Tertiary education in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
is formal education beyond high school, consisting of both government and private institutions and divided into two sectors; vocational education and training (which includes TAFEs) and higher education (which includes universities). 69% of Australians aged 20–64 have a non-school qualification, and 24% have multiple qualifications.
Vocational education and training providers are registered and regulated by the Australian Skills Quality Agency (ASQA). ASQA publishes decisions about registrations and regulatory activity on a national register, providing information about VET providers to students and employers.
Higher education providers are registered by the
Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency
The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) is Australia's independent national quality assurance and regulatory agency for higher education.
The agency's purpose is to protect student interests and the reputation of Australia' ...
(TEQSA). Higher education providers are often established or recognised by or under the law of the Australian Government, a state, or the Department of Education, Skills and Employment.
All higher education providers must be registered by TEQSA; registrations and decisions on regulatory activity is searchable on the National Register.
There are 43 universities registered in Australia (including 37 public universities, four private universities, and one international private university).
Many Australian universities are in a network grouping, including the
Group of Eight
The Group of Eight (G8) was an inter-governmental political forum from 1997 until 2014. It had formed from incorporating Russia into the Group of Seven, or G7, and returned to its previous name after Russia left in 2014.
The forum originated ...
universities which comprise some of the oldest universities in Australia, the
Australian Technology Network
The Australian Technology Network (ATN) is a network of six Australian universities, with a strong history of innovation, enterprise and working closely with industry. ATN traces its origins back to 1975 as the Directors of Central Institutes of ...
(ATN),
Innovative Research Universities
Innovative Research Universities (IRU), formerly Innovative Research Universities Australia, is a network of eight comprehensive universities in Australia.
The main purpose of the group is to undertake advocacy on issues related to higher educ ...
(IRU),
Regional Universities Network
The Regional Universities Network (RUN) is a network of seven universities primarily from regional Australia, as well as campuses in the Australian capital cities and some international campuses.
Members
History
The Regional Universities Netw ...
(RUN); some other universities not aligned to any grouping. While all Australian universities conduct research, roughly two thirds of government research grant funding is awarded to the
Group of Eight
The Group of Eight (G8) was an inter-governmental political forum from 1997 until 2014. It had formed from incorporating Russia into the Group of Seven, or G7, and returned to its previous name after Russia left in 2014.
The forum originated ...
universities. Australia was ranked 4th (with Germany) by
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
in international PhD students destination after US, UK and France. Australia has a comparatively high proportion of international students as a percentage of students enrolled, at 26.5% in 2018. Australia has the fifth-highest number of foreign students worldwide.
History
Prior to World War II
The first university established in Australia was the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
in 1850, followed in 1853 by the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
. Prior to
federation
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
in 1901 two more universities were established: the
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...
(1874) and the
University of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first pro ...
(1890). At the time of federation, Australia's population was 3,788,100 and there were fewer than 2,652 university students. Two other universities were established soon after federation: the
University of Queensland
, mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work
, established =
, endowment = A$224.3 million
, budget = A$2.1 billion
, type = Public research university
, chancellor = Peter Varghese
, vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry
, city = B ...
(1909) and the
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...
(1911). All of these universities were controlled by State governments and were largely modelled on the traditional British university system and adopted both architectural and educational features in line with the (then) strongly influential 'mother' country. In his paper ''Higher Education in Australia: Structure, Policy and Debate'' Jim Breen observed that in 1914 only 3,300 students (or 0.1% of the Australian population) were enrolled in universities. In 1920 the
Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee
Universities Australia (formerly the ''Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee'') is an organisation founded in Sydney in May 1920, which attempts to advance higher education through voluntary, cooperative and coordinated action. After being ba ...
(AVCC) was formed to represent the interests of these six universities.
The 'non-university' institutions originally issued only trade/technical certificates, diplomas and professional bachelor's degrees. Although universities were differentiated from technical colleges and institutes of technology through their participation in research, Australian universities were initially not established with research as a significant component of their overall activities. For this reason, the Australian Government established the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research.
CSIRO works with leading organisations around the world. From its headquarters in Canberra, CSIRO ...
(CSIRO) in 1926 as a backbone for Australian scientific research, which still exists today.
Two university colleges and no new universities were established before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. On the eve of the war, Australia's population reached seven million. The university participation level was relatively low. Australia had six universities and two university colleges with combined student numbers of 14,236. 10,354 were degree students (including only 81 higher degree students) and almost 4,000 sub-degree or non-award students.
World War II to 1972
In 1942, the Universities Commission was created to regulate university enrolments and the implementation of the
Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme (CRTS) was an Australian government scheme started during World War II to offer vocational or academic training to both men and women who had served in the Australian Defence Force. Its purpose was to aid ...
(CRTS).
After the war, in recognition of the increased demand for teachers for the "baby boom" generation and the importance of higher education in national economic growth, the Commonwealth Government took an increased role in the financing of higher education from the States. In 1946 the
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
was created by an Act of Federal Parliament as a national research only institution (research and postgraduate research training for national purposes). By 1948 there were 32,000 students enrolled, under the impetus of CRTS.
In 1949 the
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
was established.
During the 1950s enrolments increased by 30,000 and participation rates doubled.
In 1950 the Mills Committee Inquiry into university finances, focusing on short-term rather than long-term issues, resulted in the State Grants (Universities) Act 1951 being enacted (retrospective to 1 July 1950). It was a short-term scheme under which the Commonwealth contributed one quarter of the recurrent costs of "State" universities.
In 1954 the
University of New England was established. In that year,
Robert Menzies
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
established the Committee on Australian Universities. The Murray Committee Inquiry of 1957 found that financial stringency was the root cause of the shortcomings across universities: short staffing, poor infrastructure, high failure rates, weak honours and postgraduate schools. It also accepted the financial recommendations in full, which led to increased funds to the sector and establishment of Australian Universities Commission (AUC) and the conclusion that the Commonwealth Government should accept greater responsibility for the States' universities.
In 1958
Monash University
Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...
was established. States Grants (Universities) Act 1958 allocated funding to States for capital and recurrent expenditure in universities for the triennial 1958 to 1960. In 1959 the Australian Universities Commission Act 1959 established the AUC as a statutory body to advise the Commonwealth Government on university matters. Between 1958 and 1960 there was more than a 13% annual increase in university enrolments. By 1960 there were 53,000 students in ten universities. There was a spate of universities established in the 1960s and 70s:
Macquarie University
Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...
(1964),
La Trobe University
La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria an ...
(1964), the
University of Newcastle (1965),
Flinders University
Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...
(1966),
James Cook University
James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairn ...
(1970),
Griffith University
Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian s ...
(1971),
Deakin University
Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia.
Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...
(1974),
Murdoch University
Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its n ...
(1975), and the
University of Wollongong
The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...
(1975). By 1960, the number of students enrolled in Australian Universities had reached 53,000. By 1975 there were 148,000 students in 19 universities.
After 1972
Until 1973, university tuition was funded either through Commonwealth
scholarship
A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need.
Scholarsh ...
s, which were based on merit, or through fees.
Tertiary education
Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...
in Australia was structured into three sectors:
* Universities
* Institutes of technology (a hybrid between a university and a technical college)
* Technical colleges
During the early 1970s, there was a significant push to make tertiary education in Australia more accessible to working and middle-class people. In 1973, the
Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...
Labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
Government abolished university fees. This increased the university participation rate.
In 1974, the Commonwealth assumed full responsibility for funding higher education (i.e., universities and
Colleges of Advanced Education (CAEs)) and established the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission (CTEC), which had an advisory role and responsibility for allocating government funding among universities. However, in 1975, in the context of federal political crisis and economic recession, triennial funding of universities was suspended. Demand remained with growth directed to CAEs and State-controlled TAFE colleges.
1980s
By the mid-1980s, it became the consensus of both major parties that the concept of 'free' tertiary education in Australia was untenable due to the increasing participation rate. Ironically, a subsequent Labor Government (the
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...
/
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...
Government) was responsible for gradually re-introducing fees for university study. In a relatively innovative move, the method by which fees were re-introduced proved to be a system accepted by both Federal political parties and consequently is still in place today. The system is known as the
Higher Education Contribution Scheme
Tertiary education fees in Australia are payable for courses at tertiary education institutions. The Commonwealth government provides loans and subsidies to relieve the cost of tertiary education for some students. Some students are supported ...
(HECS) and enables students to defer payment of fees until after they commence professional employment, and after their income exceeds a threshold level – at that point, the fees are automatically deducted through income tax.
By the late 1980s, the Australian tertiary education system was still a three-tier system, composed of:
* All tertiary institutions established as universities by acts of parliament (e.g.
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
Monash,
La Trobe,
Griffith
Griffith may refer to:
People
* Griffith (name)
* Griffith (surname)
* Griffith (given name)
Places Antarctica
* Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency
* Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land
* Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land
* Griffith Rid ...
)
* A collection of institutes of technology (such as the
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT))
* A collection of colleges of
Technical and Further Education
Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...
(TAFE)
However, by this point, the roles of the universities, institutes of technology and the CSIRO had also become blurred. Institutes of technology had moved from their traditional role of undergraduate teaching and industry-consulting towards conducting pure and applied research. They also had the ability to award degrees through to
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...
(PhD) level.
For a number of reasons, including clarifying the role of institutes of technology, the Federal Minister for Education of the time (
John Dawkins
John Sydney "Joe" Dawkins, AO (born 2 March 1947) is an Australian former politician who was Treasurer in the Keating Labor government from December 1991 to December 1993. He is notable for his reforms of tertiary education as Minister for E ...
) created the unified national system, which compressed the former three-tier tertiary education system into a two-tier system. This required a number of amalgamations and mergers between smaller tertiary institutions, and the option for institutes of technology to become universities. As a result of these reforms, institutes of technology disappeared and were replaced by a collection of new universities. By the early 1990s, the two-tier tertiary education was in place in Australia – university education and Technical and Further Education (TAFE). By the early years of the new millennium, even TAFE colleges were permitted to offer degrees up to bachelor's level.
The 1980s also saw the establishment of Australia's first private university,
Bond University
Bond University is Australia's first private not-for-profit university and is located in Robina, a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland. Since its founding on 15 May 1989, Bond University has primarily been a teaching-focused higher ed ...
. Founded by businessman
Alan Bond
Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s, and what was at the time ...
, this
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
institution was granted its university status by the
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
government in 1987. Bond University now awards diplomas, certificates, bachelor's degrees, masters and doctorates across most disciplines.
1990s
For the most part, up until the 1990s, the traditional Australian universities had focused upon pure, fundamental, and basic research rather than industry or applied research – a proportion of which had been well supported by the CSIRO which had been set up for this function. Australians had performed well internationally in pure research, having scored almost a dozen
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
s as a result of their participation in pure research.
In the 1990s, the Hawke/Keating Federal Government sought to redress the shortcoming in applied research by creating a cultural shift in the national research profile. This was achieved by introducing university scholarships and research grants for postgraduate research in collaboration with industry, and by introducing a national system of
Cooperative Research Centre
Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) are an Australian Federal Government program and are key bodies for Australian science, scientific research. The Cooperative Research Centres Programme was established in 1990 to enhance Australia's industri ...
s (CRCs). These new centres were focused on a narrow band of research themes (e.g.,
photonics
Photonics is a branch of optics that involves the application of generation, detection, and manipulation of light in form of photons through emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and sensing. Though ...
, cast metals, etc.) and were intended to foster cooperation between universities and industry. A typical CRC would be composed of a number of industry partners, university partners and CSIRO. Each CRC would be funded by the Federal Government for an initial period of several years. The total budget of a CRC, composed of the Federal Government monies combined with industry and university funds, was used to fund industry-driven projects with a high potential for commercialisation. It was perceived that this would lead to CRCs becoming self-sustaining (self-funding) entities in the long-term, although this has not eventuated. Most Australian universities have some involvement as partners in CRCs, and CSIRO is also significantly represented across the spectrum of these centres. This has led to a further blurring of the role of CSIRO and how it fits in with research in Australian universities.
2000s
From 1989 to 1999 there was an increase of 28% in adults studying in post-compulsory courses, most of which whom were studying in the tertiary sector.
In 2006
Campion College
Campion College Australia is a Roman Catholic tertiary educational liberal arts college located at Austin Woodbury Place, Toongabbie in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Named in honour of Saint Edmund Campion, Campi ...
was opened in Sydney as a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
liberal arts
Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...
tertiary college, with an original intake of 16 students, growing to 30-40 per year.
In 2008, Canberra lifted restrictions on university enrolments, in order to make tertiary education more accessible to students from socioeconomic groups which had previously had relatively low levels of participation in higher education. In 2017 the government introduced a freeze on the demand led funding structure, such that admitting more students did not result in a higher funding for institutions, in order to control spending.
2020s
The
Coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...
pandemic of 2020 has impacted the Australian tertiary education sector by reducing revenue by A$3 – 4.6 billion.
Australian universities depend on overseas students for their revenue.
Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan announced $252 million to support the sector by allowing universities to offer short courses of 6 months duration with at least 50 per cent reduction in fees, as well as guaranteeing the sector's existing $18 billion funding regardless of changes in domestic enrolment.
Tehan announced that 20,000 places short-term courses in nursing, teaching, health, IT and science.
An estimated 17,000 jobs had been lost in the sector by mid-2021.
Classification of tertiary qualifications
In Australia, the classification of tertiary qualifications is governed in part by the
Australian Qualifications Framework
The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) specifies the standards for educational qualifications in Australia. It is administered nationally by the Australian Government's Department of Industry, with oversight from the States and Territo ...
(AQF), which attempts to integrate into a single classification all levels of tertiary education (both vocational and higher education), from
trade
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
certificates to higher
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
s. However, as Australian universities largely regulate their own courses, the primary usage of AQF is for
vocational education
Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an ind ...
. In recent years there have been some informal moves towards standardisation between higher education institutions.
Allocation of responsibilities
Decision-making, regulation and governance for higher education are shared among the Australian Government, the state and territory governments and the institutions themselves. Some aspects of higher education are the responsibility of states and territories. In particular, most universities are established or recognised under state and territory legislation. TEQSA is responsible for accrediting the courses of non-self-accrediting higher education providers.
Funding
The Australian Government has the primary responsibility for public funding of higher education. The
Higher Education Support Act 2003
The ''Higher Education Support Act 2003'' (Cth) (HESA) is an Act of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia which governs funding for universities in Australia. The Act determines categories of providers eligible for public funding, estab ...
sets out the details of Australian Government funding and its associated legislative requirements. Australian Government funding support for higher education is provided largely through:
* the
Commonwealth Grant Scheme which provides for a specified number of
Commonwealth supported places each year
* the
Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) arrangements providing financial assistance to students
* the
Commonwealth Scholarships and
* a range of grants for specific purposes including quality, learning and teaching, research and research training programmes
The
Department of Education, Skills and Employment
The Australian Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) was a Government department, department of the Government of Australia, existing between 1 February 2020 to 1 July 2022 from a merger of the Department of Education (Australia) ...
has responsibility for administering this funding, and for developing and administering higher education policy and programs.
Quality and standards
The federal government also plays a role in the quality and standards of higher education via TEQSA.
The regulatory agency provides quality assurance and standards are met by regulating against the TEQSA Act 2011 and the Higher Education Standards Framework to ensure compliance.
It registers higher education providers, accredits courses for non-self-accrediting institutions, and collects information to assess and evaluate performance.
Higher education
![Deakin University Burwood Campus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Deakin_University_Burwood_Campus.jpg)
In Australia, universities are self-accrediting institutions and each university has its own establishment legislation (generally state and territory legislation) and receive the vast majority of their public funding from the Australian Government, through the
Higher Education Support Act 2003
The ''Higher Education Support Act 2003'' (Cth) (HESA) is an Act of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia which governs funding for universities in Australia. The Act determines categories of providers eligible for public funding, estab ...
. The
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
, the
Australian Film, Television and Radio School
The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) formerly Australian Film and Television School, is Australia's national screen arts and broadcast school. The school is a Commonwealth Government statutory authority.
History
Establishe ...
and the
Australian Maritime College
The Australian Maritime College (AMC) is a tertiary education institution based in Launceston, Tasmania, established by the ''Maritime College Act 1978'' (Cth). Tertiary education is provided and organised by the University of Tasmania (UTAS) as ...
are established under Commonwealth legislation. The
Australian Catholic University
Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome.
History
Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...
is established under corporations law. It has establishment Acts in New South Wales and Victoria. Many private providers are also established under corporations law. As self-accrediting institutions, Australia's universities have a reasonably high level of autonomy to operate within the legislative requirements associated with their Australian Government funding.
Australian universities are represented through the national universities' lobbying body
Universities Australia
Universities Australia (formerly the ''Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee'') is an organisation founded in Sydney in May 1920, which attempts to advance higher education through voluntary, cooperative and coordinated action. After being ba ...
(previously called Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee). Eight universities in the list have formed a group in recognition of their recognised status and history, known as the '
Group of Eight
The Group of Eight (G8) was an inter-governmental political forum from 1997 until 2014. It had formed from incorporating Russia into the Group of Seven, or G7, and returned to its previous name after Russia left in 2014.
The forum originated ...
' or 'Go8'. Other university networks have been formed among those of less prominence (e.g., the
Australian Technology Network
The Australian Technology Network (ATN) is a network of six Australian universities, with a strong history of innovation, enterprise and working closely with industry. ATN traces its origins back to 1975 as the Directors of Central Institutes of ...
and the
Innovative Research Universities
Innovative Research Universities (IRU), formerly Innovative Research Universities Australia, is a network of eight comprehensive universities in Australia.
The main purpose of the group is to undertake advocacy on issues related to higher educ ...
). Academic standing and achievements vary across these groups and student entry standards also vary with the Go8 universities having the highest standing in both categories.
Vocational education and training
The various state-administered institutes of
technical and further education
Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...
(TAFE) across the country are the major providers of
vocational education and training
Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesman, tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education give ...
(VET) in Australia. TAFE institutions generally offer short courses, Certificates I, II, III, and IV, diplomas, and advanced diplomas in a wide range of vocational topics. They also sometimes offer higher education courses, especially in Victoria.
The Grattan Institute has found that, for low-
ATAR
Atar, Atash, or Azar ( ae, 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭, translit=ātar) is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" (Mirza, 1987:389). It is considered to b ...
male students, TAFE training often results in a more stable and lucrative career than a university degree. Low-ATAR female students, however, are usually better off acquiring a degree in a profession such as teaching or nursing.
In addition to TAFE institutes there are many
registered training organisation
A registered training organisation (RTO), in Australia, is an organisation providing Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses to students, resulting in qualifications or statements of attainment that are recognised and accepted by indust ...
s (RTOs) which are privately operated. In
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
alone there are approximately 1100. They include:
* commercial training providers
* the training department of manufacturing or service enterprises
* the training function of employer or employee organisations in a particular industry
* Group training companies
* community learning centres and neighbourhood houses
* secondary colleges providing VET programs
In size these RTOs vary from single-person operations delivering training and assessment in a narrow specialisation, to large organisations offering a wide range of programs. Many of them receive government funding to deliver programs to
apprentice
Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...
s or trainees, to disadvantaged groups, or in fields which governments see as priority areas.
VET programs delivered by TAFE institutes and private RTOs are based on nationally registered qualifications, derived from either endorsed sets of competency standards known as
training package
A training package is a set of nationally endorsed training standards, qualifications and guidelines in Australia.
A training package is used to recognise and assess the skills and knowledge people need to perform effectively in the workplace. Tr ...
s, or from courses accredited by state/territory government authorities. These qualifications are regularly reviewed and updated. In specialised areas where no publicly owned qualifications exist, an RTO may develop its own course and have it accredited as a privately owned program, subject to the same rules as those that are publicly owned.
All trainers and assessors delivering VET programs are required to hold a qualification known as the
Certificate IV in Training and Assessment
Certificate may refer to:
* Birth certificate
* Marriage certificate
* Death certificate
* Gift certificate
* Certificate of authenticity, a document or seal certifying the authenticity of something
* Certificate of deposit, or CD, a financial pro ...
(TAA40104) or the more current TAE40110, or demonstrate equivalent competency. They are also required to have relevant vocational competencies, at least to the level being delivered or assessed. All TAFE institutes and private RTOs are required to maintain compliance with a set of national standards called the
Australian Quality Training Framework The National Training System is the Australian system for vocational education
Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. ...
(AQTF), and this compliance is monitored by regular internal and external audits.
International students
Of the 956,773 international students in Australia in 2019, 442,219 were enrolled in Higher Education, and 283,893 in vocational institutions, with the remainder enrolled in schools, language courses, and non-award courses. Accordingly, in 2018, international students represented 26.5% of the student Australian university cohort. Per head of population, Australia has the highest number of inbound international students (427,660 in 2018, representing a 1:31 ratio of students:Australian adult population, over double that of the UK (452,079 students, 1:78), or US (987,314, 1:172) which have the largest number of inbound students.
International higher education therefore represents one of the country's largest exports, contributing $25.4 billion to the economy in 2018–19 through their economic activity (including university fees, living costs, tourism, etc.).
Of those granted visas between 2001-14 as international students across all sectors, approximately 16% were granted permanent residency at some stage, with 16,588 granted permanent residency in 2019-20.
There are concerns that Australian universities are too dependent on international student revenue, particularly from the largest inbound cohort of China. Similarly, concerns have been raised regarding some international student's English language capability, with calls to tighten admissions standards and provide more support for developing these skills.
Criticism
Problems with the new mass marketing of academic degrees include declining
academic standards
Academic standards are the benchmarks of quality and excellence in education such as the rigour of curricula and the difficulty of examinations. The creation of universal academic standards requires agreement on rubrics, criteria or other systems ...
, increased teaching by
sessional lecturer
Sessional lecturer or sessional instructor are contract faculty who hold full- or part-time teaching positions and may perform administrative duties but have no research responsibilities. Sessionals hold short-term contracts, typically running ...
s, large class sizes, 20% of graduates working part-time, 26% of graduates working full-time but considering themselves to be
underemployed, 26% of students not graduating at all, and 17% of employers losing confidence in the quality of instruction at a university.
Students'
rate of return
In finance, return is a profit on an investment. It comprises any change in value of the investment, and/or cash flows (or securities, or other investments) which the investor receives from that investment, such as interest payments, coupons, ca ...
on their large investment in time and money depends to a great extent on their study area. A
longitudinal study
A longitudinal study (or longitudinal survey, or panel study) is a research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables (e.g., people) over short or long periods of time (i.e., uses longitudinal data). It is often a type of obs ...
by the Department of Education and Training found that
median
In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...
full-time salaries for undergraduates four years into their careers ranged from $55,000 in the
creative arts
The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...
to $120,000 in
dentistry
Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions o ...
. For those with a master's degree or higher, the figures range from $68,800 in
communication studies
Communication studies or communication science is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differen ...
to $122,100 in
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
. Rates of
graduate unemployment
Graduate unemployment, or educated unemployment, is unemployment among people with an academic degree.
Background
Research undertaken proved that unemployment and underemployment of graduates are devastating phenomena in their lives. A high inc ...
and
underemployment
Underemployment is the underuse of a worker because a job does not use the worker's skills, is part-time, or leaves the worker idle. Examples include holding a part-time job despite desiring full-time work, and overqualification, in which the em ...
also vary widely between study areas. For comparison, the average
taxable income Taxable income refers to the base upon which an income tax system imposes tax. In other words, the income over which the government imposed tax. Generally, it includes some or all items of income and is reduced by expenses and other deductions. Th ...
for the top ten
trades range from $68,000 for
landscapers
Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following:
# Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal o ...
to $109,000 for
boilermaker
A boilermaker is a tradesperson who fabricates steel, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dep ...
s.
A 2018 study from the
Grattan Institute
Grattan Institute is an Australian public policy think tank, established in 2008. The Melbourne-based institute is non-aligned, defining itself as contributing "to public policy in Australia as a liberal democracy in a globalised economy." It is ...
found that the gender gap in career earnings has continued to shrink, and that the proportion of foreign students is growing rapidly. Although the graduate labour market has partly recovered from the
Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
, only the education, nursing and medical sectors have seen significant earnings growth.
There is a concern that Australian Universities have "lacked the incentives, encouragement and resources" to "bring about the transformation in which high-growth, technology-based businesses become a driving force behind Australia's economy" and demonstrated there is no Australian universities placed in the Reuters top 100 ranking for lack of
innovation
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...
and competitiveness. Only 10.4% of Australian higher education students study ICT and Engineering/Technologies related courses.
Governance
With a larger proportion of university turnover derived from non-Government funds, the role of university vice chancellors has moved from one of academic administration to strategic management. Accompanying this shift has been a massive rise in the
remuneration
Remuneration is the pay or other financial compensation provided in exchange for an employee's ''services performed'' (not to be confused with giving (away), or donating, or the act of providing to). A number of complementary benefits in additio ...
of these officials to as much as $1.5 million per year. However, university governance structures remained largely unchanged from their 19th-century origins. All Australian universities have a governance system composed of a
chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
(ceremonial officer),
vice-chancellor
A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system.
In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...
(chief executive officer), and a university council (governing body). However, unlike a corporate entity board, the university council members have neither financial nor vested specific interests in the performance of the organisation (although the state government is represented in each university council, representing the state government legislative role in the system).
Melbourne University Private venture
The late 1990s and early years of the new millennium therefore witnessed a collection of financial, managerial and academic failures across the university system – the most notable of these being the
Melbourne University Private venture, which saw hundreds of millions of dollars invested in non-productive assets, in search of a 'Harvard style' private university that never delivered on planned outcomes. This was detailed in a book (''Off Course'') written by former Victorian State Premier
John Cain (junior)
John Cain (26 April 1931 – 23 December 2019) was an Australian politician who was the 41st Premier of Victoria, in office from 1982 to 1990 as leader of the Labor Party. During his time as premier, reforms were introduced such as liberalis ...
and co-author John Hewitt who explored problems with governance at the University of Melbourne, arguably one of the nation's most prestigious universities.
Federal Government quality measures
There are two main quality systems established by the Commonwealth Government for monitoring and assessing university performance. The Higher Education Standards Framework, enforced by the
Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency
The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) is Australia's independent national quality assurance and regulatory agency for higher education.
The agency's purpose is to protect student interests and the reputation of Australia' ...
(TEQSA), sets out minimum quality standards for all higher education providers including standards for governance structures, academic review and monitoring, and student support services. The
Excellence in Research for Australia
Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) is Australia’s national research evaluation framework, developed and administered by the Australian Research Council (ARC). The first full round of ERA occurred in 2010, and subsequent rounds followed ...
(ERA) program, administered by the
Australian Research Council
The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...
(ARC), conducts periodic assessments of universities' research against international benchmarks and standards.
The TEQSA reviews of universities essentially look at processes, procedures and their documentation. TEQSA's implementation reflects a move away from the 'fitness-for-purpose' approach employed by its predecessor, the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA), to an approach premised on regulation and risk. TEQSA is currently moving towards its second round of assessments, with all Australian universities having seemingly received mixed (but generally positive) results in the first round. TEQSA's shortcoming is that it does not specifically address issues of governance or strategic planning in anything other than a bureaucratic sense. In the April 2007 edition of ''Campus Review'', the Vice Chancellor of the University of New South Wales, Fred Hilmer, criticised both AUQA (the agency before it became TEQSA) and the
Research Quality Framework
Research Quality Framework (RQF) was a component of Backing Australia's Ability, an initiative of the Australian Government to formulate a best practice framework for assessing research quality and the impact of research, and ensure that public f ...
(a precursor to the ERA that was discarded before rollout):
"... singling out AUQA, Hilmer notes that while complex quality processes are in place, not one institution has lost its accreditation – 'there's never been a consequence – so it's just red tape...'"
"...The RQF is not a good thing – it's an expensive way to measure something that could be measured relatively simply. If we wanted to add impacts as one of the factors, then let's add impact. That can be achieved simply without having to go through what looks like a $90 million dollar exercise with huge implementation issues."
The RQF (scrapped with the change in government in 2007) was modelled on the British
Research Assessment Exercise
The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) was an exercise undertaken approximately every five years on behalf of the four UK higher education funding councils ( HEFCE, SHEFC, HEFCW, DELNI) to evaluate the quality of research undertaken by British h ...
(RAE) system, and was intended to assess the quality and impact of research undertaken at universities through panel-based evaluation of individual research groups within university disciplines. Its objective was to provide government, industry, business and the wider community with an assurance that research quality within Australian universities had been rigorously assessed against international standards. Assessment was expected to allow research groups to be benchmarked against national and international standards across discipline areas. If successfully implemented, this would have been a departure from the Australian Government's traditional approach to measuring research performance exclusively through bibliometrics. The RQF was fraught with controversy, particularly because the cost of such an undertaking (using international panels) and the difficulty in having agreed definitions of research quality and impact. The Labor government which scrapped the RQF has yet to outline any system which will replace it, stating however that it will enter into discussions with higher education providers, to gain consensus on a streamlined, metrics-driven approach.
International reputations
Australian universities consistently feature well in the top 150 international universities as ranked by the
Academic Ranking of World Universities
The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ...
, the
QS World University Rankings
''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...
, and the
Times Higher Education World University Rankings
The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli ...
. From 2012 through 2016, eight Australian universities have featured in the top 150 universities of these three lists. The eight universities which are regularly ranked highly are
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
, the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
, the
University of Queensland
, mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work
, established =
, endowment = A$224.3 million
, budget = A$2.1 billion
, type = Public research university
, chancellor = Peter Varghese
, vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry
, city = B ...
, the
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...
,
Monash University
Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...
, the
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...
, the
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
, and the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
. These universities comprise Australia's
Group of Eight
The Group of Eight (G8) was an inter-governmental political forum from 1997 until 2014. It had formed from incorporating Russia into the Group of Seven, or G7, and returned to its previous name after Russia left in 2014.
The forum originated ...
, a coalition of research-intensive Australian universities.
Communist Chinese influence
Australian universities have been accused of accepting massive donations from individuals and groups acting on behalf of the
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
. In return for such donations, they have allowed
Confucius Institute
Confucius Institutes (CI; ) are public educational and cultural promotion programs funded and arranged currently by the , a government-organized non-governmental organization (GONGO) under the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic o ...
s and the
Chinese Students and Scholars Association
The Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) () is the official organization for overseas Chinese students and scholars registered in most colleges, universities, and institutions outside of the People's Republic of China. The association ...
to stifle academic debate on Chinese issues such as human rights violations, allowed the
Thousand Talents Plan
The Thousand Talents Plan or Thousand Talents Program (TTP) (), or Overseas High-Level Talent Recruitment Programs () is a program by the central government of China to recruit experts in science and technology from abroad, principally but not ex ...
to assist China's espionage and
intellectual property infringement
An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...
goals, and have waived English-language requirements for many students from China. This financial dependence has resulted in a failure to protect
pro-democracy Chinese students in Australia from CCP-led intimidation campaigns.
[
]
See also
*
Academic grading in Australia
Grading in education, Academic grading systems in Australia include:
Tertiary institutions
Australian universities issue results for each subject, based on the following gradings:
Note that the numbers above do not correspond to a percent ...
*
Academic ranks (Australia and New Zealand) This article is about academic ranks in higher education in Australia and New Zealand. Both systems have derived from a common heritage in the British university system.
Overview in Australia
The system of academic titles and ranks in Australia is ...
*
Australian Research Council
The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...
*
List of universities in Australia by enrollment
This is a comprehensive list of all universities in Australia by total university enrolment. The data is gathered from the Department of Education and Training Higher Education statistics from 2016.Department of Education, Employment and Workplace ...
*
Tertiary education fees in Australia
Tertiary education fees in Australia are payable for courses at tertiary education institutions. The Commonwealth government provides loans and subsidies to relieve the cost of tertiary education for some students. Some students are supported ...
*
University and college admission in Australia
*''
What Degree? Which University?'', a student-run university website
References
External links
Skills and Training Guide from the Department of Education, Skills and EmploymentQuality Indicators for Learning and TeachingAustralian Business Deans Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tertiary Education in Australia
Universities in Australia
Higher education in Australia