Category: In the Media
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In the media: Cutbacks threat to Brazil program
The Australian, 16 September 2015 By Andrew Trounson Australia’s universities are bracing for cutbacks to Brazil’s Science Without Borders outwardbound program amid reports the government plans to suspend or reduce new scholarships next year as it tries to rein in spending. Universities have taken in more than 4000 Brazilian students under…
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In the media: Opinion Editorial: Funding should go to whoever delivers best bang for the buck
The Australian, 16 September 2015 By Vicki Thomson Halt support of research that cannot deliver quality results It is of critical importance that taxpayer-funded research be of demonstrable high quality to ensure a return on investment to the nation and to ensure the best training of our future researchers. The Group…
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In the media: Australian unis left vulnerable by reliance on overseas student fees: study
ABC, 31 August 2015 New research from the Grattan Institute has found that in 2013 overseas students paid $4 3 billion in fees to Australian universities the bulk of the $6 billion total The institute warns this leaves. Samantha Donovan reported this story on Monday, August 31, 2015 12:25:00 Listen…
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In the media: Universities unite to lure elite Indian students
Financial Review, 24 August 2015 By Tim Dodd Australia’s top universities have teamed up with elite Indian private schools in “a concerted push” to attract students whose first preference would be Oxbridge or the US Ivy League. Australia’s eight leading research universities, witnessed by federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne, will…
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In the media: Research needs EIF, says Carr
The Australian, 19 Aug 2015 By Julie Hare The $3.9 billion from the now defunct Education Investment Fund should be set aside to cover the capital and ongoing costs of research infrastructure, under a proposal by opposition higher education spokesman Kim Carr. Mr Carr said the money could be used to…
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In the media: Don’t believe the research about us, say elite unis
The Australian Financial Review, 17 July 2015 By Vicki Thomson The Group of Eight (Go8) universities are proud to be recognised globally as Australia’s eight leading research universities. We position ourselves as elite but not elitist, as educating tomorrow’s leaders not just training tomorrow’s workers. Our students and their parents…
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In the media: Universities call for increased incentives to boost small business research
The Australian, 4 June 2015 By Kylar Loussikian Australian universities have urged the federal government to increase incentives for small businesses to collaborate with public research institutions, warning that the “bread and butter” of the economy is missing out on crucial assistance. The recommendations, contained in submissions to the government’s tax…
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In the media: Gap between budget rhetoric and outcomes, says Group of Eight
The Australian Financial Review, May 18 2015 By Vicki Thomson Federal Budgets are not usually the catalyst for self-examination, but last week’s budget has been. Working through the budget papers elicited the emotion of “they know not what they do”. And if they don’t then why don’t they, and how…
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In the media: Budget Special: Pyne buys time
Campus Morning Mail, 13 May 2015 By Stephen Matchett A budget with an intensely political purpose Supporters of the status quo in higher education got what they wanted in last night’s budget – no structural change to the student funding system. But they paid a price for peace with carefully…
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In the media: Science research spared the axe
The Australian, 7 May 2015 By Sarah Martin Science research infrastructure that was threatened by the government’s controversial higher education reforms will receive a $300 million lifeline in next week’s budget. The Australian can reveal that funding for the National Collaborative and Research Infrastructure Strategy will be given a two-year…
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In the media: Pyne’s punishment most certainly does not fit crime
The Australian, 6 May 2015 By Vicki Thomson Whatever the budget does, the fundamental problems remain. If ever there were to be a sequel to Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, this looming federal budget for the university sector could prove to be it. Not to put too fine a point on…
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In the media: Agents ‘cut uni student quality’
The Australian, 1 May 2015 By Natasha Bita Universities that pay agents to recruit “lower-quality” foreign students are undermining tuition standards for Australians, the Productivity Commission has warned. Recruitment agents are on commissions of between 11 per cent and 17 per cent of tuition fees to sign up students offshore, the…
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In the media: Ranking on income ‘a dud measure’
The Australian, 29 Apr 2015 By Andrew Trounson A proposal to measure research engagement by ranking universities on income from end users risks being meaningless unless backed up by peer review assessment, the Innovative Research Universities network has warned. At the centre of what is potentially a high-stakes fight over…
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In the media: Pyne reflects on Senate ‘difficulties for good policymaking’
The Australian, 29 Apr 2015 By Julie Hare An enduring lesson from Robert Menzies is that good processes in public policymaking are essential if parliament is to work as well as possible, Education Minister Christopher Pyne will tell a gathering in Melbourne tonight. And despite troubles getting his higher education…
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In the media: Go8 propels Aussie unis up international ladder
The Australian, 29 Apr 2015 By Julie Hare Dispelling a year of gloomy predictions of poorer international competitiveness, Australia’s higher education system has come third on a ranking based on performance across 36 disciplines, behind only the US and Britain and equal to Germany. Australian universities also came in third…
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In the media: Unis cannot afford to fail them
News.com.au 22 April 2015 A NURSE who accidentally gave a 79-year-old hospital patient dishwashing liquid instead of his usual medication could not read the label on the bottle, despite being awarded a degree at an Australian university. University academics have told Four Cornersof pressure on university lecturers to pass underperforming…
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In the media: Industry backs Group of Eight call for university reform pause
The Australian, 15 April 2015 By Rosie Lewis Australian industry has backed the Group of Eight universities’ call for a pause in higher education reform, urging a “stepped” approach rather than rushing out legislation. Last month the Go8 said its support for fee deregulation was not unconditional and suggested a…
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In the media: VC in pre-emptive strike to head off Pyne on levy
The Australian, 08 Apr 2015 by Andrew Trounson University of Melbourne vicechancellor Glyn Davis appears to have made a pre-emptive move to head off any plan by Education Minster Christopher Pyne to adopt a progressive tax on high fees as a way to allay concerns among crossbench senators that fee deregulation…
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In the media: Pyne push “is chronically unfair”
The Australian, 08 Apr 2015 By Julie Hare Political desperation to do a deal on university fee deregulation combined with systemically flawed funding arrangements would result in a chronically unfair situation of some students massively subsidising others, leading vice-chancellors say. Those students would also be saddled with subsidising the country’s chronically…
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In the media: Back to drawing board on fees
The Australian, 08 Apr 2015 By Glyn Davis The Senate has rejected for a second time the government’s higher education package. Labor, Greens and crossbench senators objected to the principle of deregulation. They were not swayed by last-minute proposals designed to make markets more palatable. The temptation to do a…
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In the media: Pyne sticks to uni plan
The West Australian, 01 Apr 2015 By Andrew Tillett Education Minister Christopher Pyne has rebuffed calls from Australia’s most prestigious universities to abandon his controversial higher education reforms because they had been watered down so much to become meaningless. The Group of Eight Universities, which includes the University of WA, has…
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In the media: Reform bid needs reset: UQ
The Courier Mail, 01 Apr 2015 By Jessica Marszalek Uni students the real victims of Senate wrangling THE crossbench senators blocking university reform will actually harm students, who will get less for their dollar at research institutions such as the University of Queensland, its vice-chancellor says. As the impasse between the…
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In the media: University deregulation: Top-tier institutions call for end to political process, resetting of debate fearing more changes
ABC News, 31 March 2015 By Emma Griffiths Video and audio link: Australia’s leading research universities have called for a “depoliticised process” to reset the higher education debate, fearing talks with the split Senate crossbench will result in too many changes. The Coalition’s proposal to deregulate university course fees, which…
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In the media: Universities call for re-think of reforms
Sky News, 31 March 2015 Video link: Australian universities are calling for a re-think on the government’s proposed changes to the higher education. The Group of Eight leading universities have raised their concerns the watered down university fee deregulation package will not keep the sector sustainable. Chief Executive Vicki Thomson…