September 4, 2025
Dr Anthony Millgate, Assistant Secretary, Research Policy and Engagement Branch, Department of Education
Group of Eight Universities (Go8) feedback on draft Higher Education Support (Commonwealth Scholarships) Guidelines 2025 and legislative amendments to the Other Grants Guidelines (Research) 2017
The Go8 consents to the publication of this submission and has no wish for any of it to be treated as confidential.
As Australia’s leading research-intensive universities, the Go8 collectively produces nearly half of the nation’s domestic higher degree by research (HDR) graduates—5,600 in 2023 alone.
This dominance in PhD education is not incidental; it reflects the Go8’s deep commitment to advancing Australia’s sovereign research capability, driving innovation, and training the next generation of knowledge leaders. PhD graduates are the engine room of Australia’s research ecosystem. They underpin our national capacity to respond to complex challenges—from climate resilience and health innovation to advanced manufacturing and digital transformation.
We strongly support the proposed changes that:
- Remove income restrictions on RTP stipend recipients, allowing greater flexibility for students to support themselves while pursuing research.
Removing the restriction on students earning income greater than 75 per cent of their RTP stipend will allow students and universities greater flexibility to cover students’ general living costs and ease the compliance burden on universities having to precisely administer this requirement.
However, it remains essential that students are sufficiently supported by the Government and their university through the RTP stipend as well as by other means. PhDs must remain an attractive and viable option for talented students and workers across a range of ages and life circumstances if we are to produce enough graduates to meet Australia’s needs. Australia’s future research capacity depends on ensuring that doctoral study remains a compelling and accessible pathway.
Universities must retain autonomy to set specific conditions within their own policy and governance frameworks. This flexibility allows institutions to tailor support to individual circumstances and to update policies as needed. It is also appropriate that universities continue to prioritise students who lack other means of financial support, and it is encouraging to see this principle acknowledged in the covering paper.
- Clarify definitions of ‘affiliate’ and ‘research end-user’, which will improve engagement with industry and non-university partners.
The revised definitions of ‘affiliate’ and ‘research end-user’ will provide much-needed clarity and will significantly improve the ability of universities to engage constructively with organisations that are not formally affiliated with them (as defined by the Guidelines). This change acknowledges that a university has agreements and associations with potential research end-users that may engage in research and development outside of their relationship with the university.
By refining these definitions, Go8 universities will be better positioned to continue building sustainable partnerships with industry and to deliver robust, real-world pathways for PhD students and graduates. This alignment is critical to Australia’s broader goals of strengthening sovereign capability, enhancing innovation, and ensuring that our research training system remains globally
- Modernise leave entitlements and internship eligibility rules, aligning them with the realities of HDR candidature.
Working hour policies for RTP stipend recipients
Universities must retain autonomy to set working hour policies for RTP stipend recipients. This flexibility ensures that institutions can tailor conditions to individual circumstances and update them as needed. However, this does raise the issues with taxing part-time RTP stipends – students are discouraged from undertaking their studies part-time (and updating their enrolment status to reflect this) which may be the most appropriate option for them. To address this, part-time RTP stipends should be treated as tax-free, consistent with full-time stipends, to remove unnecessary financial penalties and encourage accurate enrolment reporting.
Leave entitlements for RTP stipend recipients
The proposed modernisation of leave entitlements is welcome. Allowing universities to align leave provisions with broader institutional arrangements will improve consistency across research teams and better reflect the diverse needs of HDR candidates. The added clarity around the termination of entitlements when an RTP stipend ends is also appreciated and will help streamline administrative processes.
RTP research doctorate industry internship arrangements
While the proposal to discount suspension periods when calculating the first 18 months of candidature for internship eligibility is consistent with other provisions in the Guidelines (e.g., section 16(4)), the retention of the rigid 18-month window remains problematic. Internship opportunities often arise later in candidature when students possess more advanced research skills that are highly valuable to industry partners. Maintaining the current restriction risks discouraging both students and supervisors from pursuing these opportunities. We urge the Government to reconsider this provision to allow internships at any stage of candidature.
Treatment of corrected data
Accurate reporting of HDR completions via the TCSI platform has posed challenges for several Go8 members. The ability to correct data within an extended timeframe – without penalty to RTP funding would be a pragmatic and fair adjustment as systems and processes continue to evolve.
In addition to the specific responses above, the Go8 would urge the Department to go further in recognising the strategic importance of PhD education to Australia’s economy. PhD graduates contribute disproportionately to high-value sectors, including defence, space, biotech, and AI. They are also central to Australia’s international competitiveness and its ability to attract global research investment.
The Go8 recommends:
- Enhanced RTP funding to reflect the true cost of delivering world-class research training, including infrastructure and supervision.
The Go8 supports greater flexibility for students to support themselves, but this is only part of the reform needed to ensure Australia appropriately values and supports its PhD students and graduates.
Immediate reforms are essential – particularly in ensuring stipends and scholarships are competitive and attractive. This is critical if we are to retain and grow Australia’s research talent in an increasingly global and competitive market for talent. The Universities Accord has also recognised this. While Go8 universities already support PhD students with stipends above the minimum threshold these should be lifted to, at the least, above relevant national minimum wages to reflect the true cost of living and the value of research training.
Importantly, an increase in stipends cannot come at the expense of our universities’ investments in research training, infrastructure and supervision. Continued underinvestment in the development of PhD graduates – who are vital to both academia and industry – risks undermining Australia’s economic complexity, innovation capacity and sovereign capability.
There are already warning signs. For example, PhD completions in engineering and related technologies sector –are trending downwards – precisely in the STEM related fields where Australia faces persistent shortages. We must act now to strengthen the pipeline of STEM-qualified graduates, including at PhD level.
- Stronger integration of PhD pathways into national workforce planning and innovation strategies.
According to the 2021 Census, just over a third (36.5 per cent) of PhD qualified Australians are employed in education and training. The remainder are contributing across sectors as diverse as healthcare and social assistance (28%), professional, scientific and technical services (14.1%), and public administration (7.9%).
PhD graduates bring advanced problem-solving and research capabilities that enhance business innovation, productivity, and absorptive capacity. For example, geographically, Valero and Van Reenen (2019) using data across more than 100 nations show the establishment of a university (and its subsequent research activities) increases local and national GDP per-capita growth.[1]
However, Australia has experienced a significant downturn in business sector R&D intensity over the past decade, with flow on effects for productivity growth. If this trend continues, opportunities for PhD graduates in the business sector will diminish. This is why stronger integration of PhD pathways into industry must be a core element of national workforce planning and innovation strategies.
- Recognition of PhD graduates as critical enablers of Australia’s economic growth, not just academic contributors.
For Australia to be a globally competitive, skilled, innovative and prosperous society, it is imperative that we collaborate with our international peers because the frontiers of knowledge are often global. The global nature of research and knowledge is evident in the 56 per cent of publications from Go8 universities having an international collaborator.
PhD graduates are not only more productive themselves, but they also lift the productivity of those around them. Their presence in research and business settings generates positive economic spillovers, lifting the economic performance of the whole economy.
The private returns to a PhD are substantial – Masters and Doctorate graduates earn, on average 68 per cent more than those with a secondary school education and are 7-10 percentage points more likely to participate in the labour force.[2]
The public returns are even greater. Estimates suggest that PhD graduates contribute an external rate of return of 9–10 per cent, over and above private benefits.[3] These broader public returns provide a compelling policy rationale for continued and enhanced Government investment in PhD education.
[1] Valero, A., & Van Reenen, J. (2019). ‘The economic impact of universities: evidence from across the globe’, Economics of Education, no. 68, pp. 53–67.
[2] Leigh, A. (2024). ‘Returns to Education in Australia 2001-2022’, IZA Institute of Labor Economics Discussion Paper Series, IZA DP No. 17025, May.
[3] Larkins, F.P. (2001). ‘The economic benefits of Australian university degrees: bachelor and research higher degrees’, The Australian Economic Review, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 403–14.
