An incoming LNP Government will cancel the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, Shadow Education Minister Sarah Henderson said Wednesday.
“We see no compelling case to proceed with the ATEC because this is another layer of education bureaucracy at a significant cost, which will not take our universities forward,” she told the Universities Australia conference in a speech, Wednesday.
“The ATEC tells us the government doesn’t know what to do. There is no proper understanding of ATEC’s role, no legislation, and yet it is set to commence in three months’ time.”
Senator Henderson also questioned the appointment of Jobs and Skills Australia’s Barney Glover as an ATEC commissioner, “given the potential conflict of interest.”
The announcement is a direct challenge to the Government, which has based its entire post-school and training strategy on ATEC, in cooperation with the skills agency, reducing barriers between the higher and further sectors.
In a fighting speech, not calculated to hose down concerns amongst her audience, Senator Henderson committed to requiring universities to put Australian students “first and foremost – in student satisfaction, teaching excellence, vibrant campuses which foster a love of learning, and high value degrees which provide real and meaningful employment outcomes.”
She suggested holding universities to account, with a performance index measuring completion rates, student satisfaction, course quality and cost.
“Rather than judge universities on the research dollars they generate, which drives international students and global rankings, let’s focus on home-grown performance,” she said.
Senator Henderson also promised “a tougher student cap” on “excessive numbers of foreign students,” in Sydney and Melbourne.
In key system issues, she promised to put research commercialisation “back on the agenda” and to have the Commonwealth Remuneration Tribunal set Vice-Chancellor’s salaries.
“In this cost-of-living crisis, the current situation does not meet the pub test,” she said.
And she slammed vice chancellors adopting a definition of antisemitism as “too little too late,” and made an unexplained reference to amending the Fair Work Act to address it at universities.
“Universities run in the best interests of their students really matter. If I am given the honour of being the next Minister for Education, I look forward to working closely with you – with certainty, not ambiguity,” she concluded.
