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Dan Tehan at a press
conference, Parliament
House, 12 April. Photo:
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
Relief package
very substantial reductions in operational
spending, deferral of vital capital works, and
reductions in senior staff salaries.”
However, she added that these efforts
won’t cover the “conservatively” estimated
revenue decline.
The National Tertiary Education Union
argued that the relief package would fail to
address the anticipated income shortfall.
NTEU national president Dr Alison Barnes
said: “This will not plug the gaping hole
in university finances left by the drop in
international student income.
“The additional 20,000 short course
places initiative is unlikely to include any
additional funding other than what it costs
to run them.
“The $100 million in regulatory relief
is welcomed, but doesn’t make up for a
multibillion dollar shortfall.”
The chair of the Regional Universities
Network, Professor Helen Bartlett,
said the package would provide some
certainty for regional universities, as well
as the opportunity for the development
of sub‐degrees and microcredentials in
priority areas relevant to regional Australia.
Universities largely positive
about funding plan.
By Dallas Bastian
The government has guaranteed
funding for universities at current
levels, even if there is a fall in
domestic student numbers. It’s a move
that has been generally welcomed by
universities but not without warning of a
turbulent future despite the added security.
The minister for education, Dan Tehan,
announced that tertiary and international
education providers will receive regulatory
fee relief and exemptions from loan fees
under FEE-HELP and VET Student Loans.
Under the plan, the cost to study short,
online courses from universities and private
providers will also be slashed.
The courses, which cover areas like
nursing, teaching, health, IT and science,
will start at the beginning of May and initially
run for six months.
Tehan said: “This plan will help Australians
who have lost their job or are looking to
retrain to use their time studying nursing,
teaching, counselling, allied health or other
areas considered national priorities.
“It will also provide a revenue stream
for universities and private providers to
assist their financial stability.”
The sector previously estimated a
revenue decline of between $3 billion
and $4.6 billion.
The minister for employment and
skills, Michaelia Cash, said the measures
will put some $100 million back into the
cash flow of Australian education and
training businesses.
“This money can be used to retain
employees, reshape education offerings
and support domestic and international
students,” Cash said.
Universities Australia welcomed the
guaranteed Commonwealth Grant
Scheme and HELP funding payments for
2020, calling the package an important
first step in ensuring the viability of the
nation’s universities.
Still, the peak body’s chair, Professor
Deborah Terry, warned that there will be a
tough road ahead.
“We estimate 21,000 jobs at Australian
universities will go within the next six
months. Without guaranteed CGS and
HELP funding, that figure would have been
even higher,” Terry said.
“Individual universities are already
cutting costs across the board through
‘SHAMEFUL’ APPROACH TO
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Innovative Research Universities executive
director Conor King said the package was
only a partial answer and, among other
deficits, leaves universities facing a big hole
in international student fee income.
“More still needs to be done to support
international students through the crisis and
to support universities while the borders
are rightly closed to almost all travellers,”
King said.
“It is a reality that the current university
system is based on both Australian students
and international students. Without the
latter, course options will be fewer, and we
will need fewer staff.”
Tehan said the package was “unashamedly
focused on domestic students”.
He said: “We’re going to need our
university sector; we’re going to need our
broader tertiary sector to retrain and reskill
Australians to help us emerge from the
pandemic even stronger.”
The NTEU said the government
“effectively abandoned” international
students, who may face being stranded in
Australia with no money and no income.
“We’re happy to take their money in the
good times ... but we say ‘Sorry, you’re on
your own’ in the bad times?” Barnes said.
“This is shameful behaviour.” ■
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