E&OE

GRAEME GOODINGS: What’s the role of universities into the future? Well, we know universities play a crucial role in society by advancing knowledge, fostering innovation, and shaping future leaders. Joining in the studio is Universities Australia CEO Luke Sheehy. Luke, good morning. Thanks for being with us today.

LUKE SHEEHY: Good morning and happy International Happiness Day to you.

GRAEME GOODINGS: And the same to you. What brings you to Adelaide?

LUKE SHEEHY: Well, I’ve just given a speech to one of the university conferences which got some of our key people from the finance areas of our universities together. But my message was pretty clear. Universities are going to help shore up Australia’s future and particularly South Australia. There’s lots of big things that South Australia wants to do, and if we don’t have strong universities, we won’t be able to do it.

GRAEME GOODINGS: So, what needs to change to take us into the next 25, 50 years?

LUKE SHEEHY: We know that universities will need to double in size by 2050 to meet the demand of skilled workers by 2050. It’s what the Universities Accord report recommended a year ago, and the government’s committed to do it, but we need to see the way they’re going to do it. So, a million more students in the system by 2050 means we need significant investment in universities. I know this state has talked a lot about universities with the creation of Adelaide University. That’s really important, but we need to make sure right across the country there’s a pathway for people from all backgrounds to get skills for work, and that means going to university as well as TAFE.

GRAEME GOODINGS: So, do we need more universities or an amalgamation of universities and just make them bigger?

LUKE SHEEHY: We have very big universities in Australia, and the new Adelaide University will be one of the biggest on the planet, a very exciting proposition, but certainly we just need to make sure that there’s a pathway for people. It could be online, it could be using technology, it could be bigger universities, or it could be the creation of new universities in parts of the country that are really growing and growing fast.

GRAEME GOODINGS: Has it changed all that much in terms of turning up for lectures and so forth? Or is there more being done online? What direction are we heading there?

LUKE SHEEHY: As you know, technology is changing everything we do from shopping to the way we work normally, and universities have embraced that. So, the experience for a university student now is often a combination of online delivery and campus experience. But I know for a lot of young people, particularly those that came through COVID in the last couple of years, getting onto campus and having experience as a young person is really important. So, I’d never underestimate the importance of a really thriving and robust campus experience for a young person.

GRAEME GOODINGS: Different universities offer different opportunities, and they have different advantages. What are the advantages of the universities in South Australia?

LUKE SHEEHY: South Australia is an ambitious state, and I made this point this morning that it is wanting to drive new industries. It wants to have a more diverse economic base. It wants to be centre of Australia’s defence capability. We need universities to help the skilled workers to graduate to ensure that South Australia can develop those industries. And we also need the research and development capability to develop new technologies. I made the point the other day, if the Leader of the Opposition wins the next election, he wants to develop a new nuclear energy system in this country. He’s going to need skilled workers and scientists and researchers to help develop that. Similarly, if you want to have a clean energy future, or if you want to have more healthy Australians and cheaper medicines, you need more health workers and investment in the health system. That’s central to what universities do. The other thing I’ve been saying is that we can’t do it if we are under attack. And in the last 12 months, we’ve seen a deliberate attempt from both sides of politics to limit international students into the country. If we don’t have international students in our system, we can’t fund those essential activities in teaching and research. So, my question is, if you want us to have fewer international students, how are we going to fund that activity to benefit the nation?

GRAEME GOODINGS: I mean, that is a contentious issue because of migration and housing issues at the moment but I take your point. South Australian universities, and I’m sure this is happening across the country, seem to be collaborating more with local industries and it seems to be a happy synergy.

LUKE SHEEHY: There’s a lot of happiness today, which is a good thing. But Australia is an SME economy. We have millions of small to medium enterprises that feed into big industries, particularly if you take defence. And just 30 minutes from here is Osborne. That’s going to be the Australian home of AUKUS. We know that universities and SMEs will play a role in developing that. And universities are fostering and collaborating and incubating new businesses and small to medium enterprises. Even up the road here, the University of South Australia’s own incubator, which they opened a couple of years ago, is an awesome example of how young people are coming together and creating new business ideas that can feed into the new economic realities of Australia.

GRAEME GOODINGS: I know the Adelaide Football Club has got a collaboration with UniSA at the moment, and it’s just in the embryonic stages, but it’s being welcomed by both sides.

LUKE SHEEHY: It’s a great thing to see iconic organisations like the Adelaide Football Club work with universities on these types of endeavors and it’s really important to see that cross collaboration. As I have also been making the point, which we have seen recently with the Trump administration, basically putting at risk some of the collaborative research we do internationally with the Americans, Australia needs to continue to do research collaboration with our own industry, but also internationally. And I think it’s really worrying that our best ally in the United States is starting to undermine that. Australia is going to need to be clever and nimble to work out how to do our own research and our own sovereign research, but also what we can do internationally. It means doing more with people in our region across ASEAN and Asia and the Indo-Pacific but also turning to Europe and seeing what we can do with their big research capability in their Horizon program, which to date the Australian Government hasn’t done anything about. I’ll be making that case in the election that we should be working with our partners in Europe more closely.

GRAEME GOODINGS: And finally, Luke, what are the key challenges facing South Australian universities?

LUKE SHEEHY: I would say the South Australian international education sector, of which the three great universities, Flinders University, the University of South Australia and the University of Adelaide are at the centre of, is a $3.5 billion contributor to South Australia’s wealth and prosperity. We want to see a strong future for the new Adelaide University and for Flinders University moving forward and to ensure that those businesses are developing at our universities, and that collaboration is happening with critically important endeavors like AUKUS and other things like the transition to clean energy.

GRAEME GOODINGS: And what are you looking for coming out of the federal election?

LUKE SHEEHY: Certainty and stability and an opportunity for all Australians. I think both major parties want that, but the biggest key to opportunity for security in your life is a good job. And good jobs require skills and skills come from universities.

GRAEME GOODINGS: Luke, thanks so much for dropping by today.

LUKE SHEEHY: Great to be with you.

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