The Job Ready Graduates scheme has now been implemented by the Albanese Government for more than twice the time that it was used by the Morrison Government; despite widespread agreement that the policy has failed for several years.
ScoMo’s government lasted less than 18 months after it introduced the hated funding structure on 1 January 2021, However, the JRG policy has now been kept in place by Education Minister Jason Clare for more than three-and-a-half years, despite adding thousands of dollars in additional debt to law, business and humanities graduates – and widespread recognition that it is punitive and ineffective.
In Future Campus today, Craig Fowler looks at the consequences for the Government of retaining the failed funding model and the critical importance of building an evidence-based case for a better model.
“Whilst the HE Accord’s verdict on the JRG experiment was blunt: “needs urgent remediation”, and its attempt to influence student choice through price signals “has failed” (pp.12), ATEC will now need comprehensive evidence – well beyond sectoral emoting that it’s profoundly unfair – to suitably persuade Government, plus the tougher ask of convincing Treasury, of funding reform,” Dr Fowler writes.
“Assuming ATEC eventually gets either direct legally authority or is commissioned to tackle this specific issue, given the Bill at present lacks direct reference to ‘student contributions’, this article explores policy evidence for dumping JRG and uses this to explore alternate funding principles.”
This is a significant read; making a forensic case for replacement of the JRG with a model for a system that fosters adaptability – recognising the need for adaptive skills in the economy that we are becoming.
“The future of work is not “job‑ready graduates”, it’s more “adaptation‑ready graduates”. What is needed now is the political will to move beyond the line‑of‑sight logic that shaped JRG and toward a funding system that prepares graduates for the labour market they will actually face – one defined by change, complexity and opportunity. Harder to model, but closer to reality,” Dr Fowler writes.