Nelson review unbalanced
26 April 2002
The focus of Higher Education at the Crossroads: an overview is unbalanced and provides a disappointing start to Dr Nelson’s Review of Higher Education.
“The paper is unbalanced in its assessment of the problems, it is unbalanced in the options it discusses and it is unbalanced in the composition of the reference group”, Dr Carolyn Allport, NTEU President said. “We share the Minister’s concerns that current policies are unsustainable, but we are disappointed that this paper gets the review off to a lopsided start.
“Everyone in the sector knows that the number one problem is the lack of funding and the pressure which this is placing on quality.
“The discussion paper focuses too heavily on increasing private funding while not giving enough attention to the need to increase public funding. By placing the emphasis on private funding, the Government has raised the white flag, and is saying that it no longer accepts responsibility for ensuring that universities are properly funded. This represents a lazy and irresponsible approach symbolised by the notion ‘If you can’t or won’t do something yourself, get someone else to do it.’
“The paper fails to acknowledge what the West Committee found in 1997, that Australia already has one of the most productive higher education systems in the world. Since then staff in our universities have shown themselves to be adaptable, hard-working and committed their work and their students. Instead of offering the resources to fix the problem, the discussion paper blames staff for not being responsive to students.
“Similarly, the paper ignores the fact that Australian universities are already heavily reliant on private income, mainly fees from students and their families. Australian universities already have the fourth highest reliance on private income in the OECD.
“The complete exclusion of staff and student representation from the 22 member reference group suggests that this process will ignore the day to day problems of those working and studying in our universities.
“Although this is a disappointing start, it is not too late for the Minister to address the fundamental problems facing our universities. It is up to the Minister to ensure that the concerns of all those with a stake in our universities are addressed and we would welcome the opportunity to discuss these with him, but the Minister must acknowledge that inadequate public funding is at the root of the problem.”