The Group of Eight (Go8) which represents Australia’s leading research-intensive universities – with seven of the eight members in the world’s top 100 – has chosen a bold approach for its submission to the Universities Accord, in what it describes as “a blank canvas, once in a generation” offer to meaningfully contribute to the sector’s construct for the next 30 years.
“Having been given that opportunity, we owe it to Australia to be bold and rather than simply serve up a ‘want list’, deliver a map for consideration, one with the potential to generate the best results from the Accord process for the entire tertiary sector, every Australian, and for our economy,” says Go8 Chief Executive Vicki Thomson.
“The Accord is not about looking at today’s problems or asking for handouts – it is about looking into the future and asking: how do we set ourselves up to be a prosperous, innovative country, one which leverages our substantial knowledge capability and compete with the world’s best, while at the same time ensuring our future students are, at all times, front and centre of policy development.”
Australia’s future prosperity will depend upon the creation of a seamless tertiary education sector that excels in three key areas:
- Research: generating the ideas, knowledge and people that are at the heart of a civil and progressive society, lifting national well-being and productivity and linking us to the world’s “knowledge trade routes”.
- Education: developing the citizens and capability that Australia needs at home and to engage globally.
- Equity: delivering a more equitable nation through education and opportunity across the sector.
At a deliberately high-level, the Go8 submission is aspirational, principle based and designed to provoke discussion. Our starting point is an overhaul of the current system to include the following:
- A reframing of Federal/State relations as it relates to funding of our universities;
- A differentiated system of higher education institutions to pursue specific missions and be resourced accordingly;
- The establishment of a dedicated expert Tertiary Education Commission;
- The development of a National Research Strategy;
- A ‘future fund’ to back in basic research;
- A target of 75 per cent of the Australian resident population aged 25-39 years attaining a post-Year 12 or equivalent qualification by 2040.
The Go8 submission is comprehensive. “We felt a significant responsibility to provoke meaningful discussion and debate. There are no ideas which are impossible, but they are bold because we cannot let this opportunity pass to redefine who we are as a sector and how we can be better,” Ms Thomson said.
The Go8 submission sets out policy options designed to shape a strong, diversified education system, give people access to education, provide stable funding for specific education and research missions in areas of national priority, and build the foundation for a resilient and prosperous society in 2053 and beyond.
