Page 1434 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 March 2012
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increase collaboration between key training education providers. In this period of change, there is an increasing focus on capability and, in particular, on the ability of tertiary education providers to adapt to change.
The ACT government and, indeed, the Canberra community have a substantial public investment in the CIT and the University of Canberra through public funding, through grants, through endowments and via student contributions. The UC and CIT are the only tertiary education providers created under ACT legislation and the facts mentioned by the education minister must be fully considered by the ACT government as we consider the future of tertiary education in the territory.
Undoubtedly, a key issue that needs to be considered in both higher education and TAFE is the substantial structural adjustment funding and reform funding that has been put on the table by the commonwealth government. The University of Canberra and the ACT government saw opportunities for the UC to apply for structural adjustment funding to be used to facilitate the development of UCIT. However, clarification about the use of the structural adjustment fund for this purpose is required from the commonwealth. In the event that this funding is unable to be applied to UCIT, the government may need to rethink its options.
The discussions between the commonwealth and UC around the allocation of SAF are ongoing. It is important that there is clarity from the UC and from the commonwealth about the appropriation of the commonwealth’s SAF to UC and its possible application to the recently announced collaboration. The outcomes of discussions between UC and the commonwealth will need to be considered as they provide further guidance for us moving forward. The government is seeking to clarify these matters with a view to developing a collaborative approach to tertiary education in the ACT.
It is worth noting that in a speech on 19 March—so only in the last week or so—the commonwealth government put on the table $1.75 billion for the states and territories for TAFE reform. This national partnership on skills will be discussed at the COAG meeting on 13 April. I think it is important to look at what the Prime Minister has said and what will be discussed by heads of government on 13 April.
The starting point for this is the key point that nothing is more important to Australia’s economic future and our future economic success than skills development. The federal government have been very clear about this. Their policies in relation to higher education have seen a move to a demand-driven system that has resulted in 150,000 extra university places. There is a national goal to achieve 40 per cent of people aged between 25 and 34 holding a bachelor degree or higher by 2025. The commonwealth have indicated that the next wave of reform is in the area of skills.
There are a number of national skills targets that have been in place since 2008. They include doubling the number of qualification completions at diploma and advanced diploma levels, halving the proportion of Australians of working age without certificate III level qualifications by 2020 and increasing the proportion of young Australians aged between 20 and 24 attaining a year 12 or certificate II to 90 per cent by 2015. What this requires is more flexibility and innovation in the delivery of
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