policy & reform
campusreview.com.au
community groups to target students
most in need.
Universities Australia underscored how
the demand-driven system, in addition to
the Higher Education Participation and
Partnerships Program (HEPPP), propelled
equity outcomes.
And, given uncapped student places
leading to greater low-SES participation in
university is one of the IRU’s pet projects,
executive director Conor King is enthused
about Labor’s plan.
However, some say education funding
should be focused on VET, which has
seen enrolments decline, rather than on
universities, whose student numbers are
higher than ever.
Plibersek’s pledge
Labor’s $10 billion promise to
prospective university students.
By AAP and Loren Smith
W
ith a looming federal election
tipped to go Labor’s way, the
party is releasing policy specifics.
Having birthed the demand-driven
system, Labor has explained how it will
revive it: with $10 billion dollars, which
it says will boost student numbers by
200,000 over 12 years.
It will also spend $174 million to
give disadvantaged Australians the chance
to go to university. The package would
go towards mentoring, support and
specialised programs aimed at boosting
study opportunities in communities where
graduation rates are low.
Labor’s education spokeswoman Tanya
Plibersek said a young person in Moreton
Bay in Queensland is about five times less
likely to get a degree than someone on
Sydney’s North Shore.
“We know that the capacity for hard
work, we know that brains, are spread
evenly right across our country,” she told
reporters in Caboolture.
“What’s not spread evenly is opportunity,
so we want to spread opportunity.”
Plibersek said it should be your ability, not
your bank balance, that determines whether
you get the chance to study at university.
10
The funding will also be used to
encourage universities to collaborate with
TAFEs and not-for-profit and community
organisations in mentoring and outreach
programs.
Unlike the Liberals, we think investing in
education is a top priority. Scott Morrison
says he can’t find the money to properly
fund unis, but he can find billions to give
away to the top end of town. His priorities
are all wrong.
— Tanya Plibersek
(@tanya_plibersek) September 4, 2018
Plibersek said universities should attract
more students from outer suburbs and
country areas, as well as Indigenous people
and those with a disability.
She said regional areas should consider
foreseeable demand in their communities
to shape study options.
The deputy Labor leader pointed to an
increased future need for local healthcare
services.
“Why aren’t we training locals to do the
jobs emerging in this local community?”
she said.
University groups resoundingly embraced
the proposal, citing equity gains as its chief
benefit. The Group of Eight said poverty
and disadvantage should not be a barrier
for Australians to attend university. It praised
the promise of funding being available for
universities to partner with not-for-profit
Tanya, don’t you worry about what the
LNP isn’t doing, we’d like to know what
Labor IS going to do. Who is going to build
the luxury homes demanded by your uni
graduates as there will be no tradies left to
build them. Promote trade qualifications.
They build Australia.
— PilotMitchell
(@mitchell_pilot) September 4, 2018
Craig Robertson, chief executive
officer of TAFE Directors Australia,
welcomed the objective underlying the
funding – greater low-SES university
participation – yet noted that university is
not for everyone: “Some students would
be better off going to a TAFE, even if as a
pathway to university.”
In that respect, he applauded Labor’s
intention to promote university-TAFE
collaboration. “That’s what happened in
the past, but those programs seem to have
dissipated … I look forward to working with
universities,” he said.
Newly appointed education minister
Dan Tehan used the opportunity to
take his first education-related jabs
at the Opposition. “The programs
Labor says are doing ‘terrific work’ in
helping disadvantaged people access
education are, in fact, being funded by
this government,” he said in a statement
provided to Campus Review.
By this, he is referring to $650 million to
improve access to undergraduate courses
for people from low socioeconomic status
backgrounds, the Coalition’s $152 million
Regional Student Access to Education
Package, and $16.7 million over four years
to establish and maintain community-
owned, regional study hubs across Australia
to improve access to higher education. ■