Recognising the challenges of reform, the Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN Universities) has commended the Government for progress in commencing higher education reform, while using its Pre-Budget Submission to call for a practical sequence of actions to improve fairness.
ATN Executive Director, Dr Ant Bagshaw, said it was timely to recognise the significant progress made in towards the ambitions of the Universities Accord – but that further work was required.
With the Coalition signalling stronger anti-university rhetoric than the Labour Party in the looming Federal Election, the ATN has made the pragmatic decision to celebrate the gains achieved while also laying out a moderate set of asks for 2025, calling for:
- Extension of prac payments to all fields with compulsory placements
- A review of student financial support
- Replacement of the Job Ready Graduates fee scheme (JRG) with the Needs-Based and Managed Growth Funding models proposed in 2024
- Reducing the cost of compliance for universities
- Resourcing ATEC to harmonise the HE and VET sectors, improving student mobility between them
- Expanding demand for Commonwealth-supported postgraduate study to build advanced skills in priority areas such as health and IT
“ATN commends Minister Clare and the Albanese Government for initiating wide-ranging reforms for the higher education sector,” Dr Bagshaw said.
“Commonwealth Prac Payments are a welcome initiative, and the start of what could be an ambitious agenda of ensuring that no student faces cost-of-living barriers impeding their success in higher education.”
“ATN hopes that – through the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, Managed Growth Funding and Needs-Based Funding – we will have a more sustainable and fairer system which fully-funds high quality education. We should go even further and use the opportunity of these reforms to reduce the compliance burdens facing our universities.”
