While supporting the principle of a joined-up tertiary system, Universities Australia has identified a range of changes it says are required to enable progress towards harmonisation.
Responding to the Australian Tertiary Education Commission’s (ATEC) tertiary roadmap, UA called on the Commission to propose ways to, “improve learner outcomes, support institutional collaboration, protect quality, and properly resource the work required to make harmonisation scalable.”
And it announces upfront that “institutional autonomy” and “resourcing” were critical for the HE and VET sectors to work more closely together in future.
UA also supports a national credit recognition framework, but argues that consultation quickly if it is to be implemented in 2027.
Plus, the lobby requests consideration of how its members will resource credit and assurance of course integrity and Commonwealth Supported Places for Recognition of Prior Learning, pathways, dual qualifications, degree apprenticeships and cross-sectoral partnerships.
UA warns that national skills recognition is essential in expanding access to HE and enabling the workforce; which means the forthcoming National Skills Taxonomy, “will need to focus on simplifying the experience of students and reduce the complexity of skills recognition across tertiary education.”
UA also pointed out that enabling architecture identified as a key step forward was recommended by Noonan Review of the Australian Qualifications Framework, filed seven years ago, but were still unresolved.
And while UA is keen on “collaborations on partnerships,” its members must meet the HE Threshold Standards requirement that “rigour, quality and reputation of institutions and courses are maintained.”
“While some programmes, disciplines and jurisdictions are well suited to standardised credit recognition and transfer, others require a greater degree of institutional assessment,” UA remarks. And did it mention, ATEC will have “to consider the resourcing and operational costs to universities of delivering high quality, harmonised tertiary education” (?)
Of course, UA wants it all to happen and is “looking forward to working with ATEC to ensure that a more joined-up tertiary system is realised.”
Just as soon as ATEC sorts all the above out.