COMMONWEALTH BID FOR FINANCIAL CONTROL WILL LEAD TO FURTHER DEREGULATION OF UNIVERSITIES
May 10, 2007
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) on Thursday warned that the Commonwealth’s bid to take over the financial management of universities from state governments is part of a broader agenda for the further deregulation of universities.
“University staff fear that the Education Minister’s latest announcement, buried in the fine print of Tuesday night’s budget, is very much part of a much larger Commonwealth agenda of control of our university sector,” said Dr Carolyn Allport, NTEU President.
“Staff are concerned that this would lead to the further centralisation of power over universities by the Canberra bureaucracy and lead to more, not less, control and intervention in university operations.”
“Particularly alarming would be the prospect of all university legislation acts being centralised under Commonwealth control, opening them up to the possibility of significant changes.”
“This includes further corporatising university governance arrangements and weakening universities’ objects and defining purposes such as the stipulation that they operate in the public interest, and that they guarantee academic freedom and institutional independence.”
“As the Minister has indicated, a preferable approach would be for Commonwealth and state governments to sit down and constructively talk through the issues, as they have already been doing for some time, to reach agreement on sensible reforms to reduce red tape for universities.”
“Many state governments not only invest significant resources in our higher education system, but they perform an important and complementary role to that of the Commonwealth in terms of ensuring proper financial regulation of universities’ tax payer funds.”
“The important role universities play in regional and State economies are in part possible precisely because state governments have some legislative responsibilities for higher education.”
“State governments often have a more in-depth understanding of the labour market needs of their respective jurisdictions, and the role of universities in meeting these.”
“Taking state governments out of the picture runs the risk of reducing diversity and distancing our universities from the regions and communities they serve, an ironic move given the emphasis the Minister places on the need for diversity in our higher education system.”
“A good example is Queensland, where the State Government has taken a very proactive role in establishing new research centres and has provided funding support for universities, and we would not want to lose these initiatives,” said Dr Allport.
For all media inquires and comment contact:
Dr Carolyn Allport, NTEU President: (03) 9254
1910
Andrew Nette, NTEU Policy and Research Coordinator:
(03) 9254 1910