-fall-behind-other-countries-in-maths-and-science-69341">slippage in school standards </a> demonstrates that more money does not lead to better educational outcomes. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-model-was-corrupted-but-labor-and-coalition-are-both-to-blame-65875">it seems that messy politics</a> got in the way of the Gonski model being implemented effectively. So instead of a needs-based model, we got an “inconsistent patchwork of approaches across the nation that protected the vested interests of non-government schools”.</p>
<p>There is, however, plenty of <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-more-money-for-schools-improve-educational-outcomes-57656">research</a> to show that money does make a difference when it is targeted at areas most in need of support.</p>
<p>The debate then moved on to whether <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-some-australian-private-schools-are-overfunded-heres-why-66212">certain schools are “overfunded”</a>, as suggested by education minister Simon Birmingham.</p>
<p>This led to fraught debates around inequality of funding between government and non-government schools. Private schools in Australia can receive public funding while also be allowed to charge school fees. However, <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-some-australian-private-schools-are-overfunded-heres-why-66212">research shows</a> that while most high-fee private schools are overfunded, many low-fee private schools are underfunded.</p>
<p>States and territories won’t find out till next year how funding will be distributed from 2018 onwards. In the meantime, there have been a few suggestions around how to reform the school funding system, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-model-for-school-funding-that-wont-break-the-budget-69406">this one</a> by the Grattan Institute.</p>
<p>Teacher quality is another issue that kept coming up this year. This followed concerns that universities were recruiting students onto teacher training courses with <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-main-challenges-facing-teacher-education-in-australia-63658">lower than advertised ATARs</a>.</p>
<p>All <a href="https://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/teacher-quality">initial teacher education students</a> now have to <a href="https://theconversation.com/testing-teachers-basic-literacy-and-numeracy-skills-is-pointless-51566">pass a literacy and numeracy test</a> before graduating to help improve standards.</p>
<p>We ran a <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/better-teachers-30749">series of articles</a> looking at how to improve teacher education and raise standards. So what’s the answer? </p>
<p>Australia needs <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-main-challenges-facing-teacher-education-in-australia-63658">more specialist teachers</a>, and it needs to <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-raise-status-of-teaching-australia-needs-to-lift-pay-and-cut-teacher-numbers-63518">raise the status of the teaching</a> profession by lifting pay. It needs to <a href="https://theconversation.com/focusing-on-tests-and-invalid-assessments-is-the-wrong-way-to-measure-teacher-quality-63931">change how schools and teachers are evaluated</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/students-are-not-hard-wired-to-learn-in-different-ways-we-need-to-stop-using-unproven-harmful-methods-63715">ditch the idea</a> that students are hard-wired to learn in different ways.</p>
<p>With <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-schools-continue-to-fall-behind-other-countries-in-maths-and-science-69341">two</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/pisa-results-dont-look-good-but-before-we-panic-lets-look-at-what-we-can-learn-from-the-latest-test-69470">international tests</a> and one <a href="https://theconversation.com/naplan-results-reveal-little-change-in-literacy-and-numeracy-performance-here-are-some-key-takeaway-findings-70208">national test</a> revealing that Australia – on average – <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-schools-continue-to-fall-behind-other-countries-in-maths-and-science-69341">continues to slide</a> in maths, science and literacy, you would think that we don’t know how to improve student learning in schools. But we do. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/speaking-with-john-hattie-on-how-to-improve-the-quality-of-education-in-australian-schools-60254">Education experts like John Hattie</a> have been talking about how to do this for years. This issue is a combination of the government paying little attention to what the evidence actually says, and schools taking a long time to implement some of these ideas. There is also the issue of <a href="https://theconversation.com/gaps-in-education-data-there-are-many-questions-for-which-we-dont-have-accurate-answers-65241v">a lack of education data</a> made publicly available.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/speaking-with-john-hattie-on-how-to-improve-the-quality-of-education-in-australian-schools-60254">So what makes a difference to the quality of education?</a> Interaction with teachers, clinical teaching, constantly measuring each student’s knowledge and responding to their individual needs.</p>
<p>What doesn’t? Smaller class sizes, private schooling, and homework.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150269/original/image-20161215-2517-1f9y3ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150269/original/image-20161215-2517-1f9y3ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150269/original/image-20161215-2517-1f9y3ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150269/original/image-20161215-2517-1f9y3ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150269/original/image-20161215-2517-1f9y3ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150269/original/image-20161215-2517-1f9y3ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150269/original/image-20161215-2517-1f9y3ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Early years education is not about babysitting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Early years education – about changing a mindset</h2>
<p>In early years education, little progress has been made. This is despite <a href="https://theconversation.com/early-childhood-education-is-key-to-closing-the-gaps-54322">research showing</a> that early years education is key to closing achievement gaps in the longer term.</p>
<p>The issue is to do with <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-childcare-such-a-hard-sell-in-the-federal-election-59815">changing a mindset</a>. Rather than looking at the funding of early years education as something that helps get mums back to work, the government needs to look at it as setting children up for learning before they start school.</p>
<p>The good news is that we have almost all four year olds <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2016/childcare-education-and-training/early-childhood-education-and-care#framework">enrolled in preschool</a>. The less positive news is that early years education still faces many problems around <a href="https://theconversation.com/one-in-five-early-childhood-educators-plan-to-leave-the-profession-61279">low retention of teachers</a>, and staff feeling <a href="https://theconversation.com/early-childhood-educators-rely-on-families-to-prop-up-low-income-research-finds-69283">underpaid</a> and having to rely on families to prop up their income.</p>
<h2>Other areas we’ve covered</h2>
<p>Throughout the year we’ve discussed a range of much-debated issues – based on new research. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/disability-discrimination-24285">Disability discrimination</a>: we looked at the concerning ways schools try to avoid <a href="https://theconversation.com/children-with-disability-are-being-excluded-from-education-59825">enrolling students with disabilities</a>; around <a href="https://theconversation.com/children-with-disabilities-risk-being-misdiagnosed-in-order-to-receive-school-funding-support-53490">misdiagnosing students</a> as a way to obtain school funding; and about <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-your-rights-if-your-child-with-a-disability-is-denied-a-school-place-53500">your rights as a parent</a> if your child with a disability is denied a school place.</p></li>
<li><p>How to revive <a href="https://theconversation.com/reviving-indigenous-languages-not-as-easy-as-it-seems-68977">Indigenous languages</a> - which is no mean feat.</p></li>
<li><p>We talked about how a tough approach to bad behaviour in schools – such as writing names on the board, taking away a student’s lunch time, or handing out detention – are <a href="https://theconversation.com/schools-tough-approach-to-bad-behaviour-isnt-working-and-may-escalate-problems-56737">actually ineffective</a> in the long term and can exacerbate student disengagement and alienation. Individual punishment – such as expulsions – used as a deterrent also <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-we-expelling-too-many-children-from-australian-schools-65162">rarely works</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>And although genes are never the full story, research shows that they <a href="https://theconversation.com/genes-can-have-up-to-80-influence-on-students-academic-performance-58052">can have up to 80% influence on students’ academic performance</a>.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Despite little progress in policy reform, it has been a superb year of debate and discussion around some pressing issues facing education. </p>
<p>To top it off, we were humbled to have received a media award by the Australian Council for Educational Leaders for our “excellent coverage” of education issues.</p>
<p>I’d like to say a big thanks to all our authors who’ve contributed this year – and we hope many more will join us next year.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70486/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Gonski funding was scrapped and the vocational education sector got a new student loan system. Here’s what else happened in education this year…Claire Shaw, Education EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/635212016-08-05T05:10:20Z2016-08-05T05:10:20ZAre university flagship courses actually workable? And will they be a disaster for equity?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133187/original/image-20160805-488-1oybqot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Should universities be allowed to deregulate fees for some courses?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/news/consultation-future-higher-education-reform">options paper </a> for higher education released on budget night, the government proposed the idea of “flagship courses”, which would mean that universities would be allowed to set the fees for some of their courses.</p>
<p>In the paper, the government said universities would be given:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>freedom to set fees for a small cohort of their students enrolled in identified high-quality, innovative courses [to provide] additional flexibility to innovate, differentiate themselves. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Universities are broadly opposed</h2>
<p>Many universities have reportedly come <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/aliceworkman/what-the-hecs?utm_term=.xja9qgPJQ#.hu2w5mByD">out against</a> the idea of introducing flagship courses, as have some of the peak education groups, including the Group of Eight, Australian Technology Network and Regional Universities Network. </p>
<p>One concern is that partial deregulation could create a two-tiered system – between flagship courses and other courses – that locks out disadvantaged students.</p>
<p>There is also concern about the unknowns of this proposal.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.go8.edu.au/publication-type/submissions">Go8</a> “supports and welcomes” commitment to flexibility, but, “in the absence of further detail”, is cautious about this option.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.iru.edu.au/driving-innovation-fairness-and-excellence-in-australian-higher-education/">Innovative Research Universities</a> was more welcoming of “exploration of mechanisms … [to] develop some areas of high achievement”.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.atn.edu.au/submissions/">ATN</a>, on the other hand, said it is “very difficult to see how … it would be workable and it has the potential to create perverse consequences”, echoing a general concern the policy could be bad for student equity and access and have other unintended outcomes.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/news/submissions-and-reports#.V6QKFpP5iV4">Universities Australia</a> said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>While some members have indicated a preparedness to further explore … the majority oppose the proposal on the basis of implementation complexity, the likelihood of perverse outcomes, the potential to devalue existing degrees, and the potential creation of a two-tier system. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>How the idea of flagship courses came about</h2>
<p>The flagship proposal made its debut in 2011 through the final report of the <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/163228849?selectedversion=NBD48700025">Base Funding Review</a>. </p>
<p>While full details were never published, essentially the idea was that universities would have been allowed to offer a “flagship course”. This course could have been one where the university offered something different and innovative, such as a highly specialised bachelor of crime scene investigation. </p>
<p>Universities could have charged 50% more than usual to cover the cost of their “innovation in teaching and learning”. But there could have been no more than 5% of total enrolments in the flagship.</p>
<p>The government’s current proposal implies flagship courses could be quite different to this, but would have a similar goal of “more choice and higher-quality offerings”. </p>
<p>The government suggests there might be no cap on fees and flagship course enrolments might be up to 20% of total enrolments. </p>
<p>The paper says the government might reduce the public subsidy as fees increased, but get the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to keep a watchful eye. </p>
<h2>Are university heads right to be concerned?</h2>
<p>It raises questions over how this model could work effectively to meet the government’s goal. </p>
<p>If the rules are too lax, even with the ACCC playing a part, we might see a concentration of flagship courses in a few high-demand and high-margin courses where universities could maximise revenue, but do not deliver either choice or innovation in teaching.</p>
<p>Does Australia really benefit from 40-plus commerce or law degree flagship courses? Get the incentives and rules wrong, and this might be the policy outcome. </p>
<p>And will the policy be bad for student equity and access as some vice-chancellors claim?</p>
<p>Whether or not flagship courses foster bad outcomes for student access and equity depends on how they are designed. For example, they might deter students who have faced disadvantage and make it unviable for them to undertake a course due to excess fees not covered by HELP. </p>
<p>An increase in fees for some courses, especially if this is a capped increase and deferred through HELP, is probably not enough to mean the policy will be detrimental overall for student access or equity. </p>
<p>As previous rises in HELP have <a href="http://www.innovation.gov.au/HigherEducation/Policy/BaseFundingReview/Documents/HEstudentdemandreport.docx">shown</a>, these do not on their own markedly affect enrolment trends.</p>
<h2>Where to now?</h2>
<p>The consultation process presents a window of opportunity for the government to continue thinking through what flagships might look like.</p>
<p>Good design might deliver more flexibility for universities to innovate, but this needs to be balanced with the possibility of unintended outcomes if the desired institutional incentives are misaligned.</p>
<p>Ensuring that the parameters for flagships provide incentive for universities to innovate, rather than being a roundabout way for students to contribute more for the very same courses as at present, would seem to be central to a workable proposal. </p>
<p>This suggests that, for flagship courses to be a success, a modest initiative – perhaps focused on individual units of study – might turn out to be a better choice than a program encompassing a fifth of a university’s enrolment. </p>
<p>There are clearly potential risks the model could be bad for students, but this depends on how the policy is designed.</p>
<p>If flagships drive quality, specialisation and differentiation, something that many agree is a good thing, they might yet be an important part of future Australian higher education. </p>
<p>If the policy does not end up driving choice or quality, it is hard to see it gaining support. </p>
<p>Whether or not the policy can be designed in a way to ensure it delivers the policy outcome is the next question.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63521/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gwilym Croucher is Principal Policy Adviser in the Chancellery at the University of Melbourne and Senior Lecturer in the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education.
</span></em></p>If the flagship policy does not end up driving choice or quality, it is hard to see it gaining support.Gwilym Croucher, Senior Lecturer, Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/615092016-06-27T02:23:09Z2016-06-27T02:23:09ZHigher education gets short shrift in the election campaign, and we are all the poorer for it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128226/original/image-20160627-28391-1xqy2nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">We know there will be cuts if the Liberal party is re-elected.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Higher education policy during the Abbott government was highly controversial and probably a component of Tony Abbott’s undoing. </p>
<p>Not since the <a href="http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/gwilym-croucher/the-dawkins-revolution-25-years-on-9780522864151.aspx">Dawkins reforms of 1989-90</a>, if at all, had higher education been so prominent in public debate. </p>
<p>In his 2014 Budget, then Treasurer Joe Hockey proposed to reduce the Commonwealth Grants Scheme (CGS) to universities by 20%. But he would allow tuition fee deregulation, so that domestic undergraduate students could be charged up to the fee levels of international students, subject to a requirement to create a scholarship pool for students from low socio-economic (SES) backgrounds. Commonwealth-supported places (“HECS” places) were to be extended to sub-degree courses and to private providers. </p>
<p>A real rate of interest would be applied to graduate debtors, existing and future, but this was dropped in an attempt to get the measures through the Senate. </p>
<p>Most commentators agreed that fee levels under deregulation would have risen substantially, perhaps by up to 300%: far more than was required to replace the 20% cut to the CGS. </p>
<p>Relative absence of competition would give most universities the headroom to do this, and the international evidence was that universities do use up all the headroom they are given. </p>
<p>Students would be prepared to pay, it was said, because the income-contingent loan scheme blunted the price signal. </p>
<p>By the time students knew what they had done and whether their degree had been a good investment, it would be too late and they would be saddled with significant debt until middle age.</p>
<p>The opposition Labor party built a campaign around “$100,000 degrees”, and critics raised the spectre of the Americanisation of Australian higher education.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/university-fee-deregulation-blocked-but-pyne-pledges-to-fight-on-38912">measures were defeated twice in the Senate</a>, higher education was nightly news, and the eyes of the university world were on Australia.</p>
<h2>Pushed aside</h2>
<p>Given this background one might have expected higher education policy to be front and centre of the 2016 campaign. </p>
<p>But while there has been some distant yapping, this dog has not really barked at all. Why?</p>
<p>One reason may be that Liberal higher education policy is now obscure; perhaps deliberately so - a small target strategy.</p>
<p>Their <a href="https://www.liberal.org.au/our-plan/putting-students-first">policy document</a> on education contains almost nothing on universities. It is claimed that “under the Turnbull government, funding for universities is at record levels” at over A$16 billion, but this is the result of an expanded sector introduced in the Rudd-Gillard era. </p>
<p>Similarly, it is said that support for students through the loan scheme is at a “record level”, but this is also the consequence of previous Labor government policies. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/expert-panel-what-the-national-innovation-statement-means-for-science-51902">National Innovation and Science Agenda</a> to drive <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-ways-science-can-lead-the-innovation-debate-50838">stronger university collaboration with industry</a> is actually a new policy, but at $127 million it barely registers.</p>
<p>So, if we are to divine what the real Liberal higher education policy is we must dig into the <a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-education-in-policy-paralysis-after-budget-2016-what-now-58815">2016 Budget</a> and interpret comments made by the education minister and prime minister during the campaign.</p>
<h2>Liberals’ plan for a 20% cut to teaching grants</h2>
<p>In the Budget on 3 May, and in an <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/he_reform_paper_driving_innovation_fairness_and_excellence_3_may_2016.pdf">options paper released</a> that night, it became clear that the 20% cut to the CGS - basically teaching grants - remains policy, albeit deferred for one year. The forward estimates assume it, and the return to surplus timeline – an election plank - relies on it. </p>
<p>After the election, we are told, consultation will be carried out over some options, such as fee deregulation for <a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-education-in-policy-paralysis-after-budget-2016-what-now-58815">“flagship” courses</a> and re-balancing commonwealth and student contributions. </p>
<p>We are assured, however, that “full” deregulation of domestic student fees has been dropped for good.</p>
<p>The best one can make of this is that Liberal policy has, as its starting point, a cut of 20% to university teaching grants (being the major component of higher education expenditure cuts amounting to $2.5 billion over the forward estimates), but the actual cuts might turn out to be less if students are required to pay more. </p>
<p>The increase in student payments might be softened if the 2014 expenditure policies to extend HECS places to sub-bachelor places and private providers are dropped, but the conclusion is inescapable.</p>
<p>Unless students are required to pay significantly more, universities will face major cuts.</p>
<h2>Worse for universities now than under Pyne?</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128227/original/image-20160627-28366-4npfsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128227/original/image-20160627-28366-4npfsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128227/original/image-20160627-28366-4npfsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128227/original/image-20160627-28366-4npfsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128227/original/image-20160627-28366-4npfsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128227/original/image-20160627-28366-4npfsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128227/original/image-20160627-28366-4npfsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Is higher education in a worse position now than when it was under Pyne?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Mick Tsikas</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Arguably the 2016 situation is worse for universities than the 2014-15 proposals, because it is not at all clear that the cap on domestic student fees will be raised sufficiently to compensate for the 20% cut in government funding. </p>
<p>On average, it is thought, an increase in student fees of about 30% would be required to compensate for a 20% reduction in commonwealth funding. </p>
<p>Education Minister Simon Birmingham could not, however, bring himself to say the words “20% cut” when <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Interview-Transcripts/ID/3008/Interview--Sky-News-Live--David-Speers">interviewed by David Speers on Sky News</a>. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>David Speers: “…The 20% funding cut remains in your forward estimates, is that right?”</p>
<p>Simon Birmingham: “And as I said to you before, that is recognising the fact that over the recent history, we’ve seen growth in spending on higher education run at twice the rate of the general economic growth. So there is a real financial sustainability problem there.”</p>
<p>David Speers: “So you do still want a 20% funding cut?”</p>
<p>Simon Birmingham: “We still certainly want to find savings in higher education.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Until recently, it was possible that the new option of limited fee deregulation might still have put universities in a better position than the proposed cuts would suggest. Then the prime minister weighed in.</p>
<p>In the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2016/federal-election-2016-malcolm-turnbull-advances-partial-university-fee-deregulation-agenda-20160617-gpm3o3.html">Leaders’ Debate on 17 June</a>, Malcolm Turnbull made clear that deregulation would only be for a “small number” of flagship courses. </p>
<p>So what had been only an option was now upgraded to policy.</p>
<p>Given all this, why have Labor (and the Greens, and Nick Xenophon) not made more of an issue that was clearly playing well for them in 2014-2015? </p>
<p>After all, universities will face major cuts which will only be substantially alleviated if students are slugged instead. And if universities are not to be cut at all, the student fee increases could be as much as 30%, which sounds like the sort of thing that students might protest against. Are they just relieved it isn’t 300%?</p>
<p>One possible explanation is that it takes two to tango, and with the Coalition keen to keep higher education out of the campaign there is only so much traction to be had by repeated references to it. </p>
<h2>Lacking attention</h2>
<p>The government presumably knows that it is unlikely to win any new votes in this area but it has considerable potential to lose existing ones, hence the silence.</p>
<p>Another explanation is the view that the two major parties <a href="https://theconversation.com/there-is-more-agreement-between-the-parties-on-higher-ed-than-slogans-suggest-61510">have much in common</a> on higher education.</p>
<p>Another is that news editors do not think higher education is sufficiently front of mind for electors to warrant extensive coverage in the general media, particularly if no one is occupying a university administration building at the time.</p>
<p>Another is that even with the 24/7 news cycle there are only so many column inches or air-time minutes available, and events in Europe and the US have been using up oxygen.</p>
<p>Another could be that <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/">Universities Australia</a>, the peak body, continues to be in a difficult position and cannot mount effective opposition. UA likes to remain politically neutral, its member universities have divergent interests, and it wants to be on good terms with whoever is the incoming government. So attack ads in an election campaign are not really their bag. (Such anxieties do not seem afflict other bodies, like the <a href="https://theconversation.com/patient-advocate-or-doctors-union-how-the-ama-flexes-its-political-muscle-60444">Australian Medical Association</a>, however.)</p>
<p>Whatever the explanation, it is a lamentable situation. Universities are vital to the future of a civilised and prosperous society. They face very significant cuts which could only be fully averted if students pay more. But Australian students already pay a higher proportion of the costs of their education than in much of the developed world. </p>
<p>One could be forgiven for not protesting in 2013, when Tony Abbott looked into the camera shortly before the election and said there would be no cuts to education. </p>
<p>But now we know there will be cuts if they are re-elected (it won’t be a breach of an election promise) and no one is protesting. It is a curious incident.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61509/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Parker will become an employee of The Conversation from August 2016, after retiring as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canberra on 1 July. The views expressed here are his own.</span></em></p>Liberal higher education policy is obscure; perhaps deliberately so. But the conclusion is clear. Unless students are required to pay significantly more, universities will face major cuts.Stephen Parker, Vice-Chancellor, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/588642016-05-09T11:59:36Z2016-05-09T11:59:36ZRushed reform benefits no one in the end<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121667/original/image-20160509-20609-6li578.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C651%2C2469%2C2126&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The government's options for higher education reform come with significant trade offs.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For students and universities, the 2016-17 budget held few surprises. <a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-education-in-policy-paralysis-after-budget-2016-what-now-58815">“Full deregulation”</a> is dead and the budget provided a one year deferral on the cuts to teaching which have not yet passed parliament. </p>
<p>The government has signalled its intention to pause, though not retreat, on changing the system.</p>
<p>The education minister, Simon Birmingham, released a <a href="http://www.education.gov.au/news/consultation-future-higher-education-reform">discussion paper</a> which provides a wide range of options for future and presumably more popular change to achieve the “savings outlined in the budget”. </p>
<p>What is clear from the paper is that the government will expect structural budget savings from whatever comes next. </p>
<h2>Trade offs</h2>
<p>The reality of the system is that to achieve large savings they must come with either a significant reduction in public funding for either research or teaching. </p>
<p>Both options come with significant trade offs. </p>
<p>On the one hand, reducing research funding will almost certainly shrink the total Australian research output. This would be a bad look at a time when the prime minister loudly pursues an <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-seeks-ideas-boom-with-innovation-agenda-experts-react-51892">innovation agenda</a>. </p>
<p>On the other hand, without seriously sacrificing quality, reducing teaching funding can only be mitigated through an increase in student contributions. </p>
<p>This could come either directly as fees or through a less generous higher education loan program (HELP) which asked <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-lowering-the-student-loan-repayment-threshold-fair-for-students-56814">students to pay back their debt on a lower salary</a>.</p>
<p>In achieving this goal, the options explored in the discussion paper reveal the difficult trade offs in the absence of additional public funds.</p>
<p>While full deregulation is off the table, its presence still lives on in the idea for fee flexibility for a limited number of “flagship” courses at each university. This proposal is similar to that put forward following Jane Lomax-Smith’s Base Funding Review in 2011. </p>
<p>This is in effect an opt-in version of partial deregulation for some courses, and as the paper makes clear would need careful thinking to ensure that it achieved the diversity in student choice that the government intends. </p>
<p>A concentration of specialist “flagship” courses in a few high demand and high margin courses where universities could maximise revenue is not in anyone’s long-term interest. If designed poorly it will distort incentives for universities and not deliver the desired innovation in quality education. Does Australia need 41 flagship commerce or law degree courses? </p>
<p>The rules matter here. </p>
<p>The paper also signals options for change to HELP. As the <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/help-for-the-future/">Grattan Institute’s</a> work has recently shown, reform of the loan system is not simple but may be politically necessary if the growing costs are to be met. </p>
<p>The discussion paper also indicates the possibility of changing the way we publicly fund postgraduate coursework degrees.</p>
<h2>How should we fund undergraduate and postgraduate courses?</h2>
<p>This revisits the difficult question of how to design a system for postgraduate courses – that are supported by public subsidy – which both promotes diversity and choice, but is coherent across the whole sector. </p>
<p>We currently have demand driven public funding for bachelor level education but not government supported postgraduate places.</p>
<p>The compounding impact of keeping funding for the sector as a whole static without indexation quickly erodes its real value. This was all too evident in the mid 1990s when the amount of funds for universities did not keep up with inflation, meaning ‘no cuts’ actually meant less real funding for teaching and research. </p>
<p>The government has said it is open to ideas, and the paper signals the establishment of an expert group to oversee proposals for the next phase.</p>
<p>The paper only provides discussion points, and claims no preferred options as such. The onus is now on students, universities and the wider public to make clear what they want from higher education. This means also deciding where they stand on the inevitable trade offs, even if they reject some of the base premises.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58864/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<h4 class="border">Disclosure</h4><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gwilym Croucher is Principal Policy Adviser in the Chancellery at The University of Melbourne and Senior Lecturer in Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education.</span></em></p>The onus is now on students, universities and the wider public to make clear where they stand on the options laid out in the discussion paper.Gwilym Croucher, Senior Lecturer, Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/588152016-05-04T03:12:02Z2016-05-04T03:12:02ZHigher education in policy paralysis after Budget 2016 – what now?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121127/original/image-20160504-11494-ksrs4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Uncapping fees for some degree courses is still an option. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Higher education is in policy paralysis. This year’s budget set us back to 2014.</p>
<p>In the 2014 budget, the government announced that <a href="https://theconversation.com/uncapping-education-fees-and-unleashing-the-unscrupulous-26810">fees would be deregulated</a>. While this was a toxic political move, it wasn’t toxic enough to be dumped from the <a href="https://theconversation.com/pyne-fails-to-deliver-any-surprises-in-the-higher-education-budget-41741">2015 budget</a>, which was another lost year for higher education.</p>
<p>While, <a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-2016-education-experts-react-58592">this year</a>, the government finally ruled out full fee deregulation, it is still contemplating uncapped fees for some courses in its higher education <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/driving-innovation-fairness-and-excellence-australian-education">consultation paper</a>. It has also dropped all the worthwhile proposals from 2014, such as extending the demand-driven system to sub-baccalaureate programs.</p>
<h2>Cuts and government values</h2>
<p>As expected, the government added cuts of A$152.2 million over four years, or 22%, from the Higher Education Participation Program – which funds universities to bring in students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. It also cut $20.9 million over four years by closing the Office for Learning and Teaching, which supported scholarship on major improvements to teaching and learning. </p>
<p>All that remains is $4.5 million a year for <a href="http://www.olt.gov.au/awards">good teaching awards</a>. As valuable as these are, they recognise individual performance rather than disseminate good practice throughout the sector. </p>
<p>While the government has relegated the improvement of teaching and learning to universities, it has increased funding for co-operative research centres by $46 million, or 32%, by 2020. </p>
<p>This reinforces the view that while teaching and learning is universities’ most important role, in national policy, it is very much a second priority to research.</p>
<h2>Running, jumping, standing still</h2>
<p>Rather than announcing any changes, the government released a <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/driving-innovation-fairness-and-excellence-australian-education">consultation paper</a> on proposals for tackling many of higher education’s unresolved issues.</p>
<p>While the sector generally welcomes the belated consultation, as the government is <a href="https://theconversation.edu.au/article-58076">moving the election forward to July 2</a>, it doesn’t have any time before the election to progress any of the options it canvasses.</p>
<p>The government, from Tony Abbott to Malcolm Turnbull, has spent a whole term in higher education policy paralysis. </p>
<h2>The reform options being discussed – deregulating fees for some courses</h2>
<p>Nonetheless, the Coalition is still contemplating uncapped fees, initially for only some courses that would be proposed by universities. </p>
<p>The government’s consultation paper states that it is:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… committed to providing universities with additional flexibility to innovate, differentiate themselves and offer students more choice and higher quality offerings. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The paper suggests that giving:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… universities flexibility to attract additional revenue in courses where they have developed particular expertise would enable them to innovate and differentiate themselves and pursue their individual vision for higher education excellence.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While the government adopts from the 2011 higher education base funding review the term “flagship courses” for programs with uncapped fees, its proposals are markedly different from those recommended by that review. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A49506">It recommended</a> that funding for flagship programs be increased by up to 50%, with the additional funding “met through a matched increase in both government and student contributions”. </p>
<p>In contrast, the consultation paper proposes that government funding for flagship programs be cut and that fees be uncapped and monitored by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, or be approved by an independent body. </p>
<p>If they don’t cause too many problems, the flagships will become a fleet of deregulated fees. The government will expose itself to similar problems that arose from 2009 when the then-Labor government relaxed conditions for the loan program for vocational diplomas, called VET FEE-HELP.</p>
<p>As successive governments found in trying to curb the runaway explosion of VET FEE-HELP loans, doubtful debt and scams, withdrawing concessions is much harder than granting them. </p>
<p>If a re-elected Coalition government manages to uncap fees for some programs from 2018 there should be a simple but strong mechanism for returning fees to their caps should the experiment go as badly wrong as many fear.</p>
<h2>Ideas for how to reduced student loan debt</h2>
<p>The higher education consultation paper has several proposals to reduce the cost to government of the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP): </p>
<ul>
<li><p>introduce a loan fee for all HELP loans;</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/is-lowering-the-student-loan-repayment-threshold-fair-for-students-56814">lower the repayment threshold</a> from $54,126 to around $40,000–45,000;</p></li>
<li><p>introduce a higher contribution rate for high-income earners;</p></li>
<li><p>index repayment thresholds to a lower index;</p></li>
<li><p>introduce a household income test for HELP repayments;</p></li>
<li><p>restrict the availability of HELP loans or Commonwealth subsidies to those who have left the workforce permanently;</p></li>
<li><p>recover outstanding loan amounts from deceased estates; and </p></li>
<li><p>remove the <a href="http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/payingbackmyloan/hecs-help-benefit/pages/hecshelpbenefit">HECS-HELP benefit</a>, which reduces HELP repayments for education, nursing and other graduates working in a related occupation.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Before the budget, the government released a discussion paper on <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/2017-vet-fee-help-scheme-redesign-discussion-paper">redesigning VET FEE-HELP</a>, which proposes several measures to end the scamming of the program. </p>
<p>As a result of these measures, and the withdrawal of the decision to uncap fees, the government estimates that the proportion of new debt not expected to be repaid in 2017 is 18%. This is markedly down from the 21% estimated in last year’s budget and the 23% in the 2014 budget.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Gavin will be on hand for an Author Q&A between 11am and noon AEST on Thursday May 4, 2016. Post any questions you have in the comment section below.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58815/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gavin Moodie is an adjunct professor at RMIT University which is likely to be affected substantially by the Government's budget and the proposals in its consultation paper.</span></em></p>While the government finally ruled out full fee deregulation in its 2016 budget, it is still contemplating uncapping fees for some degree courses. Here’s what else is being discussed.Gavin Moodie, Adjunct professor, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/576552016-04-13T04:22:54Z2016-04-13T04:22:54ZReforming HELP loans: combine lower repayment thresholds with a super payment option<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118469/original/image-20160413-15858-8c463a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What is the best HELP repayment option for all graduates?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since it <a href="https://theconversation.com/book-review-the-dawkins-revolution-25-years-on-19291">began</a> more than 25 years ago, the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) has been generally safe for university students and cost-effective for governments. </p>
<p>The scheme avoids US-style debt traps, where student loans attract real rates of interest and must be repaid regardless of income. In 2014, Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/inequality-why-australia-must-not-follow-the-us-20140706-zsxtk.html">described</a> the Australian scheme as “the envy of the rest of the world. It works.”</p>
<p>But HELP now faces growing public costs. After Education Minister Simon Birmingham <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-does-australia-run-one-of-the-most-generous-student-loan-schemes-in-the-world-52696">dubbed</a> it “one of the most generous loan schemes in the world”, reforms are expected in the May budget.</p>
<h2>Nightmare on HELP street?</h2>
<p>Last week saw alarmist reporting of a Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) <a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-education-policies-could-result-in-big-increase-to-federal-debt-experts-respond-57216">report</a> which estimates that total HELP debt might balloon to A$185 billion by 2026.</p>
<p>First, the PBO estimates that, over the decade to 2026, net HELP debt held by the government may rise from $13 billion currently to $48 billion. In underlying cash terms, the estimated annual cost of the whole loan portfolio may rise from $1.7 billion this year to $11.1 billion in 2026.</p>
<p>Second, these projections use working assumptions that may not eventuate over the coming decade:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>University course places remain fully uncapped, and funded enrolments grow by a third.</p></li>
<li><p>New legislation uncaps fees from 2017 and average prices rise by 40% initially to offset subsidy cuts of 20%; and uncapped prices continue, rising to reach 60% of total revenue per place by 2026.</p></li>
<li><p>The annual interest rate subsidies on loans eventually repaid rise from less than 1% now to reach 3.5% by 2026; while unrepaid loans also face compound interest increases, in this case at rates of up to 6% by 2026.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Third, the PBO estimates don’t balance these costs with any budget savings estimate from the proposed 20% cut to public grants for course subsidies. These may amount to $1 billion a year in the early years, and $2 billion or more in later years, if funded enrolments grow as projected.</p>
<p>As ANU economist Bruce Chapman <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/opinion/rubbery-figures-no-basis-to-abandon-help/news-story/b994c7517f543fc85c829cc0e424668f">reported this week</a>, the PBO estimates are “not extrapolations of existing realities” but a scenario. </p>
<p>On the other hand, as Chapman <a href="https://theconversation.com/fee-deregulation-and-the-hazards-of-help-27521">noted</a> in 2014 when uncapped fees and subsidy cuts were first proposed, and as his ANU colleague Timothy Higgins now warns, <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/opinion/fee-deregulation-wont-save-taxpayers-a-cent-in-the-long-run/news-story/7b204e14fadc069b438da34246557543">big price hikes</a> remain likely in such a scenario.</p>
<h2>Possible reforms to lower public HELP costs</h2>
<p>Accepting that HELP debt will be a growing but manageable budget problem, what kinds of changes might we expect in the budget? </p>
<p>Sensible reforms would include recovery of debts from deceased estates with substantial assets, as <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/809-doubtful-debt1.pdf">proposed</a> by the Grattan Institute in 2014. </p>
<p>The PBO report confirms that this is the biggest eventual cost to the scheme, with around 20% of all lending expected to be written off as bad debt. For those in well-off households, this reform would encourage those with earnings below the repayment threshold, who rely on a well-paid partner with earnings above it, to clear their debt voluntarily.</p>
<p>A likely reform would see the adoption of a new, lower set of HELP debt repayment thresholds. A recent Grattan <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/report/help-for-the-future/">report</a> proposed that repayments could start when incomes reach $42,000 instead of the current $54,000. In cash terms, repayments would flow as shown below.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118456/original/image-20160413-15858-rd401j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118456/original/image-20160413-15858-rd401j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118456/original/image-20160413-15858-rd401j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118456/original/image-20160413-15858-rd401j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118456/original/image-20160413-15858-rd401j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118456/original/image-20160413-15858-rd401j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118456/original/image-20160413-15858-rd401j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118456/original/image-20160413-15858-rd401j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Author calculations of repayment amounts use the Grattan report proposed thresholds, rounded here by the author.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Accelerated repayment would cut the public cost of the interest rate subsidy built into the scheme, since debts are maintained at zero real interest (indexed to inflation). It would also reduce the debts written off after a lifetime of non-repayment.</p>
<h2>Good for the budget, but bad for graduates?</h2>
<p>But if adopted as policy, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-lowering-the-student-loan-repayment-threshold-fair-for-students-56814">fairness factor</a> must feature in federal election campaigning later this year. In cash-flow terms, how would lower income graduates afford it?</p>
<p>One way would be to allow them to redirect employer superannuation contributions into HELP debt repayment, for reasons I outlined <a href="https://theconversation.com/use-super-contributions-to-repay-student-loans-40759">early last year</a>. </p>
<p>Reportedly, Treasurer Scott Morrison was urged to consider some kind of super-into-HELP option <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-21/morrison-urged-to-let-students-pay-study-debt-with-super/7103120">earlier this year</a>. There is <a href="http://www.afr.com/personal-finance/superannuation-and-smsfs/coalition-senator-wants-to-let-kids-use-super-to-repay-uni-debts-20160411-go3bku">now support</a> within Liberal ranks.</p>
<p>The table below shows how repayments at the Grattan report thresholds compare with the super guarantee payments that employers are obliged to make at these income levels.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118457/original/image-20160413-15871-1jtajku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118457/original/image-20160413-15871-1jtajku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118457/original/image-20160413-15871-1jtajku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118457/original/image-20160413-15871-1jtajku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118457/original/image-20160413-15871-1jtajku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118457/original/image-20160413-15871-1jtajku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118457/original/image-20160413-15871-1jtajku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118457/original/image-20160413-15871-1jtajku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Author calculations of super contributions are drawn from the ASIC MoneySmart website.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With an option to direct up to 50% of super contributions into HELP, graduates earning $42,000 to $53,000 could make HELP debt payments each year with zero effect on their cash incomes. At higher incomes of $57,000 to $91,000 they could offset most of the cash impact of higher minimum HELP repayments. </p>
<p>This would offer real flexibility to meet urgent expenses such as <a href="https://www.asic.gov.au/about-asic/media-centre/find-a-media-release/2014-releases/14-041mr-smart-people-not-so-smart-with-their-money/">outstanding credit card debts</a>.</p>
<p>A likely effect would be more active management of HELP debts, and also of super entitlements where <a href="http://www.superannuation.asn.au/media-release-6-october-2014">employer compliance is patchy</a>. </p>
<p>In this scenario, innovative super funds could offer “student super” accounts for casual work during study as a recruitment strategy. They could notify students of their HELP repayment capacity each year, and how to time repayments before debts are adjusted for inflation. By accepting lower account balances initially, these funds would gain longer term benefits from wider graduate membership.</p>
<p>Combining a Grattan-type repayment scale with a super option would allow for earlier repayment of HELP loans, with smaller effects on take home pay, and greater flexibility for graduates to manage living expenses early in their careers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57655/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoff Sharrock works at a public university which derives substantial revenue from HELP loans, and which would benefit if fee deregulation allowed fee increases. He has three school-aged children who would benefit from low HELP debts and favourable repayment rules in future.</span></em></p>Combining a lower repayment scale with a super option would allow for earlier repayment of HELP loans and greater flexibility for graduates to manage living expenses early in their careers.Geoff Sharrock, Program Director, LH Martin Institute, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/572162016-04-06T03:51:18Z2016-04-06T03:51:18ZHigher education policies could result in big increase to federal debt: experts respond<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117596/original/image-20160406-29010-1fw43bm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">$4 billion of student loan debt is likely to never be repaid by 2025.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The government’s proposed policies to make <a href="https://theconversation.com/budget-should-give-universities-more-flexibility-on-student-contributions-56733">subsidy cuts to higher education</a> and allow universities to set their own fees will result in big increases to federal debt, warns a <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Budget_Office/research_reports/Higher_Education_Loan_Programme">report released</a> by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).</p>
<p>The report, looking into the impact of the cost of the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) on the budget, shows the overall cost of the HELP is increasing rapidly due to the uncapping of student places, which allows universities to recruit as many students as they wish.</p>
<p>By 2025, the cost of HELP will rise by A$9.3 billion. This is largely fuelled by higher interest rates and an increase in unrepaid debt.</p>
<p>Around $4 billion of student loan debt is likely to never be repaid by 2025. The concessional cost of the interest on the loans is forecast to climb from $1 billion to $2.4 billion.</p>
<p>With university fee deregulation still on the cards, and HELP costs continuing to escalate, is government bearing all the risk?</p>
<p>The Conversation spoke to experts about the report’s findings and asked them to offer their opinion on the biggest challenges the higher education sector faces.</p>
<hr>
<h2>Fee deregulation threatens to increase amount of unrepaid debt</h2>
<p><em>Timothy Higgins, associate professor in actuarial studies in the Research School of Finance, Actuarial Studies and Statistics, Australian National University, says:</em></p>
<p>The report adds valuable information to the debate, but policymakers should be cautious when interpreting the results.</p>
<p>The projections assume an average 40% increase in fees followed by an annual 2% real increase as a consequence of fee deregulation. The report also presents sensitivity analysis to demonstrate the short-term impact of different rates of fee increase on the underlying cash balance. </p>
<p>But what happens if the initial 40% increase turns out to be 60% instead? What is to stop a course provider from charging excessive fees? Also, what is the impact of fee uncertainty on long-term doubtful debt and concessional interest costs? </p>
<p><a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/feasibility-and-design-of-a-tertiary-education-entitlement-in-australia/">Research shows</a> that modest changes in HELP fees could have a considerable impact on the percentage of doubtful debt. </p>
<p>The high, albeit uncertain, projections in the PBO report demonstrate the risk to the sustainability of HELP if deregulation proceeded. </p>
<p>HELP was designed to have unpaid debt, but fee deregulation threatens to increase the magnitude and proportion of doubtful debt to unsustainable levels. There are sound arguments for <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/968-HELP-for-the-future.pdf">HELP reform</a>, but fee deregulation needn’t be one of them. A solution is to simply not deregulate. </p>
<p>In addition to limiting HELP costs for both students and taxpayers, retaining a price cap on fees would also eliminate the risk of provider price gouging.</p>
<h2>The report is based on assumptions that might not come to pass</h2>
<p><em>Geoff Sharrock, program director, LH Martin Institute, University of Melbourne, says:</em></p>
<p>The report estimates that, due to a mix of factors, the annual cost of HELP loans to the government will rise more than six-fold over the next decade, to $11.1 billion in 2025-26.</p>
<p>This suggests that the current blend of demand driven enrolments and HELP scheme settings needs an overhaul.</p>
<p>The report projects rising levels of students enrolling in courses either partly or fully funded by HELP loans. It says that bachelor degree enrolments grew by two thirds from 2010 to 2015, and are projected to rise further, by a third from 2015 to 2026, to almost 700,000 full-time places. It notes that Vocational Education and Training enrolments have grown hugely in the past few years, but that better controls will flatten growth there.</p>
<p>It projects rising bachelor degree fees (by more than 40% on average) if the government’s proposed subsidy cuts and fee deregulation come to pass.</p>
<p>The report is very technical and also helpfully transparent in its assumptions.</p>
<p>Two of those assumptions might be queried, to lower the total cost rises it projects.</p>
<p>One is the 40% increase in fees it expects universities to adopt just to recover losses from proposed subsidy cuts; the 20% cut proposed in 2014 was estimated to need a 30% fee rise offset, although under full fee deregulation a wider spectrum of prices rises beyond cost recovery can be expected.</p>
<p>The other assumption is the interest rate subsidy cost, based on a projection that government borrowing costs rise from 3% to 6% over the next decade. Despite the experience of the last two decades, when a 6% rate was common for Australian government borrowing, here it is possible that the coming decade will see continuing low borrowing rates for Australia in a low-interest global economy.</p>
<h2>HELP system needs to be rethought and redesigned into a single scheme</h2>
<p><em>Peter Noonan, professor of tertiary education policy in the Mitchell Institute, Victoria University, says:</em></p>
<p>The HELP system needs to be rethought and redesigned into a single scheme across the whole tertiary education system rather than through piecemeal changes to the existing schemes. We need a scheme that has broader coverage but is also sustainable. This requires some fundamental changes. </p>
<p>Student fees – supported by income-contingent loans – need to be linked to a benchmark price for different qualifications with government course subsidies and student fee levels linked to that price.</p>
<p>Cuts in course subsidy levels and increased student fees may be a false saving if the government has to write off an increasing level of debt. Great care has to be taken in allowing tertiary institutions and providers to set their own fees where prices significantly exceed costs and returns to students. </p>
<h2>Lowering repayment threshold would generate more money</h2>
<p><em>Ittima Cherastidtham, senior associate, higher education, Grattan Institute, says:</em></p>
<p>The report’s projections of HELP lending are probably too high, because they are built on assumptions that fees would be deregulated and the Commonwealth Grant Scheme cut. But so far the government has been unable to get these changes through the Senate. Nevertheless, these projections provide valuable insights. </p>
<p>This year HELP lending is expected to be about $10 billion. It’s a big figure, yet its financial impact on the budget is not transparent. </p>
<p>HELP’s largest cost – doubtful debt, which is debt that is likely never to be repaid – is not reflected in the budget’s fiscal balance until a debtor dies. </p>
<p>Doubtful debt represents about a <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/968-HELP-for-the-future.pdf">quarter of outstanding loans</a>. Yet because only 0.35% of people who have had HELP debt have died without paying, large costs will flow to the fiscal balance in coming decades. </p>
<p>In other words, doubtful debt is an intergenerational issue. An educated workforce produces benefits for future generations. But the lack of transparency about HELP’s budget impact prevents an informed discussion of how much of these costs can be fairly passed on to future generations. </p>
<p>Government can do more to reduce HELP costs. Grattan Institute’s recent report, <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/968-HELP-for-the-future.pdf">HELP for the future</a>, argues that current HELP repayment thresholds of $54,126 are too generous. <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-lowering-the-student-loan-repayment-threshold-fair-for-students-56814">Reducing them to $42,000</a> would increase repayments by $500 million a year. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>What do you make of the report’s findings? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57216/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoff Sharrock works at a public university which derives substantial income from HELP loans, and which would benefit if fee deregulation allowed fee increases financed by HELP loans.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Noonan is a Professorial Fellow in the Mitchell Institute at Victoria University. The University derives revenue from HELP schemes.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ittima Cherastidtham and Timothy Higgins 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>Academic experts respond to the latest report by the Parliamentary Budget Office on the impact of student loans on the budget.Timothy Higgins, Associate Professor, Research School of Finance, Actuarial Studies & Statistics, Australian National UniversityGeoff Sharrock, Program Director, LH Martin Institute, The University of MelbourneIttima Cherastidtham, Senior Associate, Higher Education Program, Grattan InstitutePeter Noonan, Mitchell Professorial Fellow, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/541712016-02-05T01:11:15Z2016-02-05T01:11:15ZDeregulating TAFE is a big risk to the labour market<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110384/original/image-20160204-2993-6jbgh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Deregulating TAFE would have serious impacts for the labour market.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/297710445/TAFE-document">leaked paper</a> outlining the government’s plans to deregulate TAFE would have a serious impact on large sections of the labour market.</p>
<p>The proposed policy not only highlights an ideological commitment to fee deregulation, prioritising industry consultation and austerity, but also fails some of the basic requirements of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/frozen-wages-insecure-jobs-struggling-youth-rising-inequality-shrinking-unions-join-the-dots-50981">active labour market policy</a> (ALMP). </p>
<p>High quality vocational training allows us to quickly retrain and find work in industries with skills shortages. When combined with adequate income subsidies and employment services, Vocational Education and Training (VET) can create an effective and efficient labour market. </p>
<p>When the formula is correct, ALMP can help to address structural unemployment. This is created when there is a mismatch in the skill demands of business and the availability of skilled workers. Effective reform also supports workers back into the labour market and allows firms to remain flexible. </p>
<p>However, this approach requires effective regulation and strong institutional protections. </p>
<p>Research <a href="https://www.ncver.edu.au/wps/portal/vetdataportal/restricted/publicationContent/!ut/p/a0/hY_JCsIwFAC_xUOP5b1uaXoUQdJeBKvQ5FKyqdHS3ap_L3oXjwMDw4CACkQrF3eWs-ta2XxYkDoPwg1jMRY7xgjm6fawL9kxwoAABy7SnwJLoAQBotfOANeJDY1MYv9ELfqxCamfZVT5VGEWGQy01AjFv2IF3F2HQaxB6K6d7XOGqtWLHevpIkdrPOzvqnH6uzB5GFIk0N-koq_H6g2HsqY4/">shows</a> that countries with strong regulatory frameworks and heavy costs for non-compliance typically have higher quality VET sectors.</p>
<p>This new policy proposal signals a step in the opposite direction. Chief areas for concern are the extension of funding arrangements to private providers, a lack of consultation outside of industry groups, and a renewed push to deregulate fees. This could in effect dilute regulatory control, increase cost to both consumer and taxpayer, and allow for predatory market practices in the VET sector.</p>
<h2>Value for money?</h2>
<p>There are approximately <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/FBC2FEEBF38C6DD6CA25773700169C92?opendocument">5,000 registered training providers</a> in Australia. While most students are recipients of government subsidies, almost 3,700 providers are private enterprises. </p>
<p>TAFE market share has <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/victorian-tafes-record-estimated-50-million-loss-20150416-1mm68v.html">fallen to a mere 25%</a> as a result of <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/tafe-forced-into-higher-ed-markets/news-story/48209bb1fd6e06c6be51ec8df1837c0e">deregulation and funding cuts</a>. By allowing private providers to flood the market with a low-cost, high-volume approach to course construction, the quality of training has become diluted.</p>
<p>The money used by private enterprises has often been used to <a href="http://www.nteu.org.au/defendourunis/article/Deregulation-of-Victorian-vocational-education%3A-A-case-study-in-policy-and-market-failure-16469">undercut the pay and conditions</a> of the public providers, which can have real impact on the quality of education. </p>
<p><a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=961144">Research shows</a> that wage increases had a direct effect on teacher quality. For every 1% increase in starting salary, there was an associated increase 0.6% in the aptitude of students entering teaching degrees. In other words, if you pay teachers more, you get better students wanting to become teachers.</p>
<p>Deregulation often reduces these regulatory mechanisms and strips away compliance costs for private providers, but as this <a href="http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/how-australia-can-become-a-renewable-energy-superpower-35215">does not</a> always result in a reduction of cost to the consumer. Energy companies, despite experiencing a greatly deregulated market, have failed to substantially reduce consumer cost.</p>
<p>The energy deregulation story offers us another concerning and often unacknowledged risk. </p>
<p>Just last year, the chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) identified the east coast gas market as containing all the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/east-coast-gas-market-has-all-the-hallmarks-of-a-cartel-20151011-gk6b4i.html">hallmarks of a cartel</a>.</p>
<h2>Competition, compliance and cartels</h2>
<p>Usually when we hear the word “cartel” it conjures up images of drug trafficking, racketeering and other illicit practices. We think of real world kingpin Pablo Escobar, or his fictional equivalents like Scarface’s Tony Montana or Breaking Bad’s Walter White. While less likely to inspire award-winning television series, economic cartels are a serious concern.</p>
<p>At their core, cartels are an agreement made between competing firms with significant market power. This agreement can take a number of forms, but in essence, cartels agree to set prices between themselves and let competition be damned.</p>
<p>Under the Competition and Consumer Act cartels are <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/caca2010265/s44zzrf.html">explicitly illegal</a>. However in the past ten years, the ACCC has <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/business/anti-competitive-behaviour/cartels/cartels-case-studies-legal-cases">investigated and prosecuted a number of cartels</a> in Australia. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, their capacity to investigate has been limited in recent years, as funding was frozen in 2014 and the <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/business/accc-bemoans-funding-levels-20141029-11e1jc.html">ACCC workforce has been cut by almost 13%</a>.</p>
<p>The ensuing legal proceedings take years and cost millions of tax dollars. While there is a legal deterrent to cartel formation in the VET sector, it is by no means a guarantee. </p>
<p>This may be an extreme scenario, but there are inherent risks wherever reform is proposed. However the risks posed by deregulation have immediate and serious impacts for large sections of the labour market, and the everyday lives of Australians.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54171/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shirley Jackson is affiliated with the Australian Labor Party and the Victorian Trades Hall Council. He works for the Young Workers Centre.</span></em></p>The risks posed by deregulating the vocational education and training sector have serious impacts for large sections of the labour market.Shirley Jackson, PhD Candidate in Political Economy, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/523012015-12-28T20:06:55Z2015-12-28T20:06:55Z2015, the year that was: Education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105648/original/image-20151214-30728-1s7fm2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The year's nearly ended, but we're still not sure how to best fund our universities.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>2013 was the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/gonski-review">year of Gonski</a>; 2014 the year of <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/fee-deregulation">higher education reform</a>; 2015 has been the year of … hmmm … wait, what actually happened this year? Just a lot of chat really, with much debate, but little action on reforming education in Australia.</p>
<p>But after such a tumultuous few years of policies being rushed through with little or no thought, I’ve sensed this has been a welcome relief for many in the sector, providing time to actually pause, think and look to research to see what it is we really want and need from an education system in Australia.</p>
<p>The year started out by continuing the debate about fee deregulation – with Glyn Davis, vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne, among others, <a href="https://theconversation.com/glyn-davis-why-i-support-the-deregulation-of-higher-education-36766">voicing support</a> for this move.</p>
<p>Yet after months of lobbying, and an 11th-hour bid at compromise, the then education minister, Christopher Pyne, <a href="https://theconversation.com/university-fee-deregulation-blocked-but-pyne-pledges-to-fight-on-38912">failed to negotiate the passage</a> of his university fee deregulation reforms through the Senate.</p>
<p>The Group of Eight, who initially supported deregulation, <a href="https://theconversation.com/group-of-eights-change-of-tack-smacks-of-self-interest-39631">then changed tack</a>, saying if politicians didn’t agree with it, they didn’t either. Instead, they called for yet another review into funding higher education.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105645/original/image-20151214-30728-cb88mm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105645/original/image-20151214-30728-cb88mm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105645/original/image-20151214-30728-cb88mm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105645/original/image-20151214-30728-cb88mm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105645/original/image-20151214-30728-cb88mm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105645/original/image-20151214-30728-cb88mm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105645/original/image-20151214-30728-cb88mm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In September 2015, Simon Birmingham was made the new minister for education and training.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite Pyne’s pledge to fight on, his time as education minister was short-lived. The ousting of Tony Abbott meant we got a new education minister: welcome Simon Birmingham.</p>
<p>In his first speech, Birmingham announced he would put <a href="https://theconversation.com/education-minister-says-uni-fees-wont-change-for-2016-48432">plans to deregulate university fees on hold</a> for at least a year. Any new funding reforms wouldn’t come into effect until 2017 at the earliest.</p>
<p>And that was that. Since then he has proposed a proper consultation about how to reform the education sector – so we’ll have to wait and see what that brings. (Birmingham discusses some of <a href="https://theconversation.com/politics-podcast-simon-birmingham-on-education-reform-51346">his thoughts here</a>.)</p>
<p>But that’s not to say both ministers haven’t left their mark in some way. Over the past year, they’ve announced that:</p>
<ul>
<li>Trainee teachers will be required to pass <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-purpose-of-a-literacy-test-for-teachers-27103">a literacy and numeracy test</a>.</li>
<li>Australian graduates who move overseas will now have to <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-graduates-who-move-overseas-will-have-to-pay-back-student-loans-50455">pay back their student loans</a>.</li>
<li>Academics are expected to spend less time writing for journals and more time <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-innovation-agenda-embracing-risk-or-gambling-with-public-health-52003">working with industry to ensure</a> their research has a commercial and community impact. Although we’re still none the wiser as to <a href="https://theconversation.com/there-is-no-easy-way-to-measure-the-impact-of-university-research-on-society-50856">how to measure this impact</a>.</li>
<li>From 2016, a <a href="https://theconversation.com/reforming-vocational-education-its-time-to-end-the-exploitation-of-vulnerable-people-51396">funding freeze</a> will be placed on private providers offering vocational education.</li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/childcare-funding-changes-leave-disadvantaged-children-with-fewer-hours-of-early-education-51488">Changes to childcare funding</a> are expected to make most working families better off, but will leave disadvantaged children with half the number of hours for early education.</li>
<li>Students will have to pass a basic numeracy test before graduating from school.</li>
<li>More funding will be given to help increase the study of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and computer coding – and to boost the number of women in science.</li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105641/original/image-20151214-30725-1sz0nx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105641/original/image-20151214-30725-1sz0nx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105641/original/image-20151214-30725-1sz0nx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105641/original/image-20151214-30725-1sz0nx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105641/original/image-20151214-30725-1sz0nx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=646&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105641/original/image-20151214-30725-1sz0nx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=646&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105641/original/image-20151214-30725-1sz0nx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=646&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We talked about how to go about choosing the right university for you.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To move the debate on from fees, we started a discussion around what <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/what-are-universities-for">universities are for</a> and how to go about <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/choosing-a-university">choosing the right university for you</a>.</p>
<p>We looked at the damaging effect the increasing privatisation of universities is having on <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-shift-towards-industry-relevant-degrees-isnt-helping-students-get-jobs-46128">student learning and employability</a>, staff contracts and morale, with sociologist <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/raewyn-connell-18926">Raewyn Connell</a> suggesting it’s time for Australia to introduce a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australia-needs-a-new-model-for-universities-43696">new university model</a> that really <a href="https://theconversation.com/keeping-public-priorities-in-public-universities-40008">serves the public</a>.</p>
<p>There were also discussions around whether universities <a href="https://theconversation.com/funding-higher-education-time-for-a-more-transparent-system-50749">should be more transparent</a> about how they spend their money following <a href="https://theconversation.com/universities-use-students-tuition-fees-to-boost-research-rather-than-teaching-data-shows-49813">a report</a> that revealed that universities were using students’ tuition fees to boost research rather than teaching.</p>
<p>And <a href="https://theconversation.com/nothing-has-changed-since-indigenous-higher-ed-review-41354">research found</a> no improvements in Indigenous higher education participation or completion despite the launch of a major review in 2012.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, debate has been centred on improving and reforming teacher training and vocational education.</p>
<p>Despite rhetoric around low entrance scores, <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-teachers-spelling-doesnt-necessarily-affect-their-teaching-36017">low literacy levels</a> and poor initial teacher education, <a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-learn-over-many-years-in-the-job-not-just-at-university-39486">research shows</a> that Australian universities do produce high-quality teaching graduates.</p>
<p>But as Australia continues to <a href="https://theconversation.com/six-ways-australias-education-system-is-failing-our-kids-32958">slip down global education rankings</a> – and students <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-it-matters-that-student-participation-in-maths-and-science-is-declining-47559">continue to opt out</a> of studying maths and science – how did the government decide to tackle the issue this time? Yep, <a href="https://theconversation.com/changes-to-teaching-degrees-are-no-guarantee-of-success-for-kids-37513">more tests</a>.</p>
<p>The first results from the literacy and numeracy skills trial test for trainee teachers saw most students pass: with 92% passing in literacy and 90% in the numeracy. <a href="https://theconversation.com/testing-teachers-basic-literacy-and-numeracy-skills-is-pointless-51566">Was it then pointless?</a></p>
<p>What research shows is lacking is <a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-learn-over-many-years-in-the-job-not-just-at-university-39486">better mentoring</a> support for graduates and early-career teachers.</p>
<p>And the problems don’t stop at entry level. Being a school principal has become one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-being-a-school-principal-one-of-the-most-dangerous-jobs-in-the-country-52004">A survey revealed</a> that 41% of school principals have experienced threats of physical violence in the past year from parents and students – and many are calling for more protection.</p>
<p>While schools battle with aggressive parents and students, academics working in regional universities are faced with the bleak statistics that they are <a href="https://theconversation.com/bullying-in-regional-universities-is-a-serious-problem-that-needs-addressing-49142">more likely to be bullied</a> than their peers in city universities.</p>
<p>And we haven’t even touched yet on vocational education … which is a real mess.</p>
<p>Vocational Education and Training (VET) <a href="https://theconversation.com/reforming-vocational-education-its-time-to-end-the-exploitation-of-vulnerable-people-51396">expert Mary Leahy summarises</a> the (many) issues to date. Tightening regulation alone won’t address deeper problems in the sector, she said – what’s needed is a rethink of the funding and regulatory models, and also to decide what we want vocational education to do.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105647/original/image-20151214-2843-1b7yyx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105647/original/image-20151214-2843-1b7yyx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105647/original/image-20151214-2843-1b7yyx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105647/original/image-20151214-2843-1b7yyx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105647/original/image-20151214-2843-1b7yyx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105647/original/image-20151214-2843-1b7yyx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105647/original/image-20151214-2843-1b7yyx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Our most-read piece of the year was about how to be good at maths. Research shows that memorising facts and completing drills are likely to improve your maths skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But what seems like a remarkably depressing year was thankfully saved by the variety of interesting research being produced by our universities – and this is what really got people talking.</p>
<p>In cased you missed them, here are the articles that got the most reads this year:</p>
<ol>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-secret-to-being-good-at-maths-49222">What is the secret to being good at maths?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-discipline-your-children-without-rewards-or-punishment-39178">How to discipline your children without rewards or punishment</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-does-your-choice-of-university-affect-your-future-45699">How does your choice of university affect your future?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/chalk-and-talk-teaching-might-be-the-best-way-after-all-34478">‘Chalk and talk’ teaching might be the best way after all</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-universities-should-get-rid-of-powerpoint-and-why-they-wont-43323">Why universities should get rid of PowerPoint and why they won’t</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/orphanage-trips-by-aussie-schools-are-doing-more-harm-than-good-38035">Orphanage trips by Aussie schools are doing more harm than good</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/parents-these-days-are-judged-too-harshly-34493">‘Parents these days’ are judged too harshly</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-best-most-effective-way-to-take-notes-41961">What’s the best, most effective way to take notes?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-some-kids-cant-spell-and-why-spelling-tests-wont-help-20497">Why some kids can’t spell and why spelling tests won’t help</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-way-we-teach-most-children-to-read-sets-them-up-to-fail-36946">The way we teach most children to read sets them up to fail</a></li>
</ol>
<p>See you back in the new year!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52301/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
2013 was the year of Gonski; 2014 the year of higher education reform; 2015 has been the year of … hmmm … wait, what actually happened this year? Just a lot of chat really, with much debate, but little…Claire Shaw, Education EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/485792015-10-07T19:24:54Z2015-10-07T19:24:54ZFour things the new minister should do on higher education<p>The Abbott government’s university deregulation reforms were regarded by some as a necessary progression to ensure the <a href="https://theconversation.com/glyn-davis-why-i-support-the-deregulation-of-higher-education-36766">future success</a> of Australian higher education. </p>
<p>For others, they were an assault on the idea of “<a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-education-the-age-of-pyne-the-destroyer-begins-26483">the public university</a>” and contained many potential <a href="https://theconversation.com/university-fee-deregulation-could-undermine-collaborations-between-unis-47408">dangers</a>. Irrespective of the policy content, the political process has been turbulent.</p>
<h2>The road to reforming higher education</h2>
<p>After the failed Liberal Party leadership spill in February, Tony Abbott promised “<a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-abbotts-good-government-gets-lost-in-another-bad-week-37534">good government</a> would start today”. However it never began for university reform – which exemplifies the failures in political management and policy development that characterised the Abbott administration. </p>
<p>This involved poor policy formulation and no effective dialogue with crossbench senators to bring them onside. The reforms increasingly didn’t look like a consistent or viable policy package for universities, having been beset by several instances of <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/christopher-pyne-says-budget-plan-to-charge-real-interest-for-student-debts-faces-wind-back-20140806-3d7un.html">backtracking</a> from the outset. </p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-ed-bill-explainer-what-will-pass-and-what-will-be-blocked-31019">multiple attempts</a> to get the reforms implemented, even after Christopher Pyne claimed to have “<a href="https://theconversation.com/pyne-fails-to-deliver-any-surprises-in-the-higher-education-budget-41741">fixed it</a>” by removing the barriers, the Senate would not pass them.</p>
<p>The trigger to break the gridlock came on September 14 when Tony Abbott was <a href="https://theconversation.com/malcolm-turnbull-ousts-tony-abbott-in-dramatic-party-coup-47512">ousted</a> by the more pragmatic <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-malcolm-turnbull-be-a-liberal-leader-for-the-21st-century-47486">Malcolm Turnbull</a>. The subsequent reshuffle saw Pyne <a href="https://theconversation.com/pyne-leaves-education-having-failed-to-sell-a-vision-for-the-past-47849">move out of Education</a> and Simon Birmingham move in. </p>
<p>This change in personnel provided scope for compromise or even change to university reform. The change in leadership style led some to speculate to what extent this would result in change to <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-would-a-21st-century-education-look-like-under-pm-turnbull-47844">policy</a> substance. </p>
<p>Although Turnbull has promised to be more consultative, persuasive and to explain things in ways that respects the intelligence of the public, he also stressed no major changes in policy. Understandably at this stage of the parliament, the prime minister doesn’t want to fundamentally change direction. </p>
<p>Although there has to be a fresh start, Turnbull has to balance this alongside the politics within the Liberal parliamentary party – particularly accommodating the right of the party.</p>
<p>Within a week of Turnbull becoming prime minister, the opposition tactically sought to move higher education up the political agenda. In a <a href="http://billshorten.com.au/higher-education-reform">speech</a> on September 21, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten announced a new Labor policy for university reform while reaffirming the powerful political message the Coalition’s proposals would mean A$100,000 degrees. </p>
<p>Labor’s policy would involve more <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-would-labors-student-funding-guarantee-work-and-what-does-it-mean-48153">spending</a>, lower fees and improving <a href="https://theconversation.com/politics-podcast-kim-carr-on-labors-new-higher-education-policy-47932">student retention rates</a>.</p>
<p>In the ethos of the new Turnbull government, it initially appeared university reform might proceed with new opportunities for compromise. Birmingham announced the reforms, which would be discussed by the new cabinet, <a href="http://abc.net.au/news/2015-09-29/new-education-minister-not-ready-to-declare-uni/6812330">were not ready to die</a>. </p>
<p>Then, on October 1, Birmingham announced the reforms would be <a href="https://theconversation.com/education-minister-says-uni-fees-wont-change-for-2016-48432">shelved</a> until at least 2017, after the next federal election. Higher education therefore emerged as the first major area of policy discontinuity from Abbott to Turnbull.</p>
<p>It’s not difficult to find reasons why the new government would wish to bury the unpopular and problematic deregulation reforms as bad news. If Labor wants to make universities an issue, there are political and electoral advantages for the Coalition of not pursuing the reforms to neutralise this threat. </p>
<p>It removes a potential disagreement with the Senate and saves the new prime minister the embarrassment of having his legislation defeated there. Finally, the reforms now appear tired and compromised, having been attempted many times by an unpopular government, so trying to revive them just before a federal election may not be appealing. </p>
<p>Although opponents of the reforms will be relieved, many university leaders may be <a href="http://www.afr.com/news/policy/education/unis-slam-senate-for-rejecting-christopher-pynes-higher-education-changes-20150317-1m1ktj">frustrated</a> at the extent to which higher education policy has been the victim of the political events of this parliament. The shelving also raises the question of where does this now leave Australian universities?</p>
<p>Pyne’s <a href="https://www.pyneonline.com.au/media-centre/speeches/higher-education-reform-summit-next-steps-in-the-evolution-of-australian-higher-education">rhetoric for reform</a> – that Australian universities would fall into an inevitable decline of mediocrity resulting in them being devalued and experiencing a global ranking implosion – was overstated. Australian higher education is by, international standards, excellent. And Australian universities are <a href="https://theconversation.com/oecd-comparisons-dont-prove-our-unis-are-underfunded-47412">well placed</a>.</p>
<p>However, that certainly doesn’t mean having no higher education policy at all is a good thing. The issue of funding and ensuring the enduring international competitiveness of Australian universities will eventually have to be addressed. It must be remembered the Abbott government reforms haven’t been completely abandoned, they’ve merely been put “on hold”. At least some aspects of the reforms will probably resurface in the next parliament.</p>
<h2>Where to now on university reform?</h2>
<p>Future ministers can learn from the mistakes made by the Abbott government. Policy development should involve learning from these experiences and other countries where university reform has been successfully achieved. </p>
<p>First, there needs to credible analysis of the status quo followed by a clear and effective public articulation of the case for change. This should avoid conflating deregulating fees with reducing public funding. </p>
<p>Second, the proposals need to be consistent and coherent without backtracking or <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-15/pyne-accused-of-blackmail-to-secure-support-university-bill/6320478">blackmailing</a>. Threatening to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/15/crossbenchers-rebuff-pyne-ultimatum-on-university-reforms-and-research">cut research spending</a> if you don’t get your way on tuition fees doesn’t make any minister look like they genuinely are working in the best interests of universities. </p>
<p>Third, people need to be convinced the reforms will work in practice. One way of doing this is not to do everything at once. For example, fee deregulation doesn’t necessarily have to take place at the same time as increasing the interest the government charges on student loans. A more gradual approach means the consequences of one change can be better understood before another is introduced.</p>
<p>Fourth, there is the need to build a consensus and consider the parliamentary situation to ensure a feasible framework to enable Australian universities to prosper can be implemented.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48579/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Gunn receives funding from Worldwide Universities Network and the UK Higher Education Academy.</span></em></p>Higher education policy development should involve learning from the Abbott government’s mistakes and other counties where university reform has been successfully achieved.Andrew Gunn, Researcher in Higher Education Policy, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/481532015-09-27T19:22:16Z2015-09-27T19:22:16ZHow would Labor’s student funding guarantee work and what does it mean?<p>Labor has released a <a href="http://www.nodebtsentence.org/laborsfairerplan">higher education policy</a> intended to restart a discussion stalled by the failure of the Coalition’s deregulation package to pass the Senate.</p>
<p>Shadow minister Kim Carr said education policy should be Labor’s “<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/kim-carr-talks-up-funding-increases-under-labor/story-e6frgcjx-1227539052080">natural terrain</a>”, and Labor will be looking to tap into the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/overwhelming-opposition-to-fee-deregulation-at-historic-university-of-sydney-town-hall-meeting-20140825-108btl.html">well-rehearsed public antipathy</a> towards the government’s attempts to deregulate fees.</p>
<h2>What is the student funding guarantee?</h2>
<p>There are several features of interest in the Shorten-Carr plan. It emphasises drawing in students from low-participation populations and through non-traditional entry pathways. It rightly argues that participation means little without achievement, and so it foreshadows measures to help universities support students who need it. </p>
<p>The Labor policy also proposes an independent Higher Education Productivity and Performance Commission to improve collaboration between universities and government in the operation and development of the national higher education system.</p>
<p>But the item that will attract the closest attention of vice-chancellors and treasury officials alike is the promised funding arrangements, particularly for the hotly contested Commonwealth Grants Scheme (CGS). This is the federal funding stream to universities for undergraduate students, which is the target of a <a href="https://education.gov.au/public-universities">20% cut in the government’s deregulation agenda</a> (and still reflected in the federal budget).</p>
<p>The CGS is worth about A$6.5 billion in 2015, providing over 600,000 places at a rate of just under A$10,900 per student.</p>
<p>Labor seeks to establish a funding advantage over the Coalition’s projected cuts, by promising to maintain the real value of funding per student. Possibly even more significant than this, though, is Labor’s plan to submit its funding promise to a legislated guarantee that provides security of funding over the long term.</p>
<p>It might be objected that funding levels are already captured in legislation and are not so easy to change – just ask <a href="http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/pynes-higher-education-reforms-expected-flunk/2533252/">Christopher Pyne</a> whose attempt to cut the CGS has stalled in the Senate. So why would Labor go to the trouble of spelling this out, and what does its emphasis signify?</p>
<h2>What is Labor trying to achieve?</h2>
<p>Observers may recall the attempt by Labor to impose a so-called “<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/gillard-to-pull-23bn-of-funding-from-unis-to-pay-for-gonski-reforms/story-fn59niix-1226619719867">efficiency dividend</a>” on the CGS in April 2013, when Craig Emerson was minister. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/18/universities-hit-by-funding-uncertainty-as-federal-efficiency-dividend-delayed">Vice-chancellors certainly remember it</a>. This was the move that “broke the sector’s heart”, as one vice-chancellor put it to me. </p>
<p>Many other sector leaders have independently reinforced that sentiment, some rather more colourfully, and are inclined to greet promises of increased funding with one raised eyebrow – even from Carr, with whom they have a sound relationship. How does the sector know a future treasurer will not find a way to claw back this support? How can universities be sure a future education minister won’t roll over, do a deal, and throw student funding under a bus?</p>
<p>It is not a trivial point. There is a lot at stake, as running universities is a long-range business: costs are difficult to manage over the three-year electoral cycle, let alone from one federal budget to the next. The sector needs to know the levels of funding it can expect, not only in terms of absolute dollars, but also their predictability.</p>
<p>Labor’s legislated student funding guarantee attempts to buy this confidence. By prefacing legislation with its political commitment, Labor will effectively bind itself well beyond the technical constraints of an act of parliament.</p>
<p>The key advantage of this legislated guarantee will be found in how the CGS is treated within government processes. By positioning his funding commitment as an expression of the parliament’s will, rather than the whim of an Expenditure Review Committee, Labor leader Bill Shorten is willing to surrender the kind of political discretion that has led to heartache in the past.</p>
<p>This places the funding envelope outside the annual government budget negotiations and prevents the CGS from being eroded or offset against other emergent government priorities. For the first time in many decades, the undergraduate funding stream would not be on the table come budget time – there would be no point. This commitment would put it beyond reach.</p>
<p>It is extremely unlikely that a future Labor government would be able to secure the consent of the Senate to reduce funding, especially when supported by unequivocal guarantees going into an election. Such a strategy may also provide some degree of comfort over the longer term, beyond the life of a Labor government that had bound itself in this way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48153/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Byron consults to various Australian universities on higher education and research policy and strategy.
He is a member of the Australian Labor Party.</span></em></p>Labor has released a higher education policy intended to restart a discussion stalled by the failure of the Coalition’s deregulation package to pass the Senate. What is the point of the promised funding guarantee?John Byron, Honorary Fellow, Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/478492015-09-22T20:15:14Z2015-09-22T20:15:14ZPyne leaves education having failed to sell a vision for the past<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95616/original/image-20150922-31504-503dau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Goodbye education, hello science.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Lukas Coch</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Sunday’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-unveils-cabinet-line-up-experts-respond-47626">cabinet reshuffle</a>, Christopher Pyne moved out of Education and Training and into the Industry, Innovation and Science portfolio. Pyne’s time in education included a review of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/national-curriculum-review-experts-respond-26913">Australian Curriculum</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/review-calls-for-teacher-education-overhaul-experts-respond-28096">teacher education</a>. He also shifted the view of higher education from a public to a private good.</p>
<p>Pyne <a href="http://www.pyneonline.com.au/media-centre/media-releases/weve-achieved-much-in-two-years">said</a> he was “proud of the achievements” of the last two years. But in a school-style <a href="http://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=1234">“report card”</a>, education researcher Keith Heggart acknowledged Pyne’s efforts but awarded him failing grades for his policies.</p>
<p>Pyne’s policies were underpinned by liberal values of the free market, autonomy and education as a private commodity. Why did they attract such opposition?</p>
<h2>Fixing schools and teachers</h2>
<p>Pyne came to the education portfolio on the back of Labor reforms such as the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-27/whats-in-the-gonski-report/4219508">Gonski school funding review</a> and roll-out of the Australian Curriculum.</p>
<p>Pyne <a href="https://theconversation.com/ditching-gonski-whats-so-unfair-about-funding-based-on-need-20795">retreated from Gonski</a> and rebranded school reform as “Students First”. This included a focus on teacher quality, school autonomy and “strengthening” the curriculum. In January 2014, Pyne announced a <a href="http://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/review-australian-curriculum">review</a> to:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… evaluate the robustness, independence and balance of the Australian Curriculum.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The review process was contentious and politically motivated. It reignited and cemented Pyne’s place in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/national-curriculum-the-latest-target-of-coalitions-culture-wars-21910">culture wars</a>. </p>
<p>On Friday, in one of his final actions as minister, Pyne announced <a href="http://www.pyneonline.com.au/media-centre/media-releases/a-new-national-curriculum-from-2016">the changes</a> to the curriculum that would be adopted from the review. He said these changes would tackle overcrowding, boost the teaching of phonics and strengthen references to Western influences in Australia’s history.</p>
<p>Pyne’s push for more recognition of <a href="https://theconversation.com/curriculum-review-where-did-judeo-christian-come-from-21969">“Judeo-Christian heritage”</a> and getting back to basics is out of step with the 21st-century Australia that the new Turnbull government is pitching. </p>
<p>While the <a href="http://dfat.gov.au/people-to-people/new-colombo-plan/pages/new-colombo-plan.aspx">New Colombo Plan</a> and the focus on language teaching were to strengthen ties to Asia, the recent changes to the curriculum scrap Asian perspectives. These changes are a step backward, which sidelines the Indigenous knowledge and multicultural values needed for an inclusive global community.</p>
<p>In the <a href="http://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/teacher-education-ministerial-advisory-group">teacher education reforms</a> announced in February, there is an emphasis on improving teacher quality through increased testing and regulation. A modest amount of funding will support this increased scrutiny. But there is no investment in resources or support for future teachers. </p>
<h2>University fee deregulation</h2>
<p>Pyne’s free-market vision for higher education is the policy that drew the most criticism and public protest. In May 2014, Pyne outlined a <a href="http://www.pyneonline.com.au/media-centre/articles/op-ed-vision-for-higher-education">“new vision for higher education”</a> based primarily on fee deregulation. He said that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Freeing universities to set their own fees, rather than having them dictated by government, will encourage competition between higher education institutions – and that means better courses, better teaching and more competitive course pricing. It will result in a greater focus on students than ever before in Australia. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This vision of competition equals better products met stiff opposition. The policy was one of the big-ticket items of the Abbott government’s first budget. It was a hard sell, with many ramifications for past, present and future students. The policy was <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-02/pynes-education-gaffe-draws-fire-from-opposition-greens/5492838">poorly developed and communicated</a>. </p>
<p>The Senate has <a href="https://theconversation.com/government-cant-read-the-crossbench-or-the-people-higher-ed-changes-fail-again-37654">blocked</a> the changes twice. And despite Pyne claiming he had the sector on his side, organisations such as Universities Australia have a long list of conditions. </p>
<p>On Monday, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten <a href="https://theconversation.com/labors-higher-ed-policy-focus-on-retaining-students-and-increasing-per-student-funding-47859">announced</a> Labor’s higher education policy. It looms as a a key battleground for the next election. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-turnbull-backs-away-from-abbott-governments-university-fee-deregulation-20150921-gjr8im.html">acknowledged</a> the need to face the “political realities” of the Senate’s opposition to fee deregulation. This has opened the door to further concessions that move away from Pyne’s vision. </p>
<h2>Future vision for education</h2>
<p>Innovation through science and technology and investing in teacher quality – not just regulating – are important agendas for education. But the transformative potential of school and higher education to prepare Australia for the 21st century requires an alternative vision.</p>
<p>New Education Minister Simon Birmigham was previously the assistant minister for education and training. On Sunday, he <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Media-Releases/ID/2834/MEDIA-STATEMENT--Turnbull-Ministry">said</a> he looked forward to “working collaboratively” to “build broad support for any future reforms”. These comments indicate an opportunity to nimbly rework the education vision.</p>
<p>Pyne’s legacy in education is a little shaky. Many policies are yet to play out and others have stalled. </p>
<p>What is needed now is a vision of education as more than a private, market-driven product. It is a public good. And the innovation, industry and scientific achievements in Pyne’s new portfolio will come on the back of investment in quality education across all sectors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47849/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelsey Lowrie 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>Christopher Pyne’s policies in the education portfolio were underpinned by liberal values of the free market, autonomy and education as a private commodity.Kelsey Lowrie, Lecturer in Education, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/479322015-09-22T05:51:49Z2015-09-22T05:51:49ZPolitics podcast: Kim Carr on Labor’s new higher education policy<p>Higher education looms as a key issue in the next federal election. The Labor Party released its <a href="https://theconversation.com/labors-higher-ed-policy-focus-on-retaining-students-and-increasing-per-student-funding-47859">higher education policy</a> this week.</p>
<p>Shadow Higher Education Minister <a href="https://theconversation.com/labor-flags-higher-ed-plan-with-aim-to-reduce-attrition-38705">Kim Carr</a> joins Michelle Grattan to talk about the new policy in depth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47932/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>Shadow Higher Education Minister Kim Carr talks to Michelle Grattan about Labor's new higher education policy.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/478592015-09-21T09:32:19Z2015-09-21T09:32:19ZLabor’s higher ed policy: focus on retaining students and increasing per-student funding<p>The federal opposition today announced its <a href="http://www.nodebtsentence.org/laborsfairerplan?utm_campaign=210915_highered&utm_medium=email&utm_source=australianlaborparty">higher education policy</a>. With a new prime minister, the announcement of a new education minister, and a possible change of policy, it would be fair enough to wonder about the timing. </p>
<p>But there will be plenty of chance to hash over the details – as the opposition indicated it will initiate a full green paper/white paper consultation process.</p>
<p>The policy has a quality and completions agenda where the ALP will seek to increase the number of students completing their study by 20,000 graduates per year from 2020. To help ensure quality it will invest A$31 million in the higher education regulator, TEQSA.</p>
<p>These will be matched with access and diversity measures to replace the existing <a href="https://education.gov.au/higher-education-participation-programme-hepp">Higher Education Participation Program</a> with a “Higher Education Access and Growth Strategy” to lift completion rates across different groups. </p>
<p>The opposition remains committed to 40% of Australians under the age of 35 obtaining a Bachelor’s degree and a target of 20% of students from disadvantaged families attending university. These are two targets the current government has dropped.</p>
<p>To achieve all this, the opposition will provide a per-student “Student Funding Guarantee” so that undergraduate students in 2018 would be funded to the tune of around A$11,800. This would mitigate the Coalition’s proposed 20% cut and add a small additional amount. The funding would be <a href="http://billshorten.com.au/category/media_releases">legislated and indexed</a> to ensure the value of the contribution isn’t eroded over time.</p>
<p>This would presumably reverse any cuts to undergraduate student funding that the current government may succeed in getting through the Senate.</p>
<p>Also in the policy is indication the opposition intends to pursue a labour market strategy centred on science, technology engineering and maths, where government would offer to write off the HECS debts of 100,000 students who complete a STEM degree at university.</p>
<p>If this ever comes to pass, it may do little to lift enrolments in many science and engineering courses, as previous attempts to drive science enrolments with HECS discounts have shown only limited success. The opposition will also extend the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching <a href="http://www.qilt.edu.au">website</a> as more that can be done to improve the depth of information, and user experience.</p>
<p>Just in case anybody was unsure, the opposition’s statement today rules out a number of the current government’s policies. Deregulation, as Labor has said before on many occasions, but also the government’s plans to expand the demand-driven system to sub-bachelor places and to bachelor places at non-university higher education providers. </p>
<p>Gone too would be changes to the higher education loan program and the Structural Adjustment Fund for regional universities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47859/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<h4 class="border">Disclosure</h4><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gwilym Croucher is a higher education policy analyst in the office of the Vice-Chancellor, University of Melbourne.</span></em></p>The opposition’s statement today rules out a number of the current government’s policies. Deregulation, as they’ve said before, but also plans to expand the demand-driven system.Gwilym Croucher, Senior Lecturer, Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/474082015-09-14T20:17:39Z2015-09-14T20:17:39ZUniversity fee deregulation could undermine collaborations between unis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94587/original/image-20150914-19848-5slzkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Universities need to be encouraged to collaborate more, not compete more.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Education Minister Christopher Pyne is seeking to <a href="http://www.afr.com/news/politics/dio-wang-steers-university-deregulation-into-the-rocks-20150806-gisyq8">reintroduce legislation</a> to uncap university fees. This could have a negative impact on collaborations between universities, as well as partnerships of universities with other sectors such as non-government organisations (NGOs), philanthropic organisations and business. </p>
<p>Currently, universities collaborate with one another and with other sectors in myriad ways, all of which are beneficial to the institutions involved and often the wider public. Greater competition through deregulation could discourage such collaborations, as universities would be more likely to jealously guard their industry links, other partnerships and “market share”.</p>
<h2>The value of partnerships</h2>
<p>As someone who has worked in corporate, government and nonprofit sectors, I returned to academia three years ago with an “outsider’s view” of higher education. This perspective is more nuanced and hopeful than the widely held view that universities are closed institutions. </p>
<p>While this “Ivory Tower” stereotype is not without foundation, universities throughout the country are increasingly aware of the importance of collaboration with other sectors and each other for a number of reasons.</p>
<p>First, in a fluid and uncertain labour market, universities, like the one for which I work, are continuously seeking to improve the employability of graduates. Closer links with employers are seen to be one way of doing this. </p>
<p>Second, funding from traditional government sources, such as the <a href="http://www.arc.gov.au/">Australian Research Council</a>, is becoming more scarce both in Australia and throughout the world. Universities must increasingly seek to fund their research through other means, such as philanthropic, NGO and government partnerships and sources. </p>
<p>Third, there is growing recognition of the inherent benefits of working with external partners because of the wealth of knowledge they have to offer beyond money. These include experience, capabilities and access to the “coalface” of a given area of need.</p>
<p>Several years ago I was an executive at the Foundation for Young Australians, a nonprofit organisation seeking to improve the wellbeing of young people. The foundation worked in collaboration with the University of Melbourne to produce an annual report entitled <a href="https://www.fya.org.au/category/news/archive/">How Young People are Faring</a>. </p>
<p>This snapshot of youth transitions from school to work was widely cited and used by governments, media and other organisations working to improve the life outcomes of young people. Such a report and its benefits would not be possible without the partnership.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94595/original/image-20150914-19438-1k2t0d6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94595/original/image-20150914-19438-1k2t0d6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94595/original/image-20150914-19438-1k2t0d6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94595/original/image-20150914-19438-1k2t0d6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94595/original/image-20150914-19438-1k2t0d6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94595/original/image-20150914-19438-1k2t0d6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=658&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94595/original/image-20150914-19438-1k2t0d6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=658&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94595/original/image-20150914-19438-1k2t0d6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=658&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Universities can do amazing things when they pool their resources.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As an academic today, I work in a partnership between Monash University, Deakin University and Western Sydney University looking at technology and young people’s wellbeing. Part of this project includes informing, and actively working within, a Technology and Wellbeing Roundtable. </p>
<p>Meeting since 2007, this community has included dozens of organisations from corporate, nonprofit and government sectors with an investment in promoting the positive use of technology for young people’s health and wellbeing. Several formal partnerships have been formed as a result of the roundtable.</p>
<h2>In what ways does competition damage the relationships?</h2>
<p>Such an arrangement might be less likely to occur in a deregulated system. It is not difficult to imagine a heightened condition of competition, in which prized relations with external partners are hoarded to gain financial benefit and prestige.</p>
<p>This already takes place. But by intensifying competition, deregulation could further “privitise” the work of universities at the expense of open collaboration and potential public benefit. </p>
<p>Within this market, some universities could form “strategic” alliances to gain market share. This would privilege those universities with existing relationships and/or prestige to the exclusion of other institutions - all of which arguably serve the same wider public educational, social, cultural and economic purposes. </p>
<p>This would likely favour the <a href="https://go8.edu.au/">Group of Eight</a> universities. The reality is that most universities have particular areas of strength and collaborate across boundaries, disciplines and sectors in some way. Despite this, less “prestigious” universities with less recognisable “brands” and fewer resources might struggle in the new marketplace and be denied the benefits of collaboration. </p>
<p>While “strategic” alliances also currently take place, exclusion and inequities could consequently be intensified between universities given the high stakes of declining government investment combined with competition for “market share”. </p>
<p>With this, the kind of openness that currently exists in arrangements like the roundtable above could also be compromised. Privatisation has wider implications for openness and transparency that strike at the very heart of the public purposes of higher education. </p>
<h2>Collaboration needs to be encouraged rather than inhibited</h2>
<p>There are signs that universities are recognising their key role in Australia’s future lies in more outward-looking and collaborative approaches, with the public benefit kept firmly in sight. </p>
<p>Collaboration, not competition, is key to leveraging the social, cultural and economic benefits of our higher education sector. </p>
<p>Better metrics are also needed to measure impact and value beyond the citations of academic peers and university rankings. Such measures should take account of the impact of the kinds of collaboration outlined above. </p>
<p>But measures to introduce deregulation will promote competition between universities, which risks running counter to the spirit of collaboration, while conceivably distorting their impact and its measurement.</p>
<p>Student fees could be a new source of research funding in a deregulated market, but at what ultimate cost? And to whom?</p>
<p>Intensifying competition through deregulation could not only limit access to some students, it could also limit incentives and opportunities for universities to work together and with other sectors to address the big challenges.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47408/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lucas Walsh receives funding from The Australian Research Council. He was previously Director of Research and Evaluation at The Foundation for Young Australians. </span></em></p>Currently universities collaborate with one another and with other sectors in myriad ways, greater competition through deregulation could discourage such collaborations.Lucas Walsh, Associate Professor and Associate Dean (Berwick), Faculty of Education, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/467272015-09-09T20:13:29Z2015-09-09T20:13:29ZHow does being second-last in the OECD for public funding affect our unis?<p>Australia aspires to have some of the <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/pyne/5-million-higher-education-investment-support-worlds-best-practice">best universities</a> in the world. Australians expect their universities to feature in <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2015/world-university-rankings#/sort/0/direction/asc">global rankings</a> - where there is a <a href="https://theconversation.com/top-ranked-universities-have-more-money-than-australian-unis-could-dream-of-39189">strong correlation</a> between money spent and ranking achieved. </p>
<p>Student numbers are <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/student-numbers-at-australian-universities-keep-growing/story-e6frgcjx-1227183789817?sv=57bed461680db5d34f39404ef25985fa">increasing</a>, while Australians continue to advocate for equitable access to higher education. But, as a nation, are we prepared to pay for a world-class system? </p>
<p>The federal government has announced <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/news/submissions-and-reports/2014-15-Pre-Budget-Submission#.Ve9wfEIXdRA">A$3.3 billion in budget cuts</a> for the higher education sector when it already maintains a low level of funding for higher education. </p>
<p>Australia <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/the-university-rankings-no-government-wants-to-talk-about">currently spends</a> 0.7% of GDP investing in tertiary education, compared with the OECD average of 1.1% of GDP. Australia is ranked <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/the-university-rankings-no-government-wants-to-talk-about">33rd out of 34 OECD countries</a> for public investment in tertiary education. </p>
<p>What are some of the consequences for reduced and declining government funding for Australia’s university sector? Is the traditional balance between innovative research and high-quality teaching at risk? </p>
<h2>Implications for the sector</h2>
<p>Diminishing government funding reduces intellectual independence and can suppress academic freedoms. Academic researchers chase money, grants and financial support in particular pathways that fit the current political climate. </p>
<p>The government’s recent <a href="http://www.afr.com/news/policy/education/bjorn-lomborg-blames-toxic-politics-for-university-backdown-on-australia-consensus-centre-20150509-ggxt8y">unseemly scramble</a> to find an Australian university for Bjorn Lomborg’s Australian Consensus Centre to attach itself to demonstrates the problematic ethical and financial implications within an intensified climate of reducing and limited funding options. </p>
<p>The federal government has funded the controversial centre to the tune of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2015/apr/23/australia-paying-4-million-for-bjrn-lomborgs-flawed-methods-that-downgrade-climate-change">A$4 million</a>. Yet the government <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abbott-shuts-down-climate-commission-20130919-2u185.html">defunded</a> the Tim Flannery-led Climate Commission when it won office. This is an illustration of government funding leverage and redirection. Research becomes a commodity, and supply and demand mechanisms are triggered.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94000/original/image-20150907-22705-1eldcfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94000/original/image-20150907-22705-1eldcfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94000/original/image-20150907-22705-1eldcfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94000/original/image-20150907-22705-1eldcfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94000/original/image-20150907-22705-1eldcfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94000/original/image-20150907-22705-1eldcfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94000/original/image-20150907-22705-1eldcfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94000/original/image-20150907-22705-1eldcfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research is corrupted when researchers are battling for funds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Government funding mechanisms are redefining the notion of the Australian academic. Among permanent or ongoing academic staff an emerging differentiation <a href="https://theconversation.com/civilisation-as-we-dont-know-it-teaching-only-universities-28505">exists</a> between research-only, research-and-teaching and teaching-only posts. </p>
<p>Globally oriented academics and those whose research interests and capacities align with the current mood receive research funding and are successful in the academic marketplace. This is perhaps the lesson from Lomborg’s experience of shopping his research funding to multiple Australian universities. </p>
<p>Research students will also feel the effects of changes to higher education funding. Under <a href="https://education.gov.au/sustainable-higher-education-system">proposed changes</a>, Research Training Scheme (RTS) doctoral students will be required to make a contribution towards the cost of their degree.</p>
<p>This student contribution makes up the funding shortfall due to government cuts to the RTS. HELP loans will be available so that RTS students do not have to meet these costs up front. This funding change is expected to save A$173.7 million over three years.</p>
<p>Low government investment in higher education also <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/anu-slumps-in-international-rankings-20140306-348s0.html#ixzz2v9al3qy4">doesn’t do us any favours</a> in terms of our position in global rankings. </p>
<h2>Problems ahead</h2>
<p>Access to elite education is a privilege which remains <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-your-parents-level-of-education-affects-your-chances-44506">largely intergenerational</a>. A lack of government funding eats away at the programs and institutional structures that support equitable engagement in higher education.</p>
<p>Applying an economic value to equity is impossible. Advocating for increased participation in tertiary education is widespread, but Australia still fails to meet the <a href="http://www.mq.edu.au/pubstatic/public/download.jsp?id=111997">Bradley Review</a> recommendation of 20% of all undergraduates coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.</p>
<p>Students become customers when government funding decreases. Under <a href="https://education.gov.au/public-universities">changes</a> announced in the last budget and to be introduced from January 1, 2016, the number of places in “enabling courses” is projected to decrease from 9800 to 9700 by 2018. Universities will also <a href="https://education.gov.au/sustainable-higher-education-system">no longer receive</a> Reward Funding payments for achieving enrolment targets.</p>
<p>The government claims of i’t proposed changes to higher education that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>By 2018, these reforms would see the Australian government supporting over 80,000 more students as they pursue the best course for them.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But who will teach these additional students? A lack of institutional funding has prompted an increased reliance on <a href="http://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol10/iss3/3/">casual and sessional academics</a>.</p>
<p>Sessional academics <a href="http://www.herdsa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/conference/2011/papers/HERDSA_2011_Ryan.PDF">tend not to publish</a>, unionise nor advocate for change and improved conditions. Leading intellectual Raewyn Connell <a href="http://www.raewynconnell.net/2013_12_01_archive.html">warned</a> in 2013 that about 50% of Australian undergraduate teaching is now done by casual labour. Most sessional teachers do have not the time or connection to the university to practise innovation and critique. Our universities are poorer for it. </p>
<p>Is higher education no longer regarded as an important social investment? Why do the Australian voting public accept this lessening investment? Do Australian researchers and academics do enough to share and promote their work and to broadly demonstrate the value and importance of their intellectual contributions? </p>
<p>There is a correlation between funding and the collective research/academic profile. The effects of diminishing funding of Australian universities are troubling, and will fundamentally alter the academy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46727/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Genine A. Hook 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>What are some of the consequences for reduced and declining government funding for Australia’s university sector?Genine A. Hook, Associate Academic, Faculty of Education, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/472592015-09-09T04:58:53Z2015-09-09T04:58:53ZWhy does no-one seem to like compacts?<p>Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has given some sense of where the ALP might go with higher education policy. He has suggested that a future Labor government should attempt to ensure that universities deliver <a href="https://theconversation.com/labor-flags-higher-ed-plan-with-aim-to-reduce-attrition-38705">strong retention rates and good graduate outcomes</a>. </p>
<p>Many commentators have expressed concern that the demand-driven system of funding, where the government agrees to pay for any student a university will enrol, has been an irresistible means for universities to grow revenue. </p>
<p>As The Australian <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/university-vice-chancellors-wary-of-labors-tied-funding-model/story-fn59nlz9-1227513536744">reported</a>, this has been described as “harvesting” enrolments “particularly from low socioeconomic backgrounds”. This all sounds a bit like something you do for the black market, but it is a legitimate concern. </p>
<p>Concerns over the quality of the education and how universities see their mission are not new to the ALP. When it was last in government, it used mission-based compacts to attempt to guide what universities did. The spectre of reintroduced compacts has been met with quick opposition by some, but it is worth looking at their history before either championing or decrying the idea. </p>
<h2>What are ‘compacts’?</h2>
<p>Originally compacts were designed as a written agreement between the Commonwealth and universities. They were intended to cover the range of university activity – mission, goals and plans for teaching, research, research training and innovation activity. </p>
<p>Agreement was to be in exchange for funding – to act as the stick alongside the carrot of shared vision between universities and government which the whole process of compact negotiation was supposed to generate, such as equity enrolment targets or areas of focus.</p>
<p>Although a one-year interim agreement covering university mission and research was signed in 2010, it was not until 2011 that the first full compacts were established. The current government has continued the compacts through their second iteration for 2014-16 but without saying much about them, other than its intention to not continue using them in the future.</p>
<p>Compacts were never legal agreements stipulating key government support for university activities (although they were attached to some limited performance funding). More important were the funding agreements universities must sign with the Commonwealth to receive support for teaching. These were included with the compact documents but not dependent on it.</p>
<p>For some, this is where the trouble started with compacts. The conversation between government and universities which had real and potentially significant consequences – that is, the funding agreement – was never properly integrated.</p>
<p>While there have been different requirements for universities in the past, these had been clearly understood as separate from the funding discussion. The compacts were originally supposed to include funding and agreed mission goals in a jointly signed document.</p>
<h2>Most compacts didn’t live up to their promise</h2>
<p>For universities and government alike this might have been an attractive proposition. Once the compact was agreed, universities would enjoy greater autonomy in how they spent their funds and be free to pursue the goals and mission they had set. The government could devote less time and resourcing to oversight, having made its wishes known during the three-yearly discussions. </p>
<p>But few turned out that way. The compacts were seen by many as just extra administrative burden where universities at times would reproduce information from their public documents, such as mission statements and annual reports. </p>
<p>The goals some universities set were accused of being tailored to meet research and teaching objectives in line with government funding priorities, rather than a genuine expression of a university’s unique aspirations. Without significant consequences – good or bad – compacts have not been as potent as originally claimed.</p>
<p>If a future government – presumably an ALP one as the Coalition has not shown much enthusiasm – does decide to resurrect compact-like agreements, it should learn from the first two goes with them.</p>
<p>Compacts need to be in the interest of students, government and universities alike, be tied to real outcomes and support, and not just add paperwork to the system with no purpose. </p>
<p>After all, as the government still largely holds the purse strings for Australian universities, it already has a big stick.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47259/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
If a future government does decide to resurrect compact-like agreements, they should learn from the first two goes with them.Gwilym Croucher, Senior lecturer, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/468032015-08-30T11:00:58Z2015-08-30T11:00:58ZThe price of prestige: how university status affects fees<p>Although removing the cap on undergraduate student fees remains controversial, deregulated fees are not unusual in Australian higher education. A <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/38133">third of public university students</a> already pay market fees. International students make up the majority. The rest, around 140,000 domestic students, take mostly postgraduate coursework degrees. </p>
<p>Deregulated markets provide some insight into both how universities behave when allowed to set their own fees, and how students react to those fees. These are explored in our new <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/">Grattan Institute</a> report, <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/report/university-fees-what-students-pay-in-deregulated-markets/">University fees: what students pay in deregulated markets</a>.</p>
<h2>The international student market</h2>
<p>In the international student market universities aim to make money, and the main price constraint is what students in a global market will pay. The fees Australian universities charge international students are comparable to competitor universities in countries such as the United Kingdom. </p>
<p>In each country, we observe a wide range of fees for the same or similar courses. In Australia, it is not unusual for the most expensive university to charge double or more the fee of the cheapest university offering the same course. This does not deter international students. Despite the cost, in most disciplines expensive courses attract more students than cheap courses.</p>
<p>There are clear university patterns to international student fees charged: on average, the <a href="https://go8.edu.au/">Group of Eight</a> universities have the highest fees, followed by <a href="https://www.atn.edu.au/">technology universities</a>, the <a href="http://www.iru.edu.au/">Innovative Research Universities</a> which were typically founded in the 1960s and 1970s, and the <a href="http://www.run.edu.au/">Regional Universities Network</a> members, which usually date from the 1990s. </p>
<p>University prestige is the main reason why some universities can charge much higher fees than others. Especially with the rise of research-driven university rankings, research has become an important university status marker. </p>
<p>All Group of Eight members are in the <a href="http://www.shanghairanking.com/">global top 200</a> research universities, while no other Australian university has yet reached this status. Other status markers are high entry requirements, and perhaps high cost in itself. </p>
<p>Students pay for prestige partly as an investment. It gets them into a university that potential employers have heard of and believe is of high quality. University prestige is a proxy indicator suggesting that graduates have attributes and skills employers are looking for. Graduates hope that this will help them get a good job. </p>
<p>In many disciplines, high prestige lets the Group of Eight universities charge international students thousands of dollars a year more than the technology universities. The cost difference with other universities is even larger. </p>
<p>In the domestic postgraduate market, however, prestige has less financial value. Domestic students never pay more than international students for the same course, and usually they pay significantly less. </p>
<p>In commerce courses, the most popular for international students, they typically pay about 20% more than domestic students. In arts courses, the difference is more than 40%. This is despite domestic students having access to the <a href="http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/helppayingmyfees/fee-help/pages/fee-help-">HELP loan scheme</a>, while international students must pay their fees upfront.</p>
<p>While on average the Group of Eight universities charge domestic postgraduates more than the technology universities charge, the fee differences are small compared to the prestige premium paid by international students. </p>
<p>One reason that domestic postgraduate students pay less for prestige than international students is that they don’t need to. While for visa reasons few international postgraduate students work in relevant jobs, many domestic postgraduates <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/news/commissioned-studies/Australian-University-Student-Finances-in-2012#.VeAPuGMjW5I">work full-time while studying</a>. </p>
<p>Employers can observe directly whether their staff have added skills as a result of their course. This is real information about what they looking for, not a proxy indicator.</p>
<h2>Domestic student market</h2>
<p>In the domestic market, prestige could be more significant for undergraduates than postgraduates. Like international students, most domestic undergraduates lack jobs relevant to their intended careers. They need other ways of signalling their skills and attributes to potential employers, such as attending universities with strong brands. </p>
<p>Domestic undergraduates may also be less price sensitive than postgraduates. For school leaver undergraduates HELP repayments are many years away, reducing their price sensitivity. Domestic postgraduates with jobs could start paying for their degrees before they graduate, focusing their minds on value for money. </p>
<p>Although prestige is likely to count more for domestic undergraduates than postgraduates, it will be less important than it is for international students. </p>
<p>Universities without high international research rankings have good local reputations, based on the experience of students and employers. International students and their prospective employers do not have easy access to this information. Many domestic undergraduate students with the marks to attend a Group of Eight university go elsewhere, confirming that prestige is not always decisive in student choice. </p>
<p>Research suggests that this local knowledge is as reliable as prestige in choosing a university. Student satisfaction with teaching is <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/report/taking-university-teaching-seriously/">similar in low and high research departments</a>. Graduates from different types of university have similar rates of employment, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-does-your-choice-of-university-affect-your-future-45699">only small income differences.</a> </p>
<p>As undergraduate fee deregulation is unlikely to pass the Senate, the exact price of prestige will remain unknown. Our experience in existing deregulated markets suggests that it would be substantially less than what international students pay, but more than what <a href="http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/helppayingmyfees/csps/pages/student-contribution-amounts#2015">domestic undergraduate students pay now</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46803/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>International students are more attracted to universities that charge more, so would price equal quality in the eyes of Aussie students if fees were uncapped?Andrew Norton, Program Director, Higher Education , Grattan InstituteIttima Cherastidtham, Senior Associate in the higher education program, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/460282015-08-27T20:00:13Z2015-08-27T20:00:13ZShould universities have to pay back unpaid student debts?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93103/original/image-20150827-15421-r8x4e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C2679%2C1665&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If universities increase their fees and students can't pay their loans, should the university be held responsible?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At a recent <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/australia-cautioned-against-breaking-its-university-funding-system/story-fnkgbb3b-1227488715926">ANU forum</a> on higher education financing, economist Lorraine Deardon said that since UK universities were allowed to treble their fees in 2012, more than 60% of UK students may never repay their loans. She suggested that with income-contingent loans, allowing universities to set their own fees should entail some “risk sharing” between governments and universities. </p>
<p>Since last year’s push to let Australian universities set their own fees, critics have highlighted the risk to taxpayers of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-expensive-more-elite-higher-education-in-five-years-26641">student debt blowout</a>. Would all institutions hike course prices if fees and loans were uncapped? Not just for the revenue, but to signal that their courses are among the best?</p>
<p>HECS architect Bruce Chapman <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/Higher_Education_2">believes</a> that most would. He notes that price competition is weak in higher education systems with HECS-type income-contingent loans. After all, these were designed to neutralise cost aversion. </p>
<p>Student debt that is unlikely to be repaid is already becoming a problem, according to a <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/report/doubtful-debt-the-rising-cost-of-student-loans/">report</a> by the Grattan Institute’s Andrew Norton. For such reasons, ANU economists Rabee Tourky and Rohan Pitchford <a href="http://economics.com.au/?p=9970">argued last year</a> that Australian universities should have “skin in the game” on Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debts. </p>
<h2>How might risk sharing work?</h2>
<p>Under the Tourky-Pitchford proposal</p>
<blockquote>
<p>universities receive a share of student repayments when they are made and not before students pay their HECS debt. So if a student delays a repayment, full payment to the alma mater is also delayed. In the extreme case where a student’s lifetime income remains below the repayment threshold, then the alma mater does not get the full fee.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Education Minister Christopher Pyne has reportedly been <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/christopher-pyne-proposes-fining-unis-for-debtdodging-graduates-20150318-1m27h2.html">considering a similar idea</a> to help win Senate support for fee deregulation. </p>
<p>This would not withhold part of the fee paid by government on behalf of students. Instead it would link the university’s annual grant (a direct subsidy per student, which varies by field of study) to how well it meets a set of performance indicators, such as the debt repayment performance of its graduates. Conceivably, such an agreement might also include dropout rates as an indicator.</p>
<p>A third approach would have universities receive both fee and subsidy in full, but repay the government a percentage of unpaid HELP debts after a certain period: say 10% or 20% once 10 years had elapsed after students graduate (or drop out). Repayment could take the form of a cut to the annual grant. The formula could vary by field of study or by institution to allow for regional and other differences.</p>
<p>Risk sharing would focus attention on student success in recruitment, advice and support. But since HELP repayments rely mainly on labour market participation, these mechanisms might have unintended consequences. For example, since female graduates generally take longer to repay, would institutions enrol more males? </p>
<p>Would fields of study or student cohorts with poor repayment records decline, despite wide support for the social value of their degrees? Other complexities would arise when students change institutions or incur later debts with further study. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93114/original/image-20150827-15385-jiv7sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93114/original/image-20150827-15385-jiv7sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93114/original/image-20150827-15385-jiv7sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93114/original/image-20150827-15385-jiv7sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93114/original/image-20150827-15385-jiv7sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93114/original/image-20150827-15385-jiv7sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93114/original/image-20150827-15385-jiv7sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93114/original/image-20150827-15385-jiv7sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women are less likely to pay back student debt due to family time out of the workforce.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Options for limiting fee increases</h2>
<p>These ideas add to a growing list of options to ensure that students and taxpayers <a href="https://theconversation.com/fee-deregulation-and-the-hazards-of-help-27521">aren’t ripped off</a> if university fees are uncapped. An early <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/presentations/reconceptualising-tertiary-education/">response</a> to the 2014 budget from Victoria University Vice-Chancellor Peter Dawkins suggested three basic mechanisms:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>a cap on the size of the loans; a cap on the fees; and/or a reduction in the Commonwealth subsidy when fees increase above certain levels.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>After the Senate rejected the first Pyne reform bill, higher education researcher Gavin Moodie <a href="https://theconversation.com/university-funding-reform-blocked-theres-a-pretty-obvious-plan-b-34968">argued</a> that a higher fee cap would meet the main aims of the reform package more simply: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>An increase of 30% would compensate for the Coalition’s planned cuts. An increase of 55% would compensate for the cuts and give universities the 10% funding increase they argue they need.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Meanwhile, supporters of fee deregulation argue that this would lead all providers to lift prices uniformly: as in the UK, sector-wide loan costs would rise but price flexibility would be limited. </p>
<p>Using international student fees as a <a href="https://theconversation.com/market-caps-would-limit-100-000-university-degrees-37219">flexible cap</a> for domestic pricing would widen the spectrum, since international prices in Australian degrees already vary widely from institution to institution. But, for many, this may seem too loose and easy to manipulate.</p>
<p>For those seeking direct yet flexible fee caps, a proposal by Chapman to cut direct subsidies as fees rise is a simpler option. This “HECS tax” was <a href="https://theconversation.com/hecs-tax-would-have-pynes-desired-effect-stratifying-unis-38354">explained</a> by Moodie earlier this year: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If a university charged fees A$5,000 above the current fee cap, it would lose 20% of the increase from its government subsidy. For fees A$10,000 above the cap universities would lose 60%…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A difficulty here is that subsidy cuts induce larger price increases. And in fields like law or commerce, with subsidies below $2000, a HECS tax could soon cut these to less than zero. </p>
<p>For policymakers, there are no easy answers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46028/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoff Sharrock works at a Group of Eight university which stands to benefit from fee deregulation.</span></em></p>ANU economists argue that Australian universities should have “skin in the game” on Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debts.Geoff Sharrock, Program Director, LH Martin Institute, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/450882015-08-03T20:05:52Z2015-08-03T20:05:52ZStudents’ low financial literacy makes understanding fees, loans, debt difficult<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90227/original/image-20150730-10364-1h72mrg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Do students know what they're getting in to when they take on debt?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/donkeyhotey/6304808136/">DonkeyHotey/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Financial literacy in Australian is low, <a href="http://www.financialliteracy.gov.au/media/558752/research-anz-adultfinancialliteracysurvey2014-fullreport.pdf">particularly so in those under 25 years</a> of age. What might be surprising is that it is low even among university students. </p>
<p>Recently I was part of a research team that undertook surveys of students from across Australia aged 17-20. Students were asked to rate their understanding of different areas of financial importance: budgeting, saving, managing debt, investing, retirement planning, tax, insurance and superannuation. </p>
<p>They were then asked to answer some basic questions related to each of those areas, with some interesting results that are yet to be published. </p>
<p>Students overall rated their understanding of budgeting and saving reasonably high, with 55.4% considering themselves to have a high understanding of budgeting and 66.7% a high understanding of saving. </p>
<p>Students generally rated their understanding of the other areas lower, which means many students who have managed to secure a place at university don’t believe they understand about debt. In fact, 35.8% rated their understanding of managing debt as low, and a further 15.7% as very low.“ This would combine the affected paragraph and also the next one.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90235/original/image-20150730-10327-skaypa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90235/original/image-20150730-10327-skaypa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90235/original/image-20150730-10327-skaypa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90235/original/image-20150730-10327-skaypa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90235/original/image-20150730-10327-skaypa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90235/original/image-20150730-10327-skaypa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90235/original/image-20150730-10327-skaypa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90235/original/image-20150730-10327-skaypa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Over 50% of students surveyed said their understanding of debt was low or very low.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>University students have access to credit that most young people with poor financial literacy don’t - through the Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP). Many students take advantage of these loans to help pay their way through a degree and there is an assumption that they know and understand how these loans work. </p>
<p>While the survey did not test student understanding of income-contingent loans such as HECS-HELP, it did test some other basic concepts that are tied to it. For example, only 40.2% showed an understanding of inflation. Given these loans are indexed to CPI, do students understand that these amounts won’t remain at the original cost of the degree?</p>
<p>Their overall self-rated understanding of tax was found to be low, with a mere 11.2% rating it as high or very high. While 57.8% were able to correctly calculate tax payable on a given amount, this dropped to 18.6% who were able to calculate assessable income in a slightly more complex scenario. </p>
<p>Based on the results of our survey, these students are going to find it difficult to understand payment thresholds for HECS and the percentages that need to be repaid. So too the drop in income that will accompany reaching that threshold.</p>
<p>Their understanding of super was also incredibly low. Only 36.8% knew super was taxed at a lower rate and only 36.8% could identify the best indicator of fund performance (returns after fees are deducted). 62.3% did have a super account, although 10.3% admitted not knowing if they did.</p>
<p>There is no doubt that a university degree currently costs a substantial amount of money. Under a deregulated system, this would rise. This would mean an increase in debt for students who potentially don’t understand how to manage it. </p>
<p>Further changes such as introducing a real interest rate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/hecs-upon-you-natsem-models-the-real-impact-of-higher-uni-fees-27808">originally proposed in the 2014 budget</a> but <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-tumultuous-year-in-higher-education-comes-to-a-close-another-soon-to-follow-34982">withdrawn later that year</a>, would create further issues. </p>
<p>The students surveyed were asked a very <a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Ealusardi/Papers/FinancialLiteracy.pdf">simple interest question</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Suppose you had $100 in a savings account and the interest rate was 2% per year. After 5 years, how much do you think you would have in the account if you left the money to grow?</p>
<p>More than $102</p>
<p>Exactly $102</p>
<p>Less than $102</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Nearly 15% of the students could not answer this question, showing they don’t have a basic understanding of how interest works.</p>
<p>This is not to say we should remove income-contingent loans; these are a necessary option for many students to attend university. But students need more information about what they are signing up for. </p>
<p>More thought needs to be given to students’ ability to understand the financial implications of fees, debt and income-contingent loans, and what a new deregulated university environment would mean. This applies especially to the consequences of acquiring even more debt.</p>
<hr>
<p>• <em>This article previously included a sentence that stated only 4.4% of students were able to correctly answer a question around money management. This sentence has since been retracted.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45088/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura de Zwaan is an associate member (non-practising) of the Financial Planning Association and a member of the Financial Planning Academics Forum. </span></em></p>Students rated their financial literacy quite low, which means many students who have managed to secure a place at university don’t believe they understand about debt.Laura de Zwaan, Lecturer, School of Accountancy, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/446552015-07-26T09:04:33Z2015-07-26T09:04:33ZALP national conference: experts respond<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89713/original/image-20150726-8465-1owbx44.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The ALP's national conference, held in Melbourne over the weekend, was Bill Shorten's first as Labor leader.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Tracey Nearmy</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bill Shorten survived an internal push for a future Labor government to ban turning back asylum seeker boats at the ALP national conference.</p>
<p>The party’s three-day national conference, which concluded in Melbourne on Sunday, also resolved to recognise Palestinian statehood “if there is no progress in the next round of the peace process”, committed federal MPs to a binding vote in favour of same-sex marriage after another two parliamentary terms and made small progress on internal party reform.</p>
<p>The Conversation’s experts were watching the conference with an eye across key policy areas. Their responses follow.</p>
<hr>
<h2>Asylum seekers</h2>
<p><strong>Alex Reilly, Director of the Public Law and Policy Research Unit, Adelaide Law School at University of Adelaide</strong></p>
<p>As a result of the ALP national conference’s failure to ban turning back asylum seeker boats, there is nothing to distinguish the architecture of Labor and the Coalition’s asylum seeker policies. Both are committed to a unilateral response to boat arrivals that involves turnbacks and offshore processing to ensure no asylum seeker arriving by boat will be granted protection in Australia.</p>
<p>This is a stunning concession to the Coalition’s hardline policy. The Coalition has won the debate on turnbacks. It is now mainstream policy. And yet, we would do well to remember just how dramatic the policy is. </p>
<p>The policy is pursued in the face of the objections of Indonesia – to whom the majority of turnbacks are directed. It is in clear contravention of Australia’s voluntarily assumed obligations under the UN Refugee Convention. It is undertaken at considerable risk to the asylum seekers who are forcibly returned to the shores of Australia’s international neighbours.</p>
<p>The assessment of it being “safe” to carry out the policy would seem to refer only to a narrow assessment of the seaworthiness of boats that are turned back with no regard for the personal circumstances of the asylum seekers on board, or their subsequent plight.</p>
<p>The Labor left moved a motion to ban turnbacks. It argued instead for a policy that pursued strong regional and international arrangements and improved the protection outcomes of asylum seekers before they reached Australia by boat.</p>
<p>The motion was doomed to fail – it did not address the dilemma for Labor in formulating its asylum seeker policy. It is clear that Labor must take to the next election a policy that guarantees that asylum seeker boats will not again arrive in large numbers under its watch. </p>
<p>Both Labor’s left and the right missed an opportunity at the national conference to pursue an alternative way. The policy Labor takes to the next election need not focus on stopping the boats – as far as we know, this has all but been achieved. Labor only needs to ensure that the boats do not start coming again in significant numbers. This outcome is more easily achieved, and does not require either a turnback policy or regional processing on Nauru or Manus Island.</p>
<p>The answer lies in a much more robust engagement with both Malaysia and Indonesia. Labor’s 2011 agreement with Malaysia offers a useful blueprint. As I have <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-labor-can-create-a-humane-refugee-policy-without-reviving-boat-arrivals-44132">outlined</a> previously, a return to a policy along these lines preserves the human rights of asylum seekers and offers an opportunity to engage positively with Malaysia and Indonesia, with whom we share the dilemma of addressing the needs of asylum seekers in our region.</p>
<hr>
<h2>Climate change and energy</h2>
<p><strong>Peter Christoff, Associate Professor, School of Geography at University of Melbourne</strong></p>
<p>In tackling climate policy head on at its 2015 party conference, Labor made a virtue out of necessity. There is no way it could have done anything else. The alternative was being bludgeoned by the Coalition about its “hidden plans” for a carbon tax and emissions trading between now and the next election.</p>
<p>And so Shorten went out on the front foot. He used his opening speech at the conference to aggressively promote climate as a key electoral issue. He affirmed that Labor will support a target of 50% of stationary energy from renewables by 2030 and establish a national emissions trading scheme (ETS). </p>
<p>The platform also indicates that Labor will introduce tougher vehicle emissions standards and provide ongoing support for important climate institutional innovations – the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the Climate Change Authority – created by previous Labor governments and attacked by Abbott.</p>
<p>The platform and Shorten’s comments use four narrative claims that aim to frame and capture the initiative for Labor in the upcoming climate debate:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Shorten emphasised climate is “an economic and environmental cancer that demands early intervention”. In other words, this issue is about national security and “national health”. </p></li>
<li><p>Labor is pushing for innovation and investment in a “clean energy future” – a claim that fits with Labor’s traditional self-representation as Australia’s only party of national modernisation. </p></li>
<li><p>Shorten underscored the policy’s economic and social responsibility. It will produce – rather than cost – investment and jobs, and lower household energy bills. </p></li>
<li><p>Shorten and his environment spokesman, Mark Butler, have aimed to blunt Coalition claims of “rash leadership” by arguing this new policy is merely trying to catch up with others, and is specifically following the lead of major economies like the US and China.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>So what could be better and what’s missing? </p>
<p>Electricity production is currently responsible for around 33% of Australia’s national emissions. The ALP’s renewables announcement therefore implies a national emissions reduction target of at least 16% below present levels by 2030. </p>
<p>With the ETS and the use of other emissions reduction and energy efficiency measures, tougher targets are possible. And they are essential if Australia is to do its fair share in keeping global warming well below two degress Celsius.</p>
<p>Given the Abbott government’s ongoing refusal to divulge Australia’s targets in the run-up to the UN climate negotiations in Paris this year – Australia is the only developed country to not have done so - Labor missed an important political opportunity by not now announcing its own national emissions targets and national carbon budget for 2025, 2030 and beyond. </p>
<p>These targets and the carbon budget could have been justified in reference to the research of the Climate Change Authority – just as Labor’s platform does for vehicle emissions standards.</p>
<p>Labor also failed to make any mention of tackling Australia’s very substantial public subsidy to the fossil fuel sector. The International Monetary Fund recently reported that Australia’s subsidy to this sector to expected be around A$41 billion in 2015, or around 2% of GDP. </p>
<p>Ending this environmentally destructive subsidy would help level the economic playing field between alternative energy sources and provide significant additional revenue for the budget – including for investment in renewables. On this matter too, the ALP platform is silent.</p>
<hr>
<h2>Party reform</h2>
<p><strong>Rob Manwaring, Lecturer, Politics and Public Policy at Flinders University</strong></p>
<p>The late British Labour MP Tony Benn once quipped that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>New Labour is the smallest political party that’s existed in Britain – the only problem is that they are all in cabinet. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Tony Blair and the modernisers made reform the party a central part of his efforts to re-make the party. His greatest achievement was to re-write Clause IV – de-socialising UK Labour’s key aim.</p>
<p>The Australian Labor Party, under Bill Shorten’s leadership, has deferred its “Clause IV” moment. Modernisers, especially on the right, won the conference battle to “review” the long-standing socialist objective. </p>
<p>In a feisty debate, NSW Labor leader Luke Foley led the battle to re-write the ALP’s core mission, calling for an objective that “true believers can believe in”. Veteran Kim Carr led the counter-charge, with a pointed “Comrade, I could not disagree with you more” and some old style tub-thumping.</p>
<p>On other reform matters, Labor has, in classic style, tentatively and messily moved forward. Conference committed to increasing Indigenous membership and required state branches to direct elect delegates. Kevin Rudd’s leadership changes were endorsed. Labor’s gender 40:40:20 rule will eventually become a stronger 50:50, but only by 2025. Critical issues like changing the trade union block vote were not even debated.</p>
<p>This all suits Shorten. Labor has signalled some progressive intent, but the difficult decisions have yet again been postponed and deferred – the same-sex marriage amendment is a perfect example. Internally, the left faction has not been able to impose itself.</p>
<p>Debates on internal rules are often dismissed as party “navel-gazing”. While they have little immediate impact on the party’s electoral appeal, they remain central to what the party stands for. Blair knew this, which is why changing Clause IV was such an early crusade.</p>
<p>Shorten, despite his modernising tendencies, is unlike Blair. First, he lacks a cohort of like-minded modernisers. Second, his “vision” of modernising the party is neither as clear nor radical. This might just help get him into office, but it remains hazy what he might do if he got there. </p>
<hr>
<h2>Education</h2>
<p><strong>Bill Louden, Emeritus Professor of Education at University of Western Australia</strong></p>
<p>The Labor values underpinning the education platform are reassuringly familiar: equity, access and inclusion. The platform hits all the contemporary educational hotspots, too:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Better early years education and care;</p></li>
<li><p>More support for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) teachers;</p></li>
<li><p>Needs-based and sector-blind school funding;</p></li>
<li><p>An independent national curriculum and assessment system;</p></li>
<li><p>Higher standards in initial teacher education;</p></li>
<li><p>The primacy of the public TAFE provision; and </p></li>
<li><p>Accessible and affordable higher education. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>So, is it a matter of “move along, nothing to see here”? Not really, because beneath the educational values that have served Labor so well electorally lie some unresolved policy tensions.</p>
<p>As always, these are mostly about money. The continued commitment to the Gonski resource standards in schools will be welcomed by most in the school education industry. The platform acknowledges that delivering on this will require Labor to:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… work co-operatively with the states and territories to increase school funding. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>More co-operation and more money would be good, but the federation has a lot of moving parts. Without significant reforms to the federation the states won’t have more money to contribute. Without reductions in outlays in other portfolios it is hard to see how a future Labor government could afford to invest more in school education.</p>
<p>The policy tensions in higher education lie between the commitment to “a strong, affordable and accessible higher education system” and the opposition to “deregulation of fees, or the introduction of full fee degrees for undergraduates”.</p>
<p>It’s said to be dangerous to get caught between a vice-chancellor and a bucket of cash, but the near-unanimous support of vice-chancellors for Education Minister Christopher Pyne’s funding reforms reflects real financial pressure on higher education. The demand-driven system has opened up access, and this is a good thing. But declining income per student is undermining the quality of teaching and research. </p>
<p>So, the policy tension remains after the national conference. In government, Labor values have delivered accessible and affordable higher education. But without funding reform the system will be weaker, not stronger.</p>
<p><strong>Gwilym Croucher, Higher Education Policy Adviser at University of Melbourne</strong></p>
<p>As widely speculated, the national conference reaffirmed the ALP’s strong opposition to the current government’s planned deregulation of university fees. Senator Kim Carr said a future ALP government “will rebuild what the Coalition has torn down”, and that the platform makes it “clear that Labor will never support fee deregulation”.</p>
<p>Carr also signalled again that while a future Labor government would respect university “autonomy”, there will be an expectation that in receiving public funds they will be “accountable for how they spend taxpayer dollars” through “partnerships”.</p>
<p>This will be read by many as further evidence that the ALP intends to return to the previous policy of requiring universities to sign “compacts” with the government, which would set out agreed goals in exchange for public funding. The previous Labor government’s use of compacts was unpopular – they were seen as ineffective.</p>
<p>The ALP’s platform signals a return to higher education targets. It seeks 40% of 25–34-year-olds holding bachelor-level degree or higher by 2025, and 20% of university undergraduate enrolments made up of low socioeconomic background students by 2020. These were dropped by the Coalition once they formed government.</p>
<p>Australia is likely to achieve the first target with little change to the system as numbers are already close. But the low-socioeconomic goal has remained elusive – there has been only slow progress on this in recent years despite significant investment.</p>
<p>Regarding research, the platform promises the full cost of research will be funded while encouraging:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… researchers to engage with end-users, including industry, to improve the impact of their research for industrial applications and the public good.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<h2>Health</h2>
<p><strong>Lesley Russell, Adjunct Associate Professor, Menzies Centre for Health Policy at University of Sydney</strong></p>
<p>Labor’s 2015 policy platform on health is the equivalent of motherhood and apple pie – a traditional presentation of what the party has always stood for and what the electorate wants and expects.</p>
<p>Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme are essential components of Labor’s vision for a fairer Australia. Together they deliver access to health care based on need not ability to pay. And there is a lead role for the Commonwealth government in the funding and delivery of healthcare services.</p>
<p>The party platform gives little indication of what health and healthcare policies will be taken to the next election or implemented should Labor win. That’s not surprising: its main role is to serve as the yardstick by which policies and programs should be judged. </p>
<p>The good bits: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Recognition that investing in good health for all Australians will deliver a productive workforce and a competitive economy and that climate change is having an impact on health outcomes;</p></li>
<li><p>Acknowledgement that the social determinants of health are crucial to more equal health outcomes – especially important when it comes to tackling Indigenous disadvantage;</p></li>
<li><p>Commitment to a strong and properly resourced public health system, including primary care and preventive health;</p></li>
<li><p>Mental health as a priority for action; and</p></li>
<li><p>The statement that lack of dental care represents a significant gap in the provision of universal health care.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The not-so-good bits: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>No clear role delineation for public and private sectors; </p></li>
<li><p>Nothing new proposed to address the chronic disease challenge; and </p></li>
<li><p>A very clinical approach to prevention.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The real problem is the failure to clearly recognise and articulate the difference between achieving good health and delivering health care. Thus, despite the invocation of social determinants, health does not appear in other parts of the platform concerned with infrastructure, environment, education and employment, and social justice. That’s a function of the way the platform document is produced.</p>
<p>Effective delivery of Labor’s goals for health and well-being and Closing the Gap will require a whole-of-government approach that, for the moment remains, undisclosed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44655/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Reilly is on the Management Committee of the Refugee Advocacy Service of South Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bill Louden was deputy chair of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership and chaired its National Initial Teacher Education Committee from 2011 to 2014. He represented Western Australia on the Board of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority from 2008 to 2012. He was a member of the Rowe Review into the teaching of reading in Australia.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gwilym Croucher is a higher education policy analyst in the office of the Vice-Chancellor at the University of Melbourne.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lesley Russell is a former policy advisor to the federal ALP.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Christoff is on the Board of the Australian Conservation Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Manwaring 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 Conversation’s experts respond to the ALP national conference on matters of asylum seekers, health, education, party reform and more.Alex Reilly, Director of the Public Law and Policy Research Unit, Adelaide Law School, University of AdelaideBill Louden, Emeritus Professor of Education, The University of Western AustraliaGwilym Croucher, Higher Education Policy Adviser, The University of MelbourneLesley Russell, Adjunct Associate Professor, Menzies Centre for Health Policy, University of SydneyPeter Christoff, Associate Professor, School of Geography, The University of MelbourneRob Manwaring, Lecturer, Politics and Public Policy, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/400082015-05-27T20:04:04Z2015-05-27T20:04:04ZKeeping public priorities in public universities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82822/original/image-20150525-32586-itxipz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Academics want to conduct blue sky research, but that's not why people pay to go to university. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The main purposes of Australian public universities — teaching, research and community engagement — are well established <a href="http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2013C00169">in law</a> and practice. But differences of opinion exist on priorities, interpretation and accountability. A key tension is between academics as the strongest advocates of knowledge for its own sake, and government, students and the general public seeking practical uses for knowledge. </p>
<p>For academics, passion for a field of study, opportunity to develop new knowledge, and autonomy in working life are among the <a href="https://cshe.unimelb.edu.au/people/bexley_docs/The_Academic_Profession_in_Transition_Sept2011.pdf">most frequent reasons given</a> for pursuing an academic career. These aspirations create resistance to universities pursuing practical objectives set by others. </p>
<p>Academics are <a href="http://arc.gov.au/general/searchable_data.htm">much more likely to apply</a> for research grants where new knowledge is the primary outcome than grants aimed at promoting collaboration with industry. <a href="http://press.anu.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Introduction-The-Retreat-from-the-Critical.pdf">Academics criticise</a> universities for becoming more “instrumental”.</p>
<p>The importance to academics of pursuing new knowledge has made teaching a second priority after research. Only <a href="https://cshe.unimelb.edu.au/people/bexley_docs/The_Academic_Profession_in_Transition_Sept2011.pdf">30% of academics say they prefer teaching</a> or lean towards teaching in a teaching and research job. <a href="http://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/469192/Work-and-Career-Report-on-Employee-Survey_Final-v2.pdf">Another survey</a> found that 67% of academics wanted more research time, but only 15% wanted more teaching work. </p>
<p>Although few people seriously dispute that knowledge for its own sake is important, there are broader expectations of public universities. What makes them “public” institutions is their establishment by government to meet a range of needs associated with advanced knowledge. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82825/original/image-20150525-32572-bp8eis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82825/original/image-20150525-32572-bp8eis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82825/original/image-20150525-32572-bp8eis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82825/original/image-20150525-32572-bp8eis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82825/original/image-20150525-32572-bp8eis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82825/original/image-20150525-32572-bp8eis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82825/original/image-20150525-32572-bp8eis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82825/original/image-20150525-32572-bp8eis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Few academics prioritise teaching over research.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They are not private organisations free to just follow their own intellectual and other interests. In exchange for meeting a range of goals, universities receive <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/portfolio-budget-statements-2015-16">substantial public financial support</a>. </p>
<p>These goals are set out in each public university’s founding legislation. All university acts mention teaching, often with the express statement that it should meet the community’s needs. </p>
<p>Similarly, research clauses in university legislation usually refer to applied research or other needs in addition to the pure pursuit of knowledge. Direct community engagement provisions are less frequent, but some universities have statutory obligations to participate in public discourse. Access and equity considerations are also mentioned in university acts.</p>
<p>These largely state-legislated university missions are reinforced by federal law, which now makes <a href="http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2013C00169">teaching, research and some community engagement mandatory</a> for institutions calling themselves universities. </p>
<p>Government views on university priorities are broadly aligned with public opinion. Survey evidence suggests that the public wants greatest emphasis on higher education’s practical uses to them, while acknowledging the importance of pure research. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82670/original/image-20150522-32548-6s8rdv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82670/original/image-20150522-32548-6s8rdv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82670/original/image-20150522-32548-6s8rdv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82670/original/image-20150522-32548-6s8rdv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82670/original/image-20150522-32548-6s8rdv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82670/original/image-20150522-32548-6s8rdv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82670/original/image-20150522-32548-6s8rdv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82670/original/image-20150522-32548-6s8rdv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Public opinion on university priorities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Based on Universities Australia 2010 survey data supplied to the Grattan Institute</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Recent policy work on <a href="https://submissions.education.gov.au/Forms/higher-education-research/pages/index">improving commercial returns on research</a> continues a long series of efforts to increase the broader national benefit from university research. The quasi-market created by <a href="https://education.gov.au/report-review-demand-driven-funding-system">removing most controls on numbers of bachelor-degree students</a> is intended, in part, to get universities to focus more on meeting skills needs and improving the student experience. </p>
<p>A policy of undergraduate fee deregulation, however, was not obviously aligned with the public’s focus on undergraduate education. The universities did not make a persuasive case that fee deregulation would benefit students, and <a href="http://www.essentialvision.com.au/deregulation-of-university-fees">the public was unconvinced</a>. In reality, it is likely that much of the additional revenue from fee deregulation would have been spent on research.</p>
<p>Academics sometimes complain about <a href="http://napuaustralia.org/charter">higher education becoming a “private” good</a>, but I don’t think that is the best characterisation of policy over the last 25 years. Although there is more private money than before, universities have become better aligned with public purposes, as identified through both public opinion and public policy. This has been achieved with a mix of direct regulation, financial incentives and market forces.</p>
<p>These policy changes recognise that academics and universities, left to manage themselves without outside pressure, will not necessarily pursue broad community interests. Academia failed to <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/report/taking-university-teaching-seriously/">develop a professional culture around teaching</a>. It generally did not determine appropriate quality standards, require teaching qualifications, or monitor performance.</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, when the government funded the first national surveys of student satisfaction in the early 1990s, <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/report/mapping-australian-higher-education-2014-15/">the results were very poor</a>. They have since improved significantly.</p>
<p>With universities now able to respond to student demand, <a href="https://education.gov.au/student-data">course enrolments in areas of skills need such as health</a> have soared. But more students than ever before are also studying less vocational disciplines. Since 2008, domestic bachelor science enrolments are up 35% and humanities are up 18%. </p>
<p>In absolute terms universities now do much more pure research than before, reflecting significant increases in research spending. But the trend has been towards applied research making up a larger share of the total. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82672/original/image-20150522-32548-1jrxvhd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82672/original/image-20150522-32548-1jrxvhd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82672/original/image-20150522-32548-1jrxvhd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82672/original/image-20150522-32548-1jrxvhd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82672/original/image-20150522-32548-1jrxvhd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82672/original/image-20150522-32548-1jrxvhd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82672/original/image-20150522-32548-1jrxvhd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research spending by type.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Pure research and non-vocational disciplines primarily oriented to knowledge for its own sake remain important university functions, and this will continue to be so. But public universities should be and are about more than these activities.</p>
<p>Changes over the last 25 years have helped give students and applied research a higher priority than they would otherwise have received. Policy has helped keep the “public” in public university.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong><em>The Conversation is running a series on “What are universities for?” looking at the place of universities in Australia, why they exist, who they serve, and how this is changing over time. Read other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/what-are-universities-for">here</a>.</em></strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40008/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Norton 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>Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is important, but universities, as public institutions, have a responsibility to fulfil their public role too.Andrew Norton, Program Director, Higher Education , Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/418902015-05-17T20:05:34Z2015-05-17T20:05:34ZNeutral teaching centre won’t be so neutral once opened for tender<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81793/original/image-20150515-8749-19d7qo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Promoting and funding teaching projects needs to be national, and not favour the elite universities.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last week’s budget included a substantial cut to the government’s own <a href="http://www.olt.gov.au/may2015-new-institute-promote-excellence-learning-and-teaching">Office for Learning and Teaching</a> (OLT), which exists to support research into learning and promote good teaching. </p>
<p>What is surprising is that the axing has met with so little resistance and less public outcry than is warranted.</p>
<p>According to its website, the OLT is being disbanded to “ensure that the Commonwealth’s investment in improved teaching and learning practices is driven by the higher education sector”. This basically says the government is telling universities to look after the quality of teaching themselves.</p>
<p>The duties of the office will be opened for tender to an Australian university, with a small proportion of the funding the OLT used to receive.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81795/original/image-20150515-8719-ss5tr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81795/original/image-20150515-8719-ss5tr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81795/original/image-20150515-8719-ss5tr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81795/original/image-20150515-8719-ss5tr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81795/original/image-20150515-8719-ss5tr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81795/original/image-20150515-8719-ss5tr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81795/original/image-20150515-8719-ss5tr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81795/original/image-20150515-8719-ss5tr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Who will get the tender?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/36199303@N04/3826306914/">Geoff Penaluna/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The amount it costs to have a genuinely national body that oversees, supports and showcases outstanding teaching that responds to the changing needs of students and employers and results in empathetic and global citizens is small compared to the benefits.</p>
<p>The recent announcement that it was being put out for tender suggests the government has a flawed understanding of what the role of the office was:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>From 1 July 2016 a new institute will be established, with $28 million in funding, to promote excellence in teaching and learning. This will involve administering the grants, fellowships and awards under the Promotion of Excellence in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education programme.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But the OLT and its forerunners were meant to be much more than simply “dolers-out-of-money”: it was meant to provide resource-rich support to all who teach in all universities in the country. Importantly, it was meant to be neutral.</p>
<p>By announcing that “universities will be invited to bid to host the new institute”, it seems that one lucky player is going to win the big prize. Only a handful of universities have the facilities and capabilities to host such a centre. </p>
<p>Among the likely candidates is the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education. Despite it being the place of my employ, I have no idea whether it is throwing its hat into the ring. My prediction is that the tender will be won by one or other of the elite Group of 8 universities.</p>
<p>The body that represents Australia’s universities, <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/news/media-releases/Teaching-and-learning-excellence-set-to-be-budget-loser-for-higher-education#.VVQQNYvYkyF">Universities Australia</a> has been muted in its response to the abolition of the OLT. </p>
<p>Its CEO, Belinda Robinson, claimed somewhat feebly that the sector as a whole had not been consulted about the changes and that the organisation </p>
<blockquote>
<p>will strongly oppose any moves to downgrade the government’s commitment to teaching and learning excellence in higher education.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s not exactly a call to the barricades; more like resignation and the hope that as long as the new centre gets a new home somewhere, things might still turn out okay.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://the-scan.com/2015/05/12/the-budget-in-their-own-words-regional-universities-network/">Regional Universities Network</a> doesn’t seem all that perturbed either. </p>
<p>Whichever university wins the tender will be hard pushed to be seen as maintaining even-handedness in which initiatives it supports. The OLT not only supported research into teaching and learning, it was a neutral national champion of excellence. That is something the country can ill afford to do without if it wants all its universities to prosper.</p>
<p>I suspect that the move ultimately has little to do with ensuring Australia’s reputation of a leading and progressive higher education sector is enhanced. </p>
<p>Rather, it shows the government is still determined to create a two-tiered higher education sector in which a handful of universities, probably about eight, are free to exploit their international standing by attracting the best and brightest students for the highest fees, while the others service the rural, regional and vocational students.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41890/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrys Onsman works for the Centre for the Study of Higher Education which could be a potential candidate for housing the new Office of Learning and Teaching. </span></em></p>A government office to support teaching has been put out to tender, but will the university that wins the contract be fair in doling out funds and projects?Andrys Onsman, Lecturer, Centre for Studies of Higher Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/417462015-05-15T01:15:43Z2015-05-15T01:15:43ZThe education budget report card: ‘F’ for Fail<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81658/original/image-20150514-28590-8v8fhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cuts to funding in education and research shows a lack of planning for the future.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Budget: The Longer View. The dust has begun to settle on Tuesday’s federal budget – and some key issues and themes are emerging. What are they? This long-read essay is part of a special package intended to answer that question.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>You could be forgiven for thinking that education was left largely untouched in Tuesday’s federal budget. In Joe Hockey’s <a href="http://www.budget.gov.au/2015-16/content/speech/html/speech.htm">speech</a>, education was only mentioned twice and simply in terms of higher education as a valuable service export.</p>
<p>The focus was almost entirely on child care, small business and infrastructure. This was contrasted with last night’s budget <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-14/bill-shorten-proposes-5pc-tax-cut-for-small-business/6471006">reply</a> by Bill Shorten, where the emphasis was on a future defined by science, technology, education and innovation. </p>
<p>Christopher Pyne’s absence from the post-budget headlines is notable, given the central placement of his twice-failed higher education reform agenda in last year’s budget.</p>
<p>It is only when digging into the Department of Education and Training’s <a href="http://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/education_and_training_portfolio_budget_statements_2015-16.pdf">budget statements</a> that the finer details on education become clear.</p>
<p>And the picture overall is not a particularly good one for the future of education in Australia.</p>
<p>In brief: schools are facing a A$30 billion funding black hole from 2018; there is continued uncertainty for current and future university students; and there will be far-reaching impacts of further broad cuts to research spending and infrastructure.</p>
<h2>What does the budget mean for early education?</h2>
<p>There are some positive aspects in the families package, a centrepiece of the budget and widely covered in the media over the past couple of weeks. </p>
<p>The package includes a continued commitment to universal access to early childhood education, by providing 600 hours of <a href="https://education.gov.au/news/universal-access-early-childhood-education-will-continue">preschool education</a> for all children in the year before full-time school, with a further focus on supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged children. </p>
<p>While the current program is fully funded until the end of 2017, it is unclear what will happen after this.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81775/original/image-20150515-28624-vihe7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81775/original/image-20150515-28624-vihe7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81775/original/image-20150515-28624-vihe7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81775/original/image-20150515-28624-vihe7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81775/original/image-20150515-28624-vihe7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81775/original/image-20150515-28624-vihe7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81775/original/image-20150515-28624-vihe7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81775/original/image-20150515-28624-vihe7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Childcare funding shouldn’t come at the expense of other funding to young families.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One concern is that it appears the child care package is linked to budget cuts included in last year’s budget, including cuts to the family tax benefit, as well as the controversial changes proposed this week to paid parental leave.</p>
<p>Increased support for child care and early childhood education are certainly welcome, yet it should not be for the sake of coercing parents into the workforce or reducing other support for young families.</p>
<p>While it might be a little glib to reference Whitney Houston, our children really are the future, and it serves us all to provide them with the best start in life. There is much more that can be done.</p>
<h2>What does the budget mean for school education?</h2>
<p>Prior to the 2013 election, Tony Abbott declared the coalition was on a <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/coalition-joins-labors-gonski-unity-ticket/story-fn59niix-1226690519042">unity ticket</a> with Labor for school funding. While the government has since committed to increasing school funding in line with indexation, such a move completely ignores the real growth of costs in school education. </p>
<p>As a result, this has meant that schools are now facing a A$30 billion shortfall in funding from 2018. Unfortunately, this year’s budget really just <a href="http://theconversation.com/education-budget-cant-shake-the-gonski-ghost-41450">tinkers</a> around the edges and provides little certainty for parents and their children, particularly students attending public schools in disadvantaged areas.</p>
<p>One such tinkering is the announcement to provide A$16.9 million to the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership in a move to improve <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/federal-budget-2015-teachers-expat-aussies-targeted-in-education-revamp/story-fn84fgcm-1227352496100">teacher quality</a>. The irony of course is that the same institute received a A$19.9 million cut in the 2014 budget.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81777/original/image-20150515-28638-dkc6ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81777/original/image-20150515-28638-dkc6ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81777/original/image-20150515-28638-dkc6ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81777/original/image-20150515-28638-dkc6ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81777/original/image-20150515-28638-dkc6ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81777/original/image-20150515-28638-dkc6ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81777/original/image-20150515-28638-dkc6ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81777/original/image-20150515-28638-dkc6ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The money given to teacher education this year is less than the cut it faced last year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Further tinkering can be seen in: the highly controversial school chaplaincy program that continues to be funded; the Direct Instruction roll-out in remote Indigenous primary schools and the generous support for private boarding schools who take Indigenous boarders; as well as the ongoing support for Independent Public Schools.</p>
<p>While it might look striking for the government to say they have a <a href="http://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/">Students First</a> policy platform that focuses on teacher quality, school autonomy, strengthening the curriculum and parental engagement, you’ve got to put your money where your mouth is. </p>
<p>Without the funding to support equitable access to high quality education outcomes for all students, regardless of their backgrounds, then no amount of politics is going to make any difference.</p>
<h2>What does the budget mean for higher education?</h2>
<p>There were few <a href="http://theconversation.com/pyne-fails-to-deliver-any-surprises-in-the-higher-education-budget-41741">surprises</a> apart from a commitment to further uncertainty for the sector. There was zero mention on budget night about the future of fee deregulation, but Pyne has previously made it clear he intends to go for a third round.</p>
<p>The National Collaborative Research Infrastructure funding of A$150 million has been saved from the chopping block for a year. This is the one that Pyne “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/i-want-it-to-be-a-surprise-for-you-christopher-pyne-smiles-through-grilling-from-david-speers-20150317-1m0p91.html">fixed</a>”. Yet, it has come at the cost of A$150 million to the Sustainable Research Excellence grants. These are a critical component of the research landscape in Australia.</p>
<p>Coupled with last year’s cuts to the CSIRO and the “efficiency dividends” applied across the sector, the real value of investment in research and innovation diminishes year after year.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81778/original/image-20150515-8726-mk464r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81778/original/image-20150515-8726-mk464r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81778/original/image-20150515-8726-mk464r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81778/original/image-20150515-8726-mk464r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81778/original/image-20150515-8726-mk464r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81778/original/image-20150515-8726-mk464r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81778/original/image-20150515-8726-mk464r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81778/original/image-20150515-8726-mk464r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&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">Fee deregulation is up for round three in parliament.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>This sends troubling and mixed messages about the government’s support for research. It is important to develop and sustain Australia’s scientific research and capacity for innovation. Taking with one hand to give with another is not good policy. </p>
<p>As part of a broader A$131 million cut to the Department of Education and Training, the Office of Learning and Teaching will be moved to a university-based institute and provided with A$28 million to promote excellence in learning and teaching in higher education. </p>
<p>Again, there is tinkering around the edges in higher education, including proposed cuts to the Cooperative Research Centres, which support research commercialisation and engage research institutions with industry, alongside the removal of funding for The Conversation, which provides a platform for academics to share research and engage in public scholarship.</p>
<p>There are also plans to toughen compliance measures for vocational providers as well as a costly and complex exercise in pursuing student loan payments from Australians living overseas.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most controversial measure is the A$4 million promised to Bjorn Lomborg’s “Consensus Centre” climate change think tank. Originally meant to be hosted by the University of Western Australia, the centre is currently homeless after the Vice-Chancellor publicly backed away from involvement in the centre.</p>
<p>Time will tell how many of these measures play out, but if the past year’s antics are anything to go by, we have more to come from Pyne’s vision of higher education reform. </p>
<p>In the meantime, the ongoing cuts to research investment will have long term consequences for a country that prides itself on being at the cutting edge of innovation and scientific contribution.</p>
<p>Given the state of uncertainty that universities and students have faced since May 2014, it seems unlikely that there will be any positive change in the near future. This is not an ideal context for continuing to grow and support a sector that provides enormous benefits to Australia, economically, socially and culturally.</p>
<h2>Reform requires vision</h2>
<p>The budget is an opportunity to present a narrative to the Australian people about what kind of society we aspire to be.</p>
<p>To take this opportunity, governments need to be willing to step outside the election cycle, which breeds short-term thinking and look to the broader needs of the country in the coming years. </p>
<p>Yet any real reform requires vision that goes well beyond our current politics. It is for these reasons that this year, the government gets an “F” for Fail on its report card for education.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41746/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stewart Riddle 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>You could be forgiven for thinking that education was left largely untouched in Tuesday’s federal budget. But the tinkerings to last year’s education budget still mean a “fail” for education funding.Stewart Riddle, Senior Lecturer, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.