Delivered by Mr Luke Sheehy, Universities Australia Chief Executive Officer
***Check against delivery***
Thank you for that warm welcome.
It’s a pleasure to be here in the great state of South Australia.
I’d like to acknowledge that we are meeting on the traditional lands of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains and pay my respects to elders past and present.
It’s wonderful to be here with you all in a state that has long been a leader in research, innovation and higher education.
From defence to renewables, this is a place where universities are driving real change.
My thanks to Geoff and the whole Unimutual team for making today possible.
I know how much work goes into events like this one.
Only a few weeks ago, Universities Australia held its annual Solutions Summit in Canberra.
I think I’m still recovering!
But it’s great to be here today, and I can already see some familiar faces in the room.
I must admit I was not particularly familiar with Unimutual until I met with Geoff a couple of weeks ago.
He explained the core functions of the business – risk protection and management.
In a lot of ways, that’s not too dissimilar to what Universities Australia provides our members.
We advocate for strong and fair policy settings and full and proper funding for universities.
This is all to ensure our institutions have the strongest possible foundation from which to operate.
There is considerable risk in this not happening, which is why we seek to do what we do.
And without a firm footing, our universities would struggle to do what they do.
They educate more than a million students each year.
They undertake critical research and development.
And they support the communities they call home.
But any reduction in, or impact on these activities is not just a risk for universities.
There are far greater implications.
And they extend well beyond lecture theatres and campus grounds.
Without a firm footing for our universities, our nation would struggle to grow and prosper.
That’s because…
The students we educate work in and fuel every sector of the economy.
The R&D we undertake drives Australia’s progress.
And the communities we support are stronger for it, socially and economically.
For these reasons, our institutions are worthy of full and proper support.
They are worthy of bipartisan political backing, particularly in an election year.
They should be the focus of good policy, not politics.
Regrettably, this is not and has not always been the case.
You might have heard me and UA Chair Professor David Lloyd making this very point before.
We’ve both spoken at the National Press Club in the last six months.
We both used that national platform to call out the politicisation of universities.
And to call for full and proper support of our institutions for the nation’s benefit.
If you accept that universities exist to serve all Australians, the case for investment is irrefutable.
They do this by making the Australian economy $185 billion larger and our standard of living higher.
They do it by inventing new products and generating original ideas to make our lives easier and safer.
Yet, these benefits sometimes seem lost on or at least ignored by policy and decision makers.
Take what our sector is facing right now.
We have been underfunded for years by successive governments.
The current Government is bidding to limit international student numbers.
The federal opposition, meanwhile, is threatening deeper cuts than Labor to this important sector.
Changes in the foreign policy landscape are threatening our research partnerships.
Vice-chancellor salaries and university governance are in the political crosshairs.
And social cohesion issues continue to play out on campuses and in the wider community.
Please don’t think I’m suggesting that universities are above scrutiny – not for a second.
Our sector is not perfect – far from it.
These are really important issues to work through, and we will continue to work through them.
Our responsibility to provide safe and respectful campuses is not something we shy away from.
It’s our duty, as educators and employers.
At the same time, we can’t lose sight of or put off the major policy discussions we need to have.
Let’s consider what’s happening in the world right now and why universities matter.
We are in a period of great economic, technological and societal change.
The push towards a net zero economy is happening at pace.
New technologies, like artificial intelligence, are reshaping us.
And geopolitical shifts are changing our way of life.
There are both opportunities and challenges that come with these changes.
Opportunities we must embrace and challenges we must overcome to succeed as a nation.
So, why do Australia’s universities matter to this task?
Because they have everything to do with embracing the opportunities and overcoming the challenges in front of us.
Australia’s universities educate the skilled people and undertake the research our economy needs in greater supply.
But don’t just take my word for it…
The Tech Council of Australia says we need 1.2 million people in tech jobs by 2030.
Engineers Australia expects a future shortfall of up to one hundred thousand engineers.
This year, according to the government, we’re already four thousand teachers short of where we need to be.
The government also estimates a shortage of one hundred and twenty-three thousand nurses by 2030.
These skilled people are educated at our universities.
The skilled people we need to design and build new infrastructure for a growing population.
Skilled people to care for sick and ageing Australians.
Skilled people to navigate rapid technological change.
Skilled people to guide the transition to a clean energy future.
And so many more skilled people to ensure our economy grows and our country prospers.
We’re in Adelaide today, so let’s consider why skilled people are so important to South Australia.
Thirty minutes north of here, in Osborne, is where you’ll find the Australian home of AUKUS.
Four thousand workers will design and build the submarine construction yard.
A further five and a half thousand workers will build the nuclear submarines.
Most, if not all, of these jobs are highly skilled.
That means South Australia must have highly skilled people to draw on.
Without them, we will not get Australian-made nuclear-powered submarines patrolling our waters.
AUKUS depends on them.
And so does the defence of our nation.
So, too, does South Australia achieving its 100 per cent net renewables target by 2027.
And completing its new $3.2 billion Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
These projects of the future all hinge on a highly skilled workforce.
Let’s also consider the Whyalla Steelworks.
A South Australian icon and the recent recipient of a $2.4 billion government bailout.
Whyalla is critical to sovereign Australian steel.
And Whyalla steel is critical to our nation’s future.
It is used to build railways, bridges, schools, hospitals, transmission lines and defence assets.
But the steel is not much use without skilled people to bring these projects to life.
Skilled people educated at our universities, including those right here in South Australia.
The University of Adelaide.
The University of South Australia.
These great institutions will soon combine as the new Adelaide University.
And, of course, Flinders University.
Three of my wonderful members.
And, as I have said, we need more of these skilled people.
More engineers to design infrastructure projects long before the first sod is turned.
More IT specialists to protect us online.
More teachers to shape future generations.
And more health professionals to care for an ageing population.
A recent review of Australia’s higher education system laid bare the scale of this challenge.
Estimates show that we need to educate a million more domestic students each year by 2050.
That’s 1.8 million students a year – more than double the number currently studying at university.
We cannot take this task lightly.
This is what our economy demands and it’s what our future prosperity depends on.
The economic dividend alone is eye-watering.
The government tells us reaching this target could add as much as $240 billion to the economy by 2050.
That’s a $20,000 boost for Aussie households, including the 723,000 households here in South Australia.
But if we are to meet Australia’s skills challenge, we need our universities to be match fit.
And to be match fit, we need the full and proper support of government.
We have some work to do to get there.
Right now, our sector is not exactly a picture of financial health.
Most universities are in deficit, compared to only three in 2014.
Back then Australia’s universities collectively posted a 6.8 per cent operating surplus.
By 2022, this had deteriorated to a collective deficit of 3.6 per cent.
Average Commonwealth funding for student places fell eight per cent in this period.
This drop can be largely put down to the much-maligned Job-ready Graduates Package.
This change in policy altered fees for students and reduced funding to universities.
Today, we have nearly a billion dollars less for student places every year under this funding system.
A funding system that is not delivering on its stated intent of shifting students into areas of national priority.
The same areas Australia is desperately crying out for more workers.
If we are to ever meet Australia’s future workforce needs, our universities will need to grow physically.
We will need more classrooms and laboratories to educate a million extra students by 2050.
Sadly, universities no longer receive government support to upgrade campus infrastructure.
This is a result of the bipartisan decision to end the Education Investment Fund.
In 2019, this stripped our sector of nearly $4 billion in dedicated funding for infrastructure.
The fund helped build facilities right here in Adelaide.
Places where researchers are working to solve agricultural, defence, health and mining challenges.
We’re also being asked to do more with less research funding.
Government investment in university research has never been lower than it is right now.
Meanwhile, Australia’s overall investment in R&D sits at just 1.66 per cent of GDP.
That’s a long way behind the OECD average of 2.73 per cent.
R&D is the engine room of Australia’s future.
It drives productivity, economic growth and progress.
Universities Australia has called for it to be at the centre of our country’s productivity agenda.
We will fall further behind in the global race to develop new ideas and products for as long as it’s not.
Consider the important work happening at universities right here in Adelaide.
AI tools developed at the University of Adelaide are protecting Australians from misinformation.
Researchers at the University of South Australia are fast-tracking cancer treatment for children.
And at Flinders University, teams are pioneering new ways to ensure healthy pregnancies.
This is life-changing stuff.
It’s important to Australians.
And so, it should be important to our politicians.
Our researchers need and deserve their full and proper support.
Our universities need and deserve their full and proper support.
Our sector has, until recently, used international student revenue to cover Commonwealth funding gaps.
But the ongoing bipartisan attack on our international education sector no longer assures this.
And if the major parties are going to kneecap a once-reliable revenue source, we need their full and proper support.
I know the South Australian Government came out strongly against international student caps and I want to thank Premier Malinauskas for this.
I also want to acknowledge former Premier Steven Marshall for his strong support of our sector.
South Australia’s universities and economy need international students.
Australia’s universities and economy need international students.
It’s timely that we have a federal election coming up.
And in a federal election year, it’s high time the major parties came to the table.
To focus on policies, not politics, to support our higher education system.
And to provide the full and proper support our universities need to deliver for the nation.
We need to educate a million extra students each year by 2050 for Australia’s benefit.
We can’t do that with a funding system that penalises students and punishes universities.
We can’t do it without investment in our campus facilities.
And we can’t do it without adequate funding for our critical research and development activities.
Universities Australia has already called on the next federal government to…
Scrap the Job-ready Graduates Package and work with us as a priority to set new course fees.
To re-establish the Education Investment Fund.
And to raise its investment in R&D and lift the PhD stipend.
These are measures worthy of bipartisan support to ensure our universities are on a firm footing for the future.
To support Australia’s interests and to help the next federal government deliver its priorities.
To build a stronger economy.
To deliver affordable and reliable energy.
To support strong and sustainable communities.
To deliver cheaper medicine and quality healthcare.
And most importantly, to leave no Australian behind.
These are shared priorities of the major parties and our universities matter to their delivery.
Therefore, our universities matter to all Australians.
They are worthy of full and proper support.
Thank you.
ENDS
