UNI STAFF URGE MINISTER TO RELEASE FULL DETAILS OF HIGHER EDUCATION PACKAGE
Tue 16 Sept 2003
On the eve of reports that the Government is about to introduce legislation on its changes to higher education policy, the NTEU urges the Minister for Education to release full details of not only the legislation but all of the regulations associated with its implementation.
“While there was much publicity surrounding the launch of the Minister’s Backing Australia’s Future policy, over four months have passed and staff involved in the sector still don’t know details in key areas of the package”, Dr Carolyn Allport, National President of the NTEU said today.
“It is anticipated that much of the detail in relation to the operation of the new Commonwealth Grants Scheme, including the regional loadings and the loading associated with workplace reform and university governance, as well as other policies related to learning entitlements and the teaching and learning initiatives, are likely to be implemented through regulation. Therefore it is critical that these details be released along with the legislation”, Dr Allport said.
“University staff are becoming increasingly anxious to find out the details of the Government’s changes to higher education policies and funding, and urge the Minister to release full details of the legislation and associated regulations as a matter of urgency”, Dr Allport said
“It is unreasonable to expect university staff to implement a raft of new policies, representing the largest shake-up to the sector in over a decade, which will have profound impacts on the way they are expected to do their jobs, without the information necessary to make informed decisions”, Dr Allport added.
“The Senate is currently undertaking an inquiry into policy changes in higher education and it is imperative that all of the details in relation to funding changes, changes to workplace relations and the structure of student fees are fully understood before any meaningful assessment of the package can be made”, Dr Allport said.
“It does not seem an unreasonable request to ask the Minister to make available the full details of a package that is going to impact upon the working lives of our members from January 2004”, Dr Allport concluded.
For further details or comments please contact:
Andrew Nette
NTEU National Policy and Research Coordinator
Paul Kniest
NTEU National Policy and Research Officer