Review of efficiency and effectiveness in higher education [Hudson report]

In August 1985, the federal government asked the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission (CTEC) to establish a committee of inquiry to investigate ways of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of higher education (HE). The committee was chaired by Hugh Hudson and examined the following issues: the changes in the utilisation of resources and productivity in HE since Commonwealth took on full funding responsibility; the potential for achieving better use of existing resources; the means to improve institutional flexibility in responding to economic and community needs, with particular reference to staffing mechanisms; further steps to improve the delivery of courses and reduce unnecessary duplication; and measures to monitor performance and productivity in HE institutions to assist them to improve their efficiency and accountability. The review provided evidence that the HE system had significantly increased its efficiency and had responded to changing social and economic demands across the previous 10 years. Proposals included that: tertiary institutions capitalise on private sector sources of income; new technologies be incorporated with or in place of traditional teaching and learning practices; and more effective use of institutional resources be developed. Show less