The Decline and Fall of the Universities By James Reed
Their ABC has reported on the present state of the Australian universities, facing hard times, or so they say. The article says that the tertiary sectors disillusionment with the Liberals helped get the Albanese government into power, who undertook a review of the Australian universities, in the Australian University Accord. And according to the article: “The Accord panel, led by Professor Mary O’Kane, was tasked by the Minister of Education, Jason Clare, to prioritise participation by disadvantaged groups. It focused on First Nations People, lower socio-economic groups, people with disability, and those from rural, remote, and outer suburban communities.” Yes, just the things to compete with communist China, or is that the plan, to surrender to politically correct ideology?
So, in short it is all about woke and how to get woker. What we need is something much more radical and rational, since the universities have been the engine for mass international student numbers that have helped create a national housing crisis. These citadels of evil need to be closed down and education rethought in national interests, not to serve the Great Replacement of traditional Australia. The universities are a curse upon the land, whose time has long passed in the information age.
“ATARs are out and my kid, like many thousands of others across the nation, is wondering if he’s done enough to get into the tertiary course of his choice. Like so many others, his educational and social life was significantly affected by COVID-19, so this is a real concern. He and his peer group are also wondering how they’ll pay for their studies and are acutely aware of what the Jobs Ready Graduate package means for them.
But here’s the twist: I’m also a university professor; and at the same time as my child is worrying about where his grades will take him, I am anxiously awaiting the federal government’s release of the Final Report of the Australian Universities Accord. The Accord is a big deal. It has been billed as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to “reimagine” Australian higher education and plan for the future over a “30-year horizon”.
In other words, my kid and I sit at opposing bookends of the higher education system but are equally engaged with an administrative system that affects many but is noticed by few.
Although it is not exactly conducive to beach reading, it is a good time to revisit the last year in higher education review processes — specifically, the Australian Universities Accord. Why was it created and what might it say about universities and research in this country? Most importantly, why is the Accord something you should care about?
The challenges facing Australian universities
The last few years have been tough for universities. Challenges have included the long tail of COVID-19’s effects on budgets, campuses, and staff, as well as ongoing concerns about precarious and highly contested international student markets. Adding to financial and enrolment concerns have been complaints from international peers and the national sector, industry, and community about the evaluation measures used to award and assess university research funding.
Dissatisfaction by students, their families, and academics over the Jobs Ready Graduate package, and alarm over federal government interference in research funding have generated barriers for students to enter higher education and diminished public support for public funding of university research.
Disillusionment in the tertiary sector contributed to the 2022 election of the Albanese government, the first federal Labor government in nine years, which swiftly implemented its campaign promises to review, reform and “reimagine” Australia’s higher education and research landscape. As a result, 2023 was a year of action that included developing new legislation for the Australian Research Council and submission to government of the Australian Universities Accord.
Reimagining Australia’s higher education system
The most wide-reaching higher education review process over the last year has been the Australian Universities Accord. Its importance can be put in perspective by the fact that the last major review of higher education in Australia took place in 2008. Known as the Bradley review, it recommended more taxpayer funds be directed toward university teaching and research — a recommendation which was not taken up.
The Accord panel, led by Professor Mary O’Kane, was tasked by the Minister of Education, Jason Clare, to prioritise participation by disadvantaged groups. It focused on First Nations People, lower socio-economic groups, people with disability, and those from rural, remote, and outer suburban communities. The Minister also sought recommendations for a system that would increase the number of qualified people for jobs and keep Australian universities in the top global rankings.
The review panel released an Accord Interim Report in July 2023, which was based on research and a process of consultation that included over 785 submissions. The report highlighted five priority areas to be further developed in the final report.
The review panel presented its Final Report to the Minister for Education on 28 December 2023. As of January 2024, we await the government’s release of the Final Accord Report, which contains 47 recommendations for change.
Restoring integrity to Australia’s research administration
Running parallel to the Accord process has been a review into the Australian Research Council (ARC). The ARC oversees and administers the Australian government’s investment in research and development through the National Competitive Grants Program, assesses the quality, engagement, and influence of Australian university research, and advises the Minister on research matters. A Commonwealth agency established in 2001, it reports to the federal Minister for Education. It has never previously been reviewed.
The establishment of the ARC Review followed acute criticism by a Senate Inquiry of its governance as “prescriptive” and “outdated”. The review aimed to consider escalating complaints by the research community about the ARC being out of step with research agencies overseas and subject to political interference in Australia. Such interference was evident between 2018 and 2021, when Coalition government education ministers overturned decisions to fund grants that had been independently assessed by international experts and recommended for funding by the ARC.”
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