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Easing the burden
Labor’ s independent review of university red tape should streamline regulatory requirements. By Antonia Maiolo
Tertiary education minister Craig Emerson and minister for higher education Sharon Bird has announced a planned review that will potentially ease the burden of increased reporting and compliance costs to Australian universities.
The review will concentrate on maintaining higher education quality and transparency, while minimising red tape under current regulatory and data management arrangements.
“ Universities have told us that their administrative burden is too great. We take these views seriously and that’ s why we’ re taking action,” Bird said.
The inquiry follows concerns by universities and a recent report by PhillipsKPA which estimated universities spend $ 280 million a year in meeting reporting requirements of numerous government agencies.
The report found that in total universities allocated around 66,000 days of staff time and spent up to $ 26 million in meeting the 18 sets of Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education( DIISRTE) reporting requirements in 2011.
Emerson and Bird appointed professors Kwong Lee Dow and Valerie Braithwaite to undertake the red-tape review.
The reviewers are expected to report back on recommendations for the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency’ s approach to regulation, during a period in August.
TEQSA issued a statement saying they welcome the review as a way to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current regulatory system.
6 | June 2013
The national regulator for higher education said the review will reduce duplication in data gathering activities undertaken by TEQSA and other government agencies.
However, TEQSA chief commissioner Carol Nicoll has urged critics to provide evidence of any“ over-reach” by the agency.
Nicoll told a Senate estimates committee that the national regulator accounted for only one per cent of the reporting burden and a process for a streamlined system was already underway.
Belinda Robinson, chief executive of universities peak body Universities Australia, which commissioned the report and initially raised concerns over“ inefficient” and“ wasteful” regulation and reporting, welcomed the federal government’ s decision to take action.
“ We cannot afford to have the sector bound up in heavy-handed, costly and unnecessary red tape where the purpose is unclear, and where it is not immediately apparent that the regulatory principles of risk, proportionality and necessity have been appropriately applied,” Robinson said.
Robinson said she supports the need for a properly resourced regulatory framework, but said that“ best practice regulation imposes the lowest burden necessary”.
She said that this is not the case with the existing regulatory framework for universities. The review will also explore an‘ earned autonomy’ model“ where providers with a history of excellence and achievement are largely exempt from reporting requirements”, as well as provide advice on the need for a wider examination of regulation across the tertiary education system, something UA strongly supports.
National Tertiary Education Union national president, Jeannie Rea, said the union is supportive of any measures that would ensure resources are not wasted on costly regulation, especially“ given the most recent cuts to university funding”.
But Brett Mason, the opposition spokesman for tertiary education, has branded the review as“ nothing more than a cheap political stunt”.
The Coalition has a deregulation reform taskforce which has been looking at tackling the red tape burden on universities.
Mason said the Coalition has been expressing concern about the excessive government reporting for years.
“ Only now, when an election is mere months away, is Labor bothering to look into it,” Mason said.
“ This review smacks of a cheap political stunt by a government which is desperately trying to restore some favour with the sector, having recently subjected it to savage cuts of $ 3.3 billion since October 2012.”
The Australian Greens have cautioned that the review to pursue deregulation could come at the expense of accountability.
Greens higher education spokesperson Lee Rhiannon is calling for Emerson to guarantee that“ only real instances of duplicated data collection and reporting will be scrapped” and that quality teaching and learning reporting requirements will be maintained. ■