University Chancellors Council - 13th National Conference on University Governance
I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Summit is taking place today, and I pay my respects to elders, past and present.
I also acknowledge:
• John Stanhope AO and all the members of the Organising Committee, including
• Terry Moran AC
• Peter Varghese AO
• John Brumby AO
• John Pollaers OAM
• And all the other university leaders in the room
I’m sorry I can’t be there with you. I wish I was.
Universities are future makers.
They help build the future that we're all going to live in.
Build the workforce we're going to need.
But not just that.
The research that our universities do grapple with the problems of today.
And the upshot of that is a different world tomorrow.
Look around and you can see the fingerprints of universities everywhere.
From environmental and industrial innovations to the medicine we take or the technology we hold in our hands.
It’s just another way of saying how important our universities are and the work they do.
Then there’s the change that’s coming at us. That we have to adapt to. Respond to. That we have to be ready for.
This conference is talking about that.
And AI is a classic example of it.
The Accord itself is all about getting us ready for that future. That change that is coming at us.
A future where more people have a university degree than today.
Where more people have a university qualification than ever before.
Where by 2050, 80 per cent of the entire workforce would have a TAFE qualification or a university degree.
That’s a big change.
In the 1980s and 1990s, under Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, the number of Australians finishing high school jumped from around 40 per cent to almost 80 per cent.
In the next 25 years it won’t just be 80 per cent of the workforce who have finished high school, 80 per cent will have gone to TAFE or university as well.
That’s a big economic and social shift.
Some of it will happen organically. Think about it.
The fastest growing jobs in the future will be in areas like health care, teaching, ICT and engineering.
And it’s often those professions that require university qualifications.
But that alone is not enough to hit that 80 per cent target.
We have also got to change.
What the Accord says is we've got to break down that invisible barrier that stops a lot of people from getting a chance to go to university.
Unless more people from poor backgrounds, more people from the outer suburbs, more people in the regions get a crack at university, then we won't hit that target.
That’s obvious just by looking at the raw statistics.
About one in two young people in their 20s and 30s have a university degree, but not everywhere.
Not in the outer suburbs and not in the regions.
At its core, the Universities Accord is about changing that.
The first Accord bill is in the Parliament right now.
It wipes about $3 billion of HECS debt, it creates paid prac, and it massively expands those FEE-FREE courses that act as a bridge between school and uni.
That's passed the House and it's in the Senate.
It’s just the start.
The Accord is massive. Implementing it will take more than one budget or one government, but have bitten off a big chunk in this year’s budget.
29 of the Accord’s 47 recommendations in full or in part.
That includes a new funding system, needs-based funding and a new Australian Tertiary Education Commission to steer reform over multiple governments.
And I hope to provide you with more detail on all of that before the end of the year.
There is also another Accord Bill in the Parliament.
That’s the one that sets up a National Student Ombudsman.
An independent body to investigate and resolve disputes and give students a stronger voice when the worst happens.
It is a necessary response to the terrible and appalling evidence of sexual violence and harassment on campus.
But it’s not just about that. Its scope will be broad.
That includes complaints about antisemitism and Islamophobia or any type of racism or discrimination.
That builds on the work that TEQSA is doing with universities right now.
The Accord also had a fair bit to say about governance more broadly.
That’s why Education Ministers have agreed to set up the Expert Council on University Governance.
It is based on a proposal from the University Chancellors Council.
It is not intended to be a representative body or a stakeholder forum.
Its job will really be to provide Ministers with expert and technical governance advice about how to improve university performance.
There are three areas this Council will focus on:
1. Ensuring that universities are good employers providing a supportive workplace—and, importantly, a workplace where staff can have confidence that they will not be underpaid for the important work they do.
2. Making sure governing bodies have the right expertise, including in the business of running universities; and, of critical importance,
3. Making sure our universities are safe for our students and staff.
My department is also engaging with the TEQSA to issue new guidance and requirements on workplace obligations for higher education providers.
The department has also engaged an independent expert to support the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), Universities Australia (UA) and the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association (AHEIA) to assist in identification and resolution of priority issues to ensure universities are exemplary employers.
And we will require universities to provide additional data to the Australian Government on casual staff numbers to increase transparency and understanding of workforce patterns and issues.
All of these reforms are important to me.
They are about making our universities as good as they possibly can be.
Making them better.
Making them fairer.
And if we do that our country will be better and fairer too.
Because the doors of opportunity, that the Prime Minister talks about and you hold in your hands, are opened just a bit wider.
That’s what’s at stake.
That’s how important the work you do is.
Thank you and I hope you have a great conference.