
***UPDATE: A RECORDING OF THE WEBINAR IS AVAILABLE BELOW***
Australia tends to do things a year or two ahead of policymakers in the UK when it comes to higher education. For example, it introduced fees and income-contingent loans before the UK did and it removed student number caps before England did.
On coming to office, the current centre-left Australian Government committed to an Australian Universities Accord ‘to drive lasting and transformative reform in Australia’s higher education system’:
The objective of the Accord was to devise recommendations and performance targets to improve the quality, accessibility, affordability and sustainability of higher education, in order to achieve long term security and prosperity for the sector and the nation.
The Accord process recently ended with a comprehensive report which, among its many other recommendations, proposed:
lifting the tertiary attainment rate of all working age people (with at least one Certificate III qualification or higher) from 60% currently to at least 80% by 2050
HEPI and the James Martin Institute (JMI), which is an independent, non-partisan policy institute based in Sydney, will be jointly hosting a short webinar on the Accord to hear about the process and to learn any lessons for the UK, featuring the following speakers:
- Professor Mary O’Kane, Chair of the Australian Universities Accord Panel and Executive Chairman of O’Kane Associates ;
- Libby Hackett, CEO at the James Martin Institute for Public Policy (in Sydney) and Visiting Fellow at the Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU;
- Professor Duncan Ivison, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) at the University of Sydney from 2015 until 2022 and, from 1 August 2024, President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Manchester; and
- Professor Andy Westwood, Professor of Government Practice and Vice Dean for Social Responsibility at the University of Manchester and former Special Adviser to the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Sills (John Denham).
A very interesting session that emphasises the need (in Australia) for better integration across the post-secondary education sector, taking a positive collective perspective on increasing student numbers to address societal need whilst simultaneously addressing marginal disadvantaged groups: Equity for growth. Thank you! Adding a link to the original accord document.
https://www.education.gov.au/australian-universities-accord/resources/final-report