AUSTRALIA’S RESEARCH CAPACITY WILL BE THE LOSER IN POSSIBLE REFORMS TO HIGHER EDUCATION
February 18
Australia’s research capacity will be the loser from any Federal Government plan to force academics onto individual contracts in return for research funding, the National Tertiary Education Union said on Tuesday.
“Forcing academics to sign Australian Workplace Agreements in return for research funding, a measure which could affect at least 42% of academic staff, makes a complete mockery of the idea of research grants being based on academic merit and is an unacceptable government interference in the management of universities,” said Dr Carolyn Allport, NTEU President.
The Union’s warning is in response to a report in Tuesday’s Sydney Morning Herald that says as part of its higher education reform package, expected to be released in the next few months, the Government is planning to force academic staff to sign an Australian Workplace Agreement in return for government research funding.
“Linking research to individual contracts would be nothing but an underhand and tricky means of lowering the working conditions of Australian university staff,” said Dr Allport. “Australian Workplace Agreements provide inferior conditions of employment for academic staff, precisely the reason why previous attempts by the government to introduce them in universities have failed”.
“If it is true that this reform is on the table, not only will it create great confusion but it will increase the movement of researchers offshore, directly contradicting the Federal Government’s stated aim of trying to attract back Australian researchers who are working overseas,” said Dr Allport.
The Sydney Morning Herald also claims the Government is preparing to amend laws to make it a breach of the national interest for academic staff at the nation’s 38 public universities to go on strike, by making universities suppliers of essential services under the Workplace Relations Act.
“Amending laws to make it a breach of the national interest for academic staff to strike would be an undemocratic and completely over the top response from the Government that will get little support from staff or students at Australian universities,” said Dr Allport.
“If the Federal Government is planning to introduce these measures as part of its higher education reform package, due to be released in the next few months, it will be a recipe for disorder and confrontation in the higher education sector.”
“The Government will put the NTEU in a position where it will have no choice but to exercise all the legal and industrial avenues available to it to fight the introduction of these measures.”
For information and comment:
Grahame McCulloch,
NTEU General Secretary: 03-9254 1910
Dr Carolyn Allport,
NTEU President: 0419 349 064