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Category: News

  • In the media: Group of Eight warns of ‘brain drain’ with 7000 jobs set to go

    Richard Ferguson – The Australian – July 17 2020 Australia’s most prestigious universities could permanently lose thousands of researchers in the next few months as sandstone institutions hit by COVID-19 face a $2bn fiscal cliff. New modelling by the Group of Eight, which represents the country’s most prominent higher education institutions,…

  • In the media: UNSW set to shed 500 jobs

    RN Breakfast – ABC Radio – 16 July 2020 One of Australia’s top universities is set to shed 500 jobs, with fears others will follow as the sector struggles to cope with the economic fallout of COVID-19. The University of New South Wales has confirmed the layoffs will help cover…

  • EABC Forum with Jean-Eric Paquet – 1 July 2020

    HE Dr Michael Pulch welcomed DG Jean-Eric Paquet on behalf of the EABC Board, before an introduction by Group of Eight CEO Vicki Thomson who underlined the depth of the existing R&D collaboration between the EU and Australia, and opportunities to do more in the post-COVID context across many strategic…

  • Bold policy reform is needed for Australia’s University research system – Group of Eight

    Following extensive consultation with Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan over past few weeks, the Group of Eight (Go8), which represents Australia’s leading research-intensive universities, is pleased sector representatives will be closely involved in the development of the Government’s post-COVID university research policy architecture. Go8 Chief Executive Vicki Thomson says that…

  • In the media: University sector counts the cost of fee overhaul

    ABC Radio – 24 June 2020 Nearly a week after the Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan announced a major overhaul of tertiary education funding, Australia’s largest universities have finally been provided with more detail. Under the government’s plan, the cost of studying for a humanities degree will more than double,…

  • In the media: Universities question assumptions behind fee restructure

    ABC Radio – 19 June 2020 The Group of 8 Universities say while they welcome the government’s increase in places for domestic students, they think the government’s assumption that humanities degrees lead to fewer jobs is questionable. Representatives of nurses and teachers also have reservations about the new package despite…

  • Government, universities and students must work together to find the right balance for a revitalised economy but Go8 concerned that students bear a greater share of the burden.

    The Group of Eight (Go8) represents Australia’s leading research-intensive universities. The Go8 Board will work with the Australian Government to lead the nation out of recession, acknowledging the necessity for change across industry sectors, including Higher Education. Today’s announcement on the first phase of the Government’s post-COVID higher education reforms…

  • In the media: Opposition labels Federal Government university funding overhaul an ‘accounting trick’

    PM – ABC Radio – 19 June 2020 Federal Labor says some university students should not be forced to pay more to boost university places. Under a plan announced by the Government on Friday, degrees including humanities, law and accounting will cost more. Meanwhile teaching, agriculture and maths courses will…

  • In the media: Universities and Government insist Australia is safe for students

    ABC Radio – 10 June 2020 Australia’s largest universities say China’s warning issued to students is disappointing and unjustified. The ministry of education has told students it’s risky to study in Australia because of cases of discrimination and the coronavirus pandemic. The warning comes just days after Beijing issued a…

  • Go8 Submission on the Senate Inquiry into the Australian Government’s Response to the COVID-19 pandemic

    29 May 2020Select Committee on COVID-19Committee SecretaryDepartment of the SenatePO Box 6100Parliament HouseCanberra ACT 2600E: covid.sen@aph.gov.au The Group of Eight (Go8) is pleased to have the invaluable opportunity to comment within the Inquiry into the Australian Government’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Please note that this submission represents the views…

  • In the media: Universities call for inclusion in JobKeeper scheme

    Radio National Breakfast – Fran Kelly – 25 May 2020 Labor is clamouring for the government to extend the JobKeeper program to Universities after it was revealed on Friday that it will cost the government $60 billion less than expected due to an accounting error. It comes as four private…

  • In the media: Universities propose ‘secure corridor’ rules for international students

    Fergus Hunter – Sydney Morning Herald – 21 May 2020 International student arrivals would recommence from countries deemed safe and be subject to self-funded quarantine requirements under a plan put to federal and state governments by the elite Group of Eight universities. The “secure corridor” framework could allow for students…

  • Go8 Board appoints interim Chair as it meets to determine plans for next steps for international students in COVID-19 recovery

    8 May 2020 The Go8 Board has met to determine next steps as its researchers and senior management teams work to support the Federal and State Governments on their targeted “Roadmaps to Recovery”. This follows the Go8 producing the only comprehensive evidence-based report on two exit and recovery strategies with…

  • Go8 Welcomes Ratification of Important Trade Agreement with Indonesia

    8 May 2020 The Group of Eight (Go8), Australia’s leading research-intensive universities, welcomes the announcement that the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) has now completed the domestic ratification process in Indonesia. “Agreements like this are more important now, than ever,” said Go8 Chief Executive, Vicki Thomson. “Australia has achieved…

  • In the media: Fears of a university jobs apocalypse as industry misses out on JobKeeper

    6 May 2020 – David Taylor on PM – ABC Radio Universities are warning they’ll be forced to shed tens of thousands of staff after missing out on the federal government’s JobKeeper subsidy for a third time. Universities have been excluded because they don’t meet Treasury’s test, but that test…

  • In the media: Higher education catches the virus

    Geraldine Doogue on Saturday Extra – ABC Radio Even as universities scramble to stay alive, there is no lifeline from the government. What’s gone wrong? Guests: Prof Margaret Gardner, VC Monash University, deputy chair, Group of Eight David Phillips, education consultant, director, PhillipsKPA Listen at ABC Radio

  • In the media: Financial markets point to relaxed restrictions and recovery just around the corner

    29 April 2020 – David Taylor – PM – ABC Radio You might get the impression from looking at the share market that Australia’s economic recovery is well underway. From its March lows, the market as a whole is now up roughly 20 per cent, and believe it or not,…

  • Australian leaders given two strategies for rebounding from COVID-19

    April 29, 2020 – Fergus Hunter – Sydney Morning Herald Maintaining strict lockdowns until June could drive a 50 per cent greater economic boost than if measures were slowly eased a month earlier, under one of two COVID-19 recovery plans presented to the government. University researchers have given government leaders…

  • Media release: Go8 provides evidence-based “Roadmap to Recovery” report to Federal Government

    An expert taskforce of more than 100 researchers drawn from across the Group of Eight (Go8) Universities has presented the Australian Government with a “Roadmap to Recovery”, a report aimed at helping Government plot the best path through COVID-19. The Report, the most comprehensive of its kind presented to Government,…

  • Media release: Go8 welcomes Higher Education sector “support” package but admits to disappointment at its narrow focus

    The Group of Eight (Go8) represents Australia’s leading research-intensive universities, with seven of its members ranked in the world’s top 100 universities. Those eight universities were the first to be heavily financially impacted by COVID-19 (from January) and are likely to continue to be the most affected and for the…

  • In the media: ‘No perfect answer to COVID-19’, says chair of panel which had advice rejected

    Fergus Hunter – The Sydney Morning Herald – 25 March 2020 The chair of an academic advisory group which had its recommended strategy to curb COVID-19 rejected by the federal government says there is no perfect solution to the pandemic and those in power should be trusted to make hard…

  • In the media: Differences of opinion essential in critical decision-making

    Vicki Thomson – The Australian – 25 March 2020 No one would want to be in the shoes of our Chief Medical Officer or members of the national cabinet as they work to steer us, as a nation, through this crisis in the safest way possible. They seek to save…

  • In the media: National cabinet prepares to escalate Australian shutdown

    Fergus Hunter, Eryk Bagshaw and Rob Harris – The Sydney Morning Herald – 24 March 2020 Australians will face restrictions on hosting social gatherings in their own homes and more workplaces will be forced to close as the nation moves towards a British-style shutdown that could last months. In an…

  • In the media: University researchers eager for call-up to fight virus

    Richard Ferguson – The Australian – 18 March 2020 Australia’s top universities are ­offering Scott Morrison their best researchers to fight the corona­virus, as the wider sector pushes for more money and cuts to red tape after being devastated by campus shutdowns and the loss of international students. The Group of…