I can only begin to imagine the pain, grief and suffering of the family of Hannah Smith, who committed suicide recently after apparently being bullied online, and Daniel Perry, who appears to have killed…
Last week Western Australian state treasurer Troy Buswell announced as part of his budget that any temporary 457 visa holders would be charged A$4,000 a year to send each child to state schools. Justifying…
“Resource projects are 40% more costly in Australia than the United States, building hospitals cost 62% more, schools 26% more and airports a staggering 90% more.” – The Nationals’ leader Warren Truss…
As A-level results day approaches, students and universities alike are gearing up for the most frantic period in the academic year - the short window during which results are issued and offers of places…
It’s been a very long road for those wanting school funding reform. But it looks as though now the government version of the Gonski review is here to stay. Five states and territories are now on board…
Welcome to the **The Conversation Election 2013 State of the Nation* essays. These articles by leading experts in their field provide an in-depth look at the key policy challenges affecting Australia as…
For six years the Coalition has repeatedly told us that the Howard government’s model for school funding was working. They said the schools were getting the funding they needed and as education spokesperson…
“Today’s drop-out rates are higher than ever before, 20% across-the-board, and in some cases one-in-two. And that’s just one side effect of the demand driven system.” National affairs correspondent Heather…
With a new leader at the helm, a new higher education minister and an election not too far away, university policy seems to be up in the air. Since starting his new portfolio, minister Kim Carr has floated…
A recent article on The Conversation, “Busting the top five myths about open access publishing” is a spirited defense of open access (OA) publishing. The article, by ANU’s Danny Kingsley, outlined “myths…
“At the moment, we’ve got international graduates who are getting preference over Australian doctors in some states.” - Australian Medical Association president Steve Hambleton, National Press Club Address…
Sarah Buckley, Australian Council for Educational Research
We all know someone who gets the jitters when they have to make a speech, or breaks out in a cold sweat at the mere thought of being in an enclosed space. That person might even be you. But do you know…
“The fact remains there is a very strong correlation between people’s entry score at university and their success rate.” - higher education minister Senator Kim Carr, ABC’s 7.30, 17 July. Correlating entry…
A news report recently informed readers that the reason children from poorer backgrounds struggle is due to genetic “inherited abilities”. According to the article, a new Productivity Commission report…
School principals are five times more likely to face threats of violence than the general population, and seven times more likely to face physical violence, according to a new report released today. The…
Australian higher education is dominated by its universities, and therefore by institutions that have dual teaching and research missions. There is a long debate about whether these two activities complement…
Rather than lock up knowledge in costly journals, increasingly universities and governments are recognising that publicly funded research should be open to all. This past year has seen new open access…
“There is a fox in the chicken coop in this plan and that is that the federal minister for education will have unprecedented power over state schools, and Tasmania, Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria…
The recent news that higher education minister Kim Carr may reconsider A$900 million worth of cuts imposed on universities at the expense of the demand-driven system for funding undergraduate places has…
When discussing how to embed Indigenous Australian knowledge and practices into the Australian national curriculum effectively - particularly the maths curriculum - there’s no better place to start than…