The National Tertiary Education Union warns the proposed regulator “is intended to act in accordance with government policy priorities and with reference to the Department of Education.”
The union’s submission to the Senate inquiry into establishing legislation for the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) also warns compacts between universities and the executive could be beyond parliamentary scrutiny.
“There is,” authors Alison Barnes and Terri MacDonald warn, “still some measure of parliamentary protection embedded within the current system,” with funding supplied under legislative instruments that are generally disallowable by either chamber of Parliament. However, the Bill requires compacts to be “in-keeping” with the Minister’s objectives.
They add the Bill only requires ATEC to “consider” a university’s mission, plans and academic freedom.
The union also opposes the end of the Higher Education Threshold Standards Panel, which includes advisors from universities, replaced by ATEC – its commissioners are required to be independent of universities.
Dr Barnes and Dr MacDonald distil their disagreements with the Bill into two recommendations.
- “Compacts should support institutional goals, protect academic freedom, and be established with institutional community support”
- If the Threshold Panel is abolished there must be a statutory advisory panel, “comprising tertiary education staff and student representation.”