Luke Sheehy, CEO, Universities Australia
In all my years in higher education, I can’t quite recall a more anticipated federal budget than this one coming on May 14. It will be the culmination of 16 months of work to establish the Australian Universities Accord – a policy blueprint to underpin the expansion and success of the university sector over the next three decades.
We are expecting the budget to include an initial downpayment on the Accord – the first tranche of funding to bring Professor Mary O’Kane’s vision for the future of the university system to life. This is where rhetoric becomes reality, the rubber hitting the road. There is no time to waste – the stakes are too high.
The final report tells us universities need to double the number of domestic students they educate each year, from around 900,000 students now to 1.8 million in 2050, to meet the nation’s skills needs. Universities Australia has called for targeted support for students in the budget to address declining enrolments in pursuit of this target.
Boosting participation to this extent is a significant undertaking made more critical by the skill shortages and economic and geopolitical challenges reshaping the environment in which Australia operates. The race to net zero is creating new threats and opportunities for our resources and energy sectors, power shifts in our region are causing uncertainty and changing our defence posture, and the rise of new technologies are upending knowledge sectors. Skilled workers educated at, and research undertaken by universities are critical to navigating these challenges and opportunities.
The impact of all this on our economy is significant. Australia’s reliance on extracting natural resources and converting these raw materials into commodities to underpin our high standard of living and support our prosperity is no longer sustainable on its own. Changes in our trade relationships, environmental considerations and social licencing are prompting a rethink of this once-dominant economic model. We need to diversify and grow our economic base if we want to stay ahead of the game.
The Albanese government is attuned to this. The National Reconstruction Fund and the proposed Future Made in Australia Act will breathe new life into Australia’s manufacturing base, supporting local jobs and adding much-needed complexity to our national economy. We can only benefit from a new advanced manufacturing workforce researching, designing, building and exporting a wider variety of value-added products to the world.
Essential to this task, among many others, is the work undertaken by Australia’s universities – for and on behalf of the nation – through the education of nearly a million domestic students each year, who go on to become members of our skilled workforce, and our research and development efforts. Professor O’Kane has found we need more of what our institutions offer, writing in her final report to government that the university system “needs to constantly grow and improve. It has no choice”.
The alternative is not worth considering. Rapid technological, social, political and environmental change means the pressure is on to produce more knowledge, skills, opportunities and research. Our productivity, innovation and standard of living will decline if we fall behind in this race.
But in doing the heavy lifting, we need our institutions to be fully supported in their work to prepare Australia for the future and drive our economic competitiveness. There is already considerable pressure across the tertiary education system, which is why the government can’t let the opportunity it has in the forthcoming budget to provide universities with the support they need pass it by.
Under participation by domestic students, the long tail of COVID-19 and the financial impact of the government’s poorly implemented visa processing changes has put universities under real financial strain at a time when our sector is being asked to do more for the country. The issue of visas is particularly concerning and is an unnecessary and unwanted distraction.
Universities are forecasting a collective shortfall of more than half a billion dollars in 2024 due to the changes, placing employment at risk and reducing investment in important research and teaching. These activities are vital to Australia’s long-term economic and productivity success, not to mention our ability to deliver on the Accord’s priorities. The national economy is also a major casualty, with less associated export revenue limiting the government’s ability to spend on essential services and infrastructure.
Now is not the time to tinker with a system that serves Australia’s interests on multiple fronts. We need policy certainty and stability – both in domestic and international settings – to ensure we can continue to open the door to university for more students as our need for graduates and research grows. Potential changes to HELP repayments and funding for paid placements, indicated by the Prime Minister and Treasurer as being key student support measures in this year’s budget, are welcome steps in this regard. We have called for this and encourage the government to follow through.
After all, the highly educated experts needed to modernise our energy grid, improve our agricultural capacity, protect our water supplies, develop our sovereign capability, teach future generations and care for an ageing population are educated at and working in our universities. The answer to many of the challenges we face as a nation lies in higher education. Is there any greater case for government investment and support?
