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Category: In the Media

  • In the media: A response to Greg Craven: Go8 unis are open to criticism informed by evidence

    10 November 2023 – Vicki Thomson – The Australian The incessant and unjustified diatribe against Australia’s Group of Eight universities by former Australian Catholic University chief Greg Craven is an unfortunate incursion as our nation’s universities seek to work collaboratively to progress the Universities Accord. In a time when words…

  • In the media: Opening doors to China is good for everyone

    Vicki Thomson – AFR – 10 September 2023 Australians need to understand China more, not less. Cultural understanding and positive bilateral relations are key to achieving geopolitical and economic stability in our region, and as the recent past has shown, education and research collaborations sustain relationships through turbulent political times.…

  • Letter to the editor from Group of Eight Chief Executive Vicki Thomson – AFR

    22 August 2023 The recent oped, Beware the big unis push for a two-tiered research system, (AFR 20 August 2023) cannot go unchallenged. The article makes outrageous and frankly incorrect claims about the Go8’s submission to the Universities Accord.   It focuses on one of many ideas in the Go8 submission – a network…

  • In the media: University funding plan is a game-changing own goal

    Forcing higher education to tax itself to fund Australia’s advanced research is a nonsensical non-starter of an idea. Vicki Thomson – Australian Financial Review – August 21 2023 In what world does a not-for-profit sector propose a new tax on itself? The great bulk of research is carried out by…

  • In the media: Universities are critical to achieving productivity gains says Go8

    Vicki Thomson – The Australian – 21 March 2023 Australia has just embarked on the most wide-ranging review of its higher education sector in over four decades – the 12-month Universities Accord process. It seems somewhat serendipitous that, just as this is gaining momentum with its first round of consultations,…

  • In the media: We are so much better than our dig-it-up, ship-it-out mantra

    Vicki Thomson – Australian Financial Review – 9 October 2022 Later this month we’ll get a first view of the government’s economic vision when Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivers his first federal budget. Expectation management is the name of the game for October 25, and we’ve been left in no doubt…

  • In the media: City leaders urge longer work stays for foreign students

    Sarah Ison – The Australian – 8 September 2022 A group of mayors has joined ­forces with the country’s elite universities to call on the government to extend the work rights of all international students, allowing them to stay for an extra two years and help fill skills shortages. Labor…

  • Great opportunity lies in the Australia-India relationship

    Innovation and research is the foundation of our future with India for quality education, graduates and discovery. Vicki ThomsonAustralian Financial Review – Sep 4, 2022 – 12.44pm Last week’s Jobs and Skills Summit was an exemplar of what can be achieved when we come together with a solutions-based mindset to…

  • In the media: There’s a new tone in dealing with government, say Go8 universities

    Vicki Thomson – The Australian – 6 June 2022 After a number of Canberra meetings last week with our new federal government and departmental officials, the tone of conversation has changed from “how did we get to this” to “how do we get out of this together”. The mutual aim…

  • In the media: Universities at growing risk from international espionage

    19 November 2021 – ABC Radio – RN Breakfast with Fran Kelly The Federal Government is warning universities they’re at growing risk from international espionage and have released updated guidelines designed to protect universities from foreign interference. But it’s a fine line for the institutions to protect national security without…

  • In the media: When will uni life get back to normal?

    Life Matters – ABC Radio – June 8 2021 For many Australians, life has been returning back to normal this year, but, for uni students, it all feels “very 2020”. What could help students get the most out of this year? Plus how Australians feel about organ donation. And, the…

  • In the media: Coronavirus: Industry urges Scott Morrison to outline a roadmap to open the international border

    Greg Brown – The Australian – June 3 2021 The tourism, agriculture and education sectors are urging Scott Morrison to outline a roadmap to open the international border, warning the “costs of Australia’s isolation continue to multiply”. Ahead of a meeting of national cabinet on Friday, the National Farmers Federation,…

  • In the media: Academic Freedom

    Letters to the Editor – The Australian – 13 May 2021 The Group of Eight (Go8) supports the freedom of our academics to comment in the public domain. This is part of the dissemination and evaluation of knowledge that is the lifeblood of university activity. However, that freedom comes with…

  • In the media: Expert warns about repercussions from Australia’s India travel ban

    Jade Gailberger – The Australian – May 3 2021 India could “rethink” its vital relationship with Australia if the Morrison government’s travel ban drags on, an expert has warned. Australian industries have been encouraged to strengthen their ties with India after significant trade tensions with China. But the higher education…

  • In the media: Offshore competitors target our overseas student market

    28 April 2021 – The Australian – Vicki Thomson Just as households and businesses tightened their belts last year, so too did Australian universities. Jobs were cut, expenditure was scaled back to basic levels, capital works were put on hold and planned research activity for which funding had already been…

  • In the media: Universities holding out hope for return of international students

    RN Breakfast with Fran Kelly – ABC Radio Universities have agreed to subsidise the return of international students under a plan by Victoria to revive the higher education economy. Victoria is the first state to submit a formal plan to the Commonwealth which proposes 120 foreign students and others be…

  • In the media: Vicki Thomson interviewed by Professor Gordon Flake – Perth USAsia Centre

    Australia’s third largest export, education, was heavily impacted by the COVIDー19 pandemic. The vast majority of international students were unable to study in Australia, with ramifications felt across research, the economy and international engagement. Professor Gordon Flake interviewed Vicki Thomson, Chief Executive of the Group of Eight, who shared valuable…

  • In the media: Universities warn foreign interference measures must be ‘carefully calibrated’

    Lisa Visentin – The Sydney Morning Herald – December 21 2020 Australia’s elite research universities have warned that partnerships with Chinese institutions, including those which have led to world-leading research developments, could be jeopardised if the Morrison government fails to carefully calibrate foreign interference measures. The Group of Eight, which…

  • In the media: Australian universities to explore new ways of operating

    ABC NewsRadio – 26 November 2020 “Vicki Thomson is the chief executive of the Group of Eight – an organisation comprising Australia’s leading research-intensive universities. She spoke to ABC NewsRadio’s Thomas Oriti.” Listen at ABC NewsRadio

  • In the media: Group of Eight backs PM’s call for Team Australia recovery push

    Vicki Thomson – The Australian – 24/11/2020 Last week Scott Morrison made a critical, authentic speech to the Business Council of Australia about government, universities and business working together. Part command, part support, part recognition, it was a headland speech delivered without the pre-promotion bells and whistles that usually accompany…

  • In the media: Flawed bill will put paid to uni partnerships abroad says Go8

    Vicki Thomson – The Australian – 12 Nov 2020 Australia’s leading research-intensive universities, the Group of Eight, have been saying for months that national security threats are a lot like COVID-19 — you can try to eliminate them and devastate your economy or you can focus on the areas of…

  • In the media: University sector continues to cut hundreds of jobs

    AM – ABC Radio – 17 September 2020 During an already devastating week for job losses across the tertiary sector, Australia’s biggest university, Monash University, is today beginning consultations about what it is calling voluntary separation packages. An email was sent to staff late yesterday, confirming that 277 jobs will…

  • In the media: Extended interview with Professor Margaret Gardner

    The Business – ABC – 16 September 2020 Watch at ABC.net.au

  • In the media: University exodus ‘will strip critical research areas’

    Tim Dodd – The Australian – 8 September 2020 Group of Eight universities have warned that nearly 10,000 of their elite researchers in national priorit­y areas are likely to leave for overseas, decimating Australia’s high-level research capacity, unless the federal government ­refocuses its limited research spending on high-quality projects. In…