Page 2072 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 25 October 1989
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to discuss the Government's attitude toward the draft legislation.
The college has enjoyed an outstanding reputation for its teaching and scholarship in the Canberra community and across the nation. Under the unified national system of higher education it would be disadvantaged if it retained its "college" title. Both staff and students have sought the opportunity of working and studying in an institution designated a university.
Despite its fine reputation, the college has already experienced some difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff and students in a situation where the title "college" is fast losing its currency. Importantly also, as a university, the college will be freer to develop more extensive undergraduate and postgraduate programs. I am confident these programs will be focused to meet the specific needs of Canberra and its region.
The establishment of the University of Canberra is fully consistent with the Government's thrust to strengthen the interface between higher education and industry development. The college has been at the forefront of this interface and I believe, as a university, its relations with industry, other institutions and research establishment can only be enhanced.
In this regard the college has signed a collaborative agreement with Wang Australia and has strong ties with firms in the nearby Fern Hill Technology Park. The college is also a partner in the national decision support centre, an initiative to sell Canberra's decision support expertise to the Commonwealth Government. The other partners are the Australian Defence Force Academy, the ANU and the CSIRO Division of Information Technology. Another example of links with industry and research agencies is the membership, as academic coordinator, of the joint venture between Australia and the European Community in speech research.
I should mention that Monash University has agreed to sponsor the University of Canberra for a minimum period of three years. Monash enjoys an international reputation with strengths in several areas which complement those of the college, such as medicine and engineering. I would expect that the link with Monash will be advantageous to Canberra in bringing to the Territory expertise which would otherwise be unavailable.
These are clearly challenging and exciting times for the ACT. The emergence of the University of Canberra is, I think, a positive response to changing circumstances and one I expect that will yield benefits for both Canberra and the nation. The Government is very much alive to the importance of this development and will take every measure to facilitate the establishment of this enhanced facility in the interests of higher education for Canberra and its environs. I present the following paper:
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