22 March 2018

The government’s higher education reforms face an internal obstacle following the release of the Senate Education and Employment Committee’s report into the draft student loan legislation, with the Committee recommending that the proposed introduction of a maximum lifetime loan limit be converted to a cap on total debt, allowing students to pay off their debts over time and undertake lifelong learning. The remainder of the recommendations in the Bill, including the reduction in student repayment thresholds, were endorsed by the Committee, with dissenting views from the Labor and Greens Senators. Students across Australia are holding a national day of action in protest against the changes to student loans and the cuts introduced as part of the government’s MYEFO package, which will reduce funding to the sector by billions of dollars.

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A new report by the Mitchell Institute has found that only 26 per cent of Australian students entering undergraduate programs in 2016 were admitted solely on the basis of their ATAR, highlighting a continuing decline in the use of ATAR as a standalone entry measure. Non-ATAR admissions included secondary school results, previous higher education or VET study, professional qualifications, mature age special entry provisions, and equity pathways. The report’s authors highlight a growing disconnect between the role ATAR plays in schools and for university entry, suggesting that it is time to assess whether the ATAR remained a relevant measure to guide subject choices and student selection.

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With leaders from ASEAN nations gathering last week in Australia for a major international summit, the role of ASEAN nations in driving strategic higher education partnerships and increased international student numbers has been brought into focus. In the Australian, UNSW VC Ian Jacobs highlights that education-related travel was Australia’s largest export to the ASEAN group in 2016, and points to increases of 5 per cent in UNSW’s ASEAN students between 2016 and 2017 as evidence of the capacity for growth. Key ASEAN nation Indonesia has also signalled that it will allow foreign universities to operate in-country in partnership with local private universities, with the government announcing that there would be a limit on the number of partnerships permitted and a focus on STEM, business or management.

ANU has also announced a new joint initiative to train health professionals from ASEAN nations in dealing with major health crises, with nine students to undertake two-year research degrees in-country through ANU’s Health Security Fellowship Program. In other international news, Universities Australia has welcomed the trial of a new visa category for high-skilled technology workers earning more than $180,000 per year that will provide a more streamlined pathway to permanent residency.

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Following Shadow Education Minister Tanya Plibersek’s call for financial and legal penalties to be imposed against residential colleges and universities who fail to address behaviour such as hazing and excessive drinking, universities’ response to sexual assault, sexual harassment and hazing remains a key point of discussion in the sector. Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham has ruled out additional legislation to criminalise hazing rituals at university colleges, but has criticised universities for a ‘failure in culture’ and for failing to address issues quickly enough. In response to this, the higher education regulator, TEQSA, has formed a new investigative team to identify immediate or acute threats to quality, including unresolved sexual harassment complaints. The Australian reports that TEQSA is currently investigating a claim by a student that the University of Tasmania failed to comply with higher education standards through its handling of a sexual misconduct complaint.

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The University of Melbourne is planning major reforms to its postgraduate business programs to adopt a more flexible, ‘stackable’ model that can be slotted into other programs, introduces more intensive study modes, and allows students to graduate with microcredentials as well as formal qualifications. A review commissioned by the University also recommends integrating the university’s courses with those offered by semi-autonomous Melbourne Business School, reducing the focus on the MBA, and enhancing industry engagement so that courses were ‘co-designed’ with industry partners. Writing in the Australian, academic Keith Houghton also argues for more industry-engaged postgraduate programs, specifically industry-engaged PhDs as a mechanism to boost engagement between business and universities and attract more experienced students to research programs.

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University of Western Sydney VC Barney Glover has been reappointed for a second five-year term following the conclusion of his initial term at the end of 2018. The move comes as WSU consolidates its Parramatta CBD presence through the major Parramatta Square development, and continues its plans to expand in Liverpool and Bankstown. University of Canberra VC Deep Saini has warned that the institution could face a financial crisis unless it addresses a major revenue shortfall caused by declining student load, announcing plans to push through a plan to reduce staff numbers and relocate research institutes within Faculties. In other sector news, union staff at Murdoch University have voted in favour of a new enterprise agreement, with a vote to go to all staff following two years of highly contentious industrial negotiations.

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