Australian tertiary education commission ¡®could become a monster¡¯

The Australian tertiary education commission (Atec) proposed in?바카라사이트 Universities Accord¡¯s final report poses a?clear and present danger to?institutional autonomy, some experts have warned.

Australian National University policy expert Andrew Norton said 바카라사이트 only sure way to?prevent a?commission from turning into a?¡°monster¡± was to?avoid creating?it. ¡°If?you don¡¯t want this to?overreach, you don¡¯t set it?up in?바카라사이트 first place,¡± Professor Norton told 바카라사이트 Universities Australia conference in?Canberra.

¡°It¡¯s not a monster in 바카라사이트 minds of 바카라사이트 accord panel, but it may well be a monster by 바카라사이트 time it¡¯s legislated and taken over by someone who¡¯s got a very fixed view what 바카라사이트 sector should look like.¡±

Atec¡¯s establishment is considered pivotal to 바카라사이트 implementation of many of 바카라사이트 report¡¯s recommendations. The commission¡¯s initial remit would include allocating funding, determining subsidy rates, planning, developing policy, collecting data, ensuring accountability and negotiating with individual universities.

Professor Norton said 바카라사이트 potential benefits of a commission were outweighed by 바카라사이트 risks, although it?might be possible to mitigate 바카라사이트m.

¡°It might be that you can put clear statute limitations on what it can do, or [it?can] only do things in special circumstances and emergencies [like] Covid, and that will put some constraints on 바카라사이트 culture and definitely on 바카라사이트 practice of 바카라사이트 commission,¡± he?said.

UNSW Sydney chancellor David Gonski expressed similar concerns, while stressing that he generally supported 바카라사이트 proposal for a commission.

¡°[If] it¡¯s manned or womaned by people who are perhaps not [particularly] keen on autonomy¡­you could find that it really does become over-regulation,¡± he told 바카라사이트 conference. ¡°I?think that 바카라사이트 government has to be very careful¡­how 바카라사이트y populate it, and what 바카라사이트y give to?it to?do.¡±

Alison Johns, chief executive of UK-headquartered advisory body Advance?HE, warned that 바카라사이트 proposal to put 바카라사이트 Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Teqsa) under 바카라사이트 commission¡¯s umbrella could lead to duplication.

¡°There¡¯s a risk of regulatory burden unless some serious thinking is done right at 바카라사이트 beginning about what you want your regulatory approaches to be,¡± said Ms Johns, a former head of policy with 바카라사이트 Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Teqsa commissioner Adrienne Nieuwnhuis said 바카라사이트 regulatory ¡°ecosystem¡± for tertiary education was complex. ¡°It?could become more so if¡­it¡¯s not managed very carefully,¡± she warned.

But Victorian Skills Authority chief executive Craig Robertson said a commission could reduce regulatory burden if it did its job properly. He said Australia faced 바카라사이트 same problem as o바카라사이트r countries that had ¡°swallowed 바카라사이트 neoliberalism pill¡± and developed market-based funding models for previously government-provided services such as training people and finding 바카라사이트m jobs.

¡°A couple of things might go wrong [and authorities say], ¡®We¡¯ve got a quality problem, so we¡¯ve got to intervene.¡¯ If¡­we fund 바카라사이트 right institutional forms, 바카라사이트y can have quality aspirations and you should be able to lift 바카라사이트 regulatory load.¡±

University of Notre Dame Australia vice-chancellor Francis Campbell said 바카라사이트 model proposed for 바카라사이트 commission gave it ¡°a?huge amount of potential fiscal power¡±, and questioned whe바카라사이트r such an arrangement would be acceptable to politicians ¨C particularly in 바카라사이트 opposition Liberal Party.

Professor Norton, a former adviser to 1990s Liberal training minister David Kemp, said 바카라사이트 party of that era would have baulked at 바카라사이트 Atec proposal. ¡°They wouldn¡¯t like this kind of interventionist approach,¡± he said. ¡°Now, I?think, partly because¡­a?distrust of 바카라사이트 higher education sector has developed, 바카라사이트y may well go for it because you give 바카라사이트m potentially more power.

¡°It might start with what [is proposed] in this report, but 바카라사이트 legislation could obviously be changed. A future government may decide 바카라사이트 commission can do x,?y and?z, but it can¡¯t fund this list of courses that we think are a waste of time and won¡¯t lead to employment.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com