Transforming Australia’s higher education system

In response to the findings of the Bradley Review of Australian Higher Education, the Australian government will invest in universities and the tertiary education system to drive comprehensive reform across the postcompulsory education and training sector. The government is proposing a phased 10-year reform agenda for higher education and research to boost Australia’s national productivity and performance as a knowledge-based economy. The program will involve: (1) transforming access to higher education through a major package designed to radically improve the participation of students from low socio-economic backgrounds (SES) in higher education, and enhance their learning experience; (2) promoting greater diversity and quality within the tertiary sector by phasing in a new system to allocate funding on the basis of student demand; support to encourage more students to choose teaching and nursing and to study overseas; and support for the renewal of student services and amenities; (3) providing funding certainty and creating a more sustainable higher education sector through higher indexation of teaching and learning grants; (4) ending historic funding cross-subsidisation by increasing funding for the full cost of university research, and enabling universities to strive for research excellence in areas of strength; (5) upgrading university and TAFE infrastructure to meet the teaching and learning requirements of students, teachers and researchers now and into the future; (6) establishing the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), which will provide the foundation for enhancing quality and accreditation in higher education; (7) reforming student income support, which will redirect assistance so that it reaches the most needy students to boost both their higher education participation and attainment; (8) supporting regional tertiary education provision with a review of regional loading, encouragement to explore new models of delivery and access to new structural adjustment funding for the sector; (9) building stronger connectivity between the higher education and vocational education and training sectors; and (10) forging a new relationship between government and educators built on mutual respect, trust and agreed funding compacts.

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