The Australian Government is working with universities and other stakeholders in higher education to establish an Australian Universities Accord. The Accord will help drive lasting alignment between members of Australia’s higher education system and ensure universities play an increasing role in the nation’s social and economic prosperity.

Beyond the individual benefits of education, there can be no doubt that a better educated workforce, together with stronger research capacity, increases the likelihood of positive outcomes from the changes underway in Australia’s society, economy and environment; and that above all, education contributes to a better-informed and more vital community.

The Universities Accord Review Panel Discussion Paper asked for input on the kind of higher education system Australia needs in two to three decades’ time, as well as what is needed to address immediate challenges.

Following input from staff across the University, in its 11 April submission Macquarie University advocated for reforms that would support the sector partnering with government, industry and other stakeholders to make the best possible contributions to Australia’s future.

The University’s submission is summarised below. These proposals indicate areas the University believes should be key themes for inclusion in the Review Panel’s final report and the basis for accountability in any future compact between universities and government.

The University’s full submission, including context and evidence to support the proposals, can be found here. I extend my thanks to all colleagues from across the University who have contributed to this submission.

Submission executive summary

Students	Macquarie supports high targets for participation and attainment, particularly for underrepresented groups, as well as the development of new entry pathways for neurodivergent students, and a greater focus on lifelong learning.
Quality teaching	Equity, student support and wellbeing, and the work rights of international students need more attention.
Connections between VET and higher education	There needs to be increased collaboration with the VET sector and the establishment of a coordinating council to promote collaboration.
Innovation	The sector needs increased funding for research training together with efforts to promote greater collaboration with industry, and incentives to support more interdisciplinary work.
Infrastructure	A rolling program for infrastructure development, together with an enhanced National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) is recommended.
Funding	New arrangements are needed to promote flexibility and innovation in funding, including a shift to funding the full costs of research. Macquarie supports a return to demand-driven funding and that a wholesale review of student contributions is needed.
Accountability	A nationwide framework is needed to remove overlap, inefficiency and red tape.

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 Students

Macquarie supports high targets for attainment and participation, particularly for underrepresented groups, as well as the development of new entry pathways for neurodivergent students, and a greater focus on lifelong learning. Macquarie’s specific feedback includes:

• Jobs and Skills Australia should model demand and identify attainment targets for 2030 and 2040 with help from the sector.
• To support parity, a scholarship pool should be established for students from low SES backgrounds and from regional and remote areas to attend regional or metropolitan universities. It should be jointly funded by university investment and government.
• The sector needs to do more outreach work with schools and communities in collaboration with relevant government agencies so prospective university students from underrepresented groups can make informed choices and are properly prepared to succeed at their studies.
• Regarding neurodiversity, Macquarie supports the December 2022 decision by the Australian Government to develop a national autism strategy. The University also supports the Government’ request to the Equity in Higher Education Panel to consider the needs of autistic students as part of the Panel’s ongoing work on a national student equity in higher education strategy.
• To increase the participation of neurodiverse people in higher education, better training material for university staff should be developed and existing expertise and initiatives that support neurodiverse people around the country need to be coordinated.
• The University believes that recommendations by the Productivity Commission’s Advancing Prosperity report – for consolidated support for lifelong learning, a trial and evaluation of support targeted at employed lower-income people and extension to self-education deductions – should be included in the development of a National Lifelong Learning Strategy.

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Quality teaching

Equity, student support and wellbeing, and the work rights of international students need more attention. In particular:

• Equity programs are currently supplementary to education, rather than embedded. Funding is typically short-term, which can impede innovation. Real impacts will only come when action goes beyond the higher education sector and reaches into schools and communities.
• The sector should develop ways to prepare graduates for life after university.
• To strengthen resilience in the next generation of graduates, the sector needs to develop additional strategies and a mechanism for sharing effective strategies.
• The University supports government efforts to diversify and rebuild the international student market. The widespread problem of wage theft from international students and skilled migrants needs particular attention. More rigorous enforcement of laws is needed to protect vulnerable workers.
• The University endorses the 2021 report of the Senate Select Committee on Temporary Migration’s recommendations for a comprehensive worker rights education plan as well as an increase in penalties for wage theft, including its possible criminalisation.

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Connections between VET and higher education

There needs to be increased collaboration with the VET sector as well as the establishment of a coordinating council to promote collaboration. More specifically:

• The work of the VET and higher education sectors needs to be integrated. Policy must be comprehensive and focused on tertiary education as a whole.
• All levels of government need to work together to incentivise collaboration, co-design and innovation across industry and education providers and to provide students with a smoother transition across different loan and fee settings.
• A formal coordinating council is needed to address issues at the intersection of VET and higher education including: qualifications, reciprocal recognition of prior learning, collaborative courses and provider funding models. Student funding also needs to be addressed, preferably with a commitment to Commonwealth Supported Places for joint courses like those on offer from the Institute of Applied Technology – Digital, of which Macquarie is a foundation partner.
• Articulation arrangements are needed between VET and universities to support Closing the Gap targets for achievement.

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Innovation

The sector needs increased funding for research training together with efforts to promote greater collaboration with industry and incentives to support more interdisciplinary work. Specifically:

• Macquarie University supports the Bradley Review position on the nexus between teaching and research as a cornerstone of universities. This link is fundamental to innovation. It ensures that research discovery and skills are brought into the workforce and that an institution is responsive to local, regional and national needs.
• An uplift in Research Training Program (RTP) funding is needed to enable higher stipend rates and support needed growth in HDR recruitment. Greater flexibility is also needed in the guidelines for the use of RTP funds.
• Federal and state governments have crucial roles to play in developing funding mechanisms that incentivise a sectoral approach to course design with industry input and engaged research.
  Suggestions include:
  • a high-profile and active communications campaign to explain the benefits accruing from collaboration with university researchers.
  • financial incentives for organisations that collaborate with university researchers on projects, research centres and research training.
  • revisiting the recommendations of the 2016 Ferris, Finkel and Fraser Review of the R&D Tax Incentive, notably its recommendation that companies which work with publicly funded research organisations should receive a higher tax offset (a “premium rate”).
  • tax incentives that promote a culture of philanthropic support in Australia and encourage giving to the education and research sectors.
• Universities need to do more to show Australian industry how to search for talented graduates and engage university staff in research projects, how to invest in R&D and how to identify opportunities to licence IP.
• Australia needs more imaginative funding schemes and programs that support interdisciplinary research combining STEM and HASS, and basic and translational research.
• Macquarie recommends reviewing the European Research Council weighting and tolerance for innovative blue-sky projects as a potential method to better support innovation in Australia.
• Increased funding should be available for university research centres that have clear aims and distinctive strengths and that attract high-quality researchers and graduate research students.
• Greater government and institutional funding for multi-jurisdictional projects and initiatives to support international collaboration would be useful.

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Infrastructure

A rolling program for infrastructure development, together with an enhanced National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) is recommended. Particularly:

• Instead of universities pitching for individual building infrastructure grants/funding, the establishment of a 10-year infrastructure plan would allow strategic growth.
• NCRIS needs to be enhanced to achieve its aim.
• Long-term investment growth in coordinating digital research infrastructure is needed to integrate the national digital research infrastructure ecosystem and underpin collaboration at scale.
• HASS disciplines have specialised infrastructure needs that need to be considered.
• National facilities could be developed to promote collaboration, reduce costs of duplication and recognise that not every university requires the same suite of research infrastructure.

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Funding

New arrangements are needed to promote flexibility and innovation in funding, including a shift to funding the full costs of research. Macquarie supports a return to demand-driven funding and that a wholesale review of student contributions is needed.

• The University supports mission- and place-based five-year partnerships with a flexible funding envelope.
• A return to demand-driven funding is needed.
• Macquarie strongly supports uncapped Commonwealth Supported Places for all First Nations students studying bachelor degrees, regardless of where they live.
• The Job-ready Graduate program needs a complete review so that it finances participation.
• The student contribution policy needs an overhaul to ensure that pricing arrangements are equitable and are not having a distorting effect on student choices. The establishment of repayment thresholds that do not contribute to structural inequalities is also needed.
• The 50 per cent rule to exclude students who fail half their units should be abandoned.
• The University supports a target for paying the indirect costs of research at 50 cents in the dollar by 2025. That would be the first step in moving to funding the full cost of research (including salary costs) by 2030.

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Accountability

A nationwide framework is needed.

• The University supports a detailed regulatory stock and flow analysis to determine areas of overlap, inefficiency and red tape across the sector. Its purpose should be to reduce unnecessary burden.