IT’S the news many within the nation’s university sector have been waiting for, particularly regional institutions, their students, teachers and communities.
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The new Turnbull government has announced proposed reforms to the sector have been taken off the table, with a fresh round of consultations to begin.
The changes were controversial right from the start.
They included a deregulation of university fees alongside a 20 per cent cut in course funding, a proposal that horrified many, particularly the likes of the University of New England.
The Regional University Network, of which UNE is a member, immediately spoke about its fears for its members, arguing smaller institutions were not in a position to raise their fees by the amount it would take to make up for such savage funding cuts.
There were also concerns that if universities were able to set their own fees, what would that mean to the affordability of university degrees?
Would tertiary education become something only accessible to the wealthy?
The reform proposal was on the nose with the senate right from the start, failing twice to get through, and the legislation being revised on each occasion in an effort to see it succeed.
“Revised” to the extent even its supporters – such as the nation’s powerful Group of Eight universities – couldn’t even see a reason to get behind it in the end.
That hadn’t deterred former education minister Christopher Pyne though, who seemed determined to
re-introduce it to the upper house for a third time.
But, then along came Malcolm Turnbull and his new-look cabinet.
The dumping of the reforms yesterday was the first major policy change in the post-Abbott era and probably not entirely surprising.
There was little to no chance the tertiary reforms were going to pass and each time they failed, the government failed.
Not a good look when, as a new prime minister, you’re telling your constituents just how different you are from the last leader.
Senator Simon Birmingham, the new education minister, says they’re going back to the drawing board on university reforms, while the sector is saying it’s the chance to “reset the debate” on “long-term, sustainable funding for quality education in Australia”.
In doing so though, the minister has assured us that as a child of parents with modest means, he’s “resolutely committed to equitable access” to higher education.
Let’s hope he’s a man of his word.