Bills Digest No.
51, 2020–21
PDF version [561KB]
Dr Hazel Ferguson
Social Policy Section
Emily Gibson
Science, Technology, Environment and Resources Section
23
February 2021
Contents
Purpose of the Bill
Background
Committee consideration
Policy position of non-government
parties/independents
Position of major interest groups
Financial implications
Statement of Compatibility with Human
Rights
Key issues and provisions
Concluding comments
Date introduced: 3
February 2021
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Education,
Skills and Employment
Commencement: The
day after the Act receives Royal Assent.
Links: The links to the Bill,
its Explanatory Memorandum and second reading speech can be found on the
Bill’s home page, or through the Australian
Parliament website.
When Bills have been passed and have received Royal Assent,
they become Acts, which can be found at the Federal Register of Legislation
website.
All hyperlinks in this Bills Digest are correct as
at February 2021.
Purpose of
the Bill
The purpose of the Education
Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Bill 2021 (the Bill) is to:
Background
The
Australian Research Council
The Australian Research
Council (ARC) is an independent Commonwealth body established by the ARC
Act in 2001. Its purpose is to:
… grow knowledge and innovation for the benefit of the
Australian community through funding the highest quality research, assessing
the quality, engagement and impact of research and providing advice on research
matters.[2]
The ARC is the Government’s main source of advice on
investment in Australian research and also provides research evaluation through
Excellence in
Research Australia (ERA).[3]
The ARC administers funding for basic and applied research in all disciplines
through the National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP), although most medical
research is funded separately and administered by the National Health and Medical Research Council
(NHMRC). The NCGP comprises two programs, the:
- Discovery
Program which provides support for fundamental research undertaken by
individuals and small teams; and
- the
Linkage Program which encourages research ‘links’ between university-based
researchers and industry, business and other partners nationally and
internationally, to stimulate research impact.[4]
Grants are awarded competitively through a peer assessment
process.[5]
The budget provides the funding for the NCGP as a special
appropriation under the ARC Act.[6]
The ARC Act specifies the annual funding cap for approved research.[7]
The Explanatory Memorandum states that ‘the amendments are essential as the ARC
Act is the legislative basis that supports the financial operations of the
ARC research programs through special appropriation mechanisms which must occur
each financial year’.[8]
From 1 January 2016, funding has been indexed by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).[9]
The
University of Notre Dame Australia
The UNDA is a
private Catholic university based in Freemantle, Western Australia (WA), with
additional campuses in Broome and Sydney, and clinical schools in Sydney,
Melbourne, and regional New South Wales.[10]
Teaching
A relatively small institution compared with most other
Australian universities, UNDA’s 11,727 students represented only 0.7 per cent
of the approximately 1.6 million total students in Australian higher education
2019.[11]
Its courses are substantially focused on health and education, with over 60 per
cent of students studying in these fields, as shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1: All UNDA students by broad field of education,
2019
Field of education |
Students |
Per cent of
total |
Natural and Physical Sciences |
418 |
3.6 |
Information Technology |
0 |
0.0 |
Engineering and Related Technologies |
0 |
0.0 |
Architecture and Building |
17 |
0.1 |
Agriculture, Environmental and Related Studies |
0 |
0.0 |
Health |
4,498 |
38.4 |
Education |
3,110 |
26.5 |
Management and Commerce |
997 |
8.5 |
Society and Culture |
2,446 |
20.9 |
Creative Arts |
269 |
2.3 |
Food, Hospitality and Personal Services |
0 |
0.0 |
Mixed Field Programs |
394 |
3.4 |
Non-award courses |
161 |
1.4 |
TOTAL |
11,7271 |
100.02 |
Source: Parliamentary Library calculations and Department of
Education, Skills and Employment (DESE), ‘2019
Section 2 All students’, Table 2.8, DESE website, created 8 September 2020.
Notes:
1. The data takes
into account the coding of Combined Courses to two fields of education. As a
consequence, counting both fields of education for Combined Courses means that
the totals may be less than the sum of all broad fields of education.
2. Percentages do not sum to 100 due to rounding and
the effect of the coding of combined courses.
UNDA is well regarded by its students, with 88 per cent of
undergraduate students rating the quality of their overall education experience
positively, according to the Australian Government’s 2019
Student Experience Survey report.[12]
Small institution size is positively correlated with high student satisfaction,
with other small universities, the University of Divinity (93 per cent) and
Bond University (87 per cent), making up the top three highly rated
universities, along with UNDA.[13]
Employers are generally satisfied with Australian university
graduates, with overall satisfaction ratings ranging between 95 and 76 per
cent, based on combined results from 2017, 2018 and 2019 employer surveys.[14]
UNDA is towards the top of this range, with 87 per cent employer satisfaction.[15]
Despite generally high levels of employer satisfaction, in
2020, labour market outcomes for graduates of most universities declined.[16]
In 2020, four months after completion of an undergraduate university degree, 69
per cent of graduates were employed full-time (as a proportion of those
available for full-time work), compared with 73 per cent in 2019.[17]
UNDA graduates achieved slightly better than average outcomes, with 74 per cent
employed full-time in 2020, compared with 77 per cent in 2019.[18]
In addition to university teaching and other support such as careers advice,
these outcomes are shaped by factors such as the composition of the student
population, course offerings, and variations in regional labour markets.[19]
Research
Based on limited publicly available information, the UNDA appears
to currently be less research intensive than many Australian universities. The ARC’s
ERA assesses the quality of research at Australian universities, using five
ratings for research quality:
- 5:
well above world standard
- 4:
above world standard
- 3:
world standard
- 2:
below world standard and
- 1:
well below world standard.[20]
Most research assessed through ERA is rated well above
world standard (36 per cent) or above world standard (30 per cent).[21]
A diminishing proportion is rated at world standard (24 per cent), below world
standard (9 per cent) and well below world standard (1 per cent).[22]
The UNDA’s latest ERA results by field of research, shown in Table 2 below, show
only medical and health sciences research at the UNDA achieved a world standard
rating.
Table 2: UNDA Excellence in Research for Australia
Results, 2018
Field of Research |
ERA rating |
Rating meaning |
11 Medical and Health
Sciences |
3 |
At world standard |
1103
Clinical Sciences
|
3 |
At world standard |
1106
Human Movement and Sports Science
|
4 |
Above world standard |
1112 Oncology and
Carcinogenesis
|
3 |
At world standard |
1114 Paediatrics and
Reproductive Medicine
|
4 |
Above world standard |
1117 Public Health and Health
Services
|
2 |
Below world standard |
13 Education |
2 |
Below world standard |
1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy
|
2 |
Below world standard |
1303 Specialist Studies in
Education
|
2 |
Below world standard |
15 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services |
1 |
Well below world standard |
16 Studies in Human Society |
1 |
Well below world standard |
18 Law and Legal Studies |
2 |
Below world standard |
1801 Law
|
2 |
Below world standard |
21 History and Archaeology |
2 |
Below world standard |
2103 Historical Studies
|
2 |
Below world standard |
22 Philosophy and Religious Studies |
2 |
Below world standard |
2204 Religion and Religious
Studies
|
2 |
Below world standard |
Source: Australian
Research Council (ARC), State of
Australian University Research 2018–19, ARC, Canberra, 2019.
The UNDA emphasises its
collaborative and translational research, with concentrations in health and
medical fields, and some research activity across all its areas of teaching.[23]
The ARC assesses research
engagement and impact through the Engagement and
Impact Assessment (EI) using a three-point rating scale—high, medium and
low.[24]
Each point on the rating scale has a specific descriptor for engagement, impact
and approach to impact:
- For
engagement, the assessment focused on interactions between researchers and
research end-users outside of academia for the mutually beneficial transfer of
knowledge, technologies, methods and resources. A rating of high indicates highly
effective interactions, while a medium rating is characterised by effective
interactions, and a low rating means there was little or no evidence of
effective interactions.
- For
impact, the assessment focused on the contribution of research beyond academia.
A rating of high indicates a highly significant contribution, medium indicates
a significant contribution, and low indicates little or no contribution beyond
academia.
- For
approach to impact, the assessment focuses on mechanisms to encourage the
translation of research into impacts beyond academia. A rating of high
indicates highly effective and well-integrated mechanisms, medium indicates
effective and integrated mechanisms, and low indicates the mechanisms are not
effective and integrated.[25]
Most fields of research were not
assessed for the UNDA in 2018 due to low volume.[26]
The available ratings are shown in Table 3 below.
Table 3: UNDA Engagement
and Impact Assessment Results, 2018
Field of Research |
Engagement |
Impact |
Approach to Impact |
11 Medical and Health Sciences (Biomedical and Clinical
Sciences) |
Low |
Low |
Low |
11 Medical and Health Sciences (Public and Allied Health
Sciences) |
Medium |
Low |
Medium |
13 Education |
Low |
Low |
Low |
22 Philosophy and Religious Studies |
Medium |
Low |
Low |
IN Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research |
|
Medium |
Low |
Source: ARC, ‘Engagement
and Impact Outcomes’, ARC website, n.d.
Committee
consideration
Senate
Standing Committee for Selection of Bills
At its meetings of 3 and 17 February 2021, the Senate
Standing Committee for Selection of Bills deferred consideration of the Bill to
its next meeting.[27]
Policy position
of non-government parties/independents
At the time of writing, no non-government
parties/independents have commented on the specifics of the Bill.
Position of
major interest groups
The UNDA has welcomed its re-categorisation to Table A.[28]
Vice Chancellor Professor Francis Campbell stated:
These changes are an endorsement of Notre Dame, its
contribution to the Australian Higher Education Sector, the outstanding
education provided to its students, and the significant contribution its graduates
make to Australian society.[29]
At the time of writing, no other major interest groups
have commented on the specifics of the Bill.
Financial
implications
Schedule 1
The Bill results in an additional appropriation of $855.0
million over four years from 1 July 2020.[30]
This is due to the increased funding figures for three years ($53.63 million)
and to the extension of the forward estimate period to include 2023–24 ($801.41
million). The additional appropriation does not affect the substance of the ARC
Act nor give extra money to a Government department; it only adds to the
special appropriation administered by the ARC for the purpose of funding
research. The proposed changes in funding are in Table 4.
Table 4: Proposed changes in appropriation caps
Financial Year (starting date) |
Current
Appropriation Cap ($ million) |
Proposed
Appropriation Cap ($ million) |
1 July 2020 |
786.212 |
803.409 |
1 July 2021 |
786.212 |
804.411 |
1 July 2022 |
786.212 |
804.442 |
1 July 2023 |
- |
801.410 |
Source: Australian Research
Council Act, section 49; Education
Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Bill 2021, Schedule 1.
Schedule 2
Schedule 2 of the Bill has been costed at $27.2 million
over four years from 2020–21 and $133.3 million over ten years to 2029–30.[31]
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
As required under Part 3 of the Human Rights
(Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth), the Government has assessed the
Bill’s compatibility with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared
in the international instruments listed in section 3 of that Act. The
Government considers that the Bill is compatible.[32]
Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights
At the time of writing, the Parliamentary Joint Committee
on Human Rights has not considered the Bill.[33]
Key issues
and provisions
Schedule
1—Research amendments
ARC funding caps for approved research programs are set
under statute, allowing governments to extend funding in line with budget
announcements. These funding caps are updated, usually annually, to take into
account indexation by the CPI and budget decisions, and to add an additional
year for the forward estimates. The ARC’s funding is currently authorised until
the end of the 2022–23 financial year.[34]
The proposed amendments in Schedule 1 will update the funding caps and insert a
new financial year as detailed in Table 1 above.
Schedule 2—Education
amendments
Eligibility for higher education funding under HESA
is administered using four categories:
- Table
A providers (listed in section 16-15) are eligible to access the full range of
funding programs
- Table
B providers (listed in section 16-20) are eligible to access a limited range of
funding programs
- Table
C providers (listed in section 16-22) are explicitly excluded from most
funding, but can offer some student loans and
- providers
approved by the Minister under section 16-25, which are not listed in HESA.[35]
Currently, the UNDA is listed in Table B. Schedule 2
of the Bill proposes to remove UNDA from Table B (item 2) and add it to
Table A (item 1).
A list of current Table A and Table B providers is at Appendix 1. Eligibility for key funding
programs by category is set out in the table at Appendix
2.[36]
The effect
of moving the UNDA from Table B to Table A
Funding
In practice, despite being a Table B provider, the UNDA
already accesses most funding available under HESA. In 2019, it reported
total revenue of $189.9 million from continuing operations, 83.1 per cent ($157.9
million) from Australian Government sources.[37]
In comparison, only 48.7 per cent ($17.8 billion) of all university revenue ($36.5
billion) came from the Australian Government.
The UNDA’s HESA funding is currently achieved by a
combination of:
Since the CGS commenced in 2005, the UNDA’s number of Commonwealth
supported students has grown substantially, from 641 to 7,026.[39]
Although this has been alongside substantial overall growth in the system,
UNDA’s share of Commonwealth supported students has also grown, from 0.1 per
cent in 2005, to 0.8 per cent in 2019.[40]
The other Table B providers do not have CGS access.[41]
In 2019, the UNDA’s students comprised:
- 7,026
Commonwealth supported students (that is, students in CSPs)
- 4,174
domestic fee-paying students
- 515
other domestic students (including 153 non-award students and 367 postgraduate
research students with fee offsets via the Research
Training Program) and
- 222
overseas students.[42]
Therefore, Schedule 2 of the Bill will enshrine continued
CGS access in legislation for the UNDA, and ensure this covers all fields of
education.[43]
For undergraduate students this will mean UNDA courses currently offered as
full fee-paying will be subsidised through the CGS, and thus offered at lower
cost to the student.[44]
Subject to some limited exceptions, Table A providers are required to enrol
eligible undergraduate students in CSPs.[45]
However, no such requirement applies to postgraduate students, meaning the UNDA
could continue to offer full fee-paying non-research postgraduate courses, as
current Table A providers do.
Reclassification to Table A will also extend access to the
other funding programs that are shown in the table at Appendix 2 as being restricted to Table A
providers. This includes equity funding for disadvantaged students (such as the
Higher
Education Disability Support Program and the new Indigenous,
Regional and Low SES Attainment Fund), as well as the new National Priorities and Industry
Linkage Fund designed to support industry engagement.
Regulation
and administrative arrangements
Many policy, compliance and administrative requirements
are imposed under HESA in return for funding.[46]
For the most part, these apply equally to all approved providers, or to both
Table A and Table B. However, reclassification will reduce compliance
requirements for the UNDA in some limited areas. Namely, Table A providers are
not:
- subject
to audit at the request of the Minister to check compliance with certain
requirements under HESA[47]
- required
to have in place Tuition Protection
arrangements to safeguard course provision for their students in case they
default in their commitment to provide a unit (or subject) to a student as
planned[48]
or
- required
to ensure their grievance procedures comply with the Higher Education
Provider Guidelines 2012.[49]
Despite this, UNDA’s status under HESA does not
affect its responsibilities as a self-accrediting university registered by the Tertiary Education
Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) under the Tertiary Education
Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011. All Australian
universities have the same responsibilities to uphold academic and governance
standards in accordance with the Higher Education
Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2015, which TEQSA assesses
provider registration against.[50]
Policy
implications
The universities (and Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary
Education) currently listed in Table A are sometimes characterised as
public, and those in Table B as private.[51]
Although HESA does not use these terms, and there is no consensus in the
Australian policy literature about what constitutes a public university,
references to government ownership and funding are common.[52]
Any re‑categorisation of providers may therefore raise policy questions for
some about the purpose and continued utility of the tables.
The tables were introduced in 1992 under the Higher Education
Funding Act 1988 (HEF Act), the precursor to HESA).[53]
Initially used to implement funding arrangements for the Unified National
System (UNS), providers that met the criteria for inclusion in the UNS were
listed in Table A, and received the full operating grant, while other funded
providers were in Table B, and received a more limited grant without provision
for capital projects or research.[54]
However, this criteria was relaxed in subsequent years as more providers were
added to Table A of the HEF Act, including the UNDA in 1998.[55]
The tables were later adopted into HESA, albeit with the UNDA in Table
B.[56]
There is no criteria in HESA for a provider to be added to Table A or
Table B.
In this context, the current function of Table A is
administrative—it distinguishes institutions which the Parliament has approved
for full access to Australian Government funding. In this respect, re‑categorising
the UNDA formalises and simplifies its existing status as a publicly funded
university, and referring to Table A providers as public is simply an
indication of this funding status.
Other dimensions of public university status can present
more definitional challenges. Most Australian universities (with the exception
of the four Table B providers, and the Australian Catholic University, ACU)
were established by state or Commonwealth Parliaments as secular public
institutions, even if offering courses or units in religious studies or
theology.[57]
These government-founded providers are governed under wide-ranging establishing
Acts that make them responsible to their establishing parliament (through, for
example, financial reporting, and Ministerial appointments to the institution’s
governing Council or Senate).[58]
In contrast, the UNDA was conceived by the Archdiocese of
Perth and the Catholic Education Commission of Western Australia, and
established as a ‘a private Catholic university’, with the intention of
educating professionals for WA’s Catholic health and education systems.[59]
Its establishing Act, the University
of Notre Dame Australia Act 1989 (WA) (UNDA Act) has limited
scope, and primarily serves to establish the UNDA as a university, with provisions
safeguarding both the university’s independence and Catholic faith and values.[60]
However, the Australian Catholic University, which was
established from four Catholic teachers colleges as a Company Limited by
Guarantee, and recognised as a university in Victoria through the Australian
Catholic University (Victoria) Act 1991 (Vic.) and in New South
Wales through the Australian
Catholic University Act 1990 (NSW), has long been a Table A provider.[61]
Both of these Acts, like the UNDA Act, are relatively limited in scope
compared with those of the other Table A providers. Additionally, even
government-founded universities operate as autonomous institutions in most
respects, and are acknowledged as such in HESA—institutional autonomy is
a central feature of safeguarding academic rigour in scholarship and research.[62]
Ultimately, as Simon Marginson, Professor of Higher
Education at the University of Oxford, has argued, while legal ownership does
matter in terms of the access and influence of public policy makers, and
potential openness to democratic politics, the more important question for
policy makers is:
… the social and cultural character of the outcome or
‘goods’ produced by higher education institutions: the effects of these
institutions in teaching/learning, research certification of graduates,
community and national service.[63]
Application,
saving and transitional provisions
The application, saving and transitional provisions at item
4 have the effect of continuing the UNDA’s treatment as a Table B provider
for the remainder of 2021, in respect to the CGS. The Explanatory Memorandum
indicates that this is required to provide continuity for administrative
arrangements already in place for various grants under HESA, but that
the Commonwealth
Grant Scheme Guidelines will be used to ensure UNDA’s CGS funding for
non-medical domestic undergraduate students in 2021 are in line with Table A
status.[64]
Concluding comments
The Bill proposes amendments to the ARC Act and HESA,
which are largely administrative in nature. While the re-categorisation of the
UNDA may raise policy questions for some, this change is consistent with its
existing status as a provider of CSPs, and substantial reliance on Australian
Government funding.
Appendix 1: Higher Education Support Act
2003—listed providers at February 2021
Table A providers |
Central Queensland University |
Charles Darwin University |
Charles Sturt University |
Curtin University |
Deakin University |
Edith Cowan University |
Federation University Australia |
Flinders University |
Griffith University |
James Cook University |
La Trobe University |
Macquarie University |
Monash University |
Murdoch University |
Queensland University of Technology |
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology |
Southern Cross University |
Swinburne University of Technology |
The Australian National University |
The University of Adelaide |
The University of Melbourne |
The University of Queensland |
The University of Sydney |
The University of Western Australia |
University of Canberra |
University of Newcastle |
University of New England |
University of New South Wales |
University of South Australia |
University of Southern Queensland |
University of Tasmania |
University of Technology Sydney |
University of the Sunshine Coast |
University of Wollongong |
Victoria University |
Western Sydney University |
Australian Catholic University |
Batchelor Institute of Indigenous
Tertiary Education
|
Table B providers |
Bond University |
The University of Notre Dame Australia |
University of Divinity |
Torrens University Australia |
Appendix 2: key
higher education funding program eligibility under HESA at February 2021
Program |
Description |
Provider eligibility |
HESA section |
Commonwealth
Grant Scheme (CGS) |
Subsidises course fees for eligible higher education
students. |
Most CGS funding is only available to Table A providers,
although other providers listed in the Commonwealth Grant
Scheme Guidelines are eligible for ‘national priorities’ funding. |
30-1 |
Research
Block Grants |
Funding to support university research capacity through
the Research
Training Program and Research
Support Program. |
Table A and Table B |
41-10(1) item 7 and 46-15 |
Indigenous, Regional and Low SES Attainment Fund (IRLSAF) |
Announced in 2020 as part of the Job-ready Graduates Package,
from 2021 the IRLSAF combines existing equity funding from the Higher Education Participation and Partnership
Program (HEPPP) as well as the enabling loading and regional loading,
which previously formed part of the CGS. |
Only Table A providers are eligible for all IRLSAF
components. The loadings which previously formed part of the CGS are also
provided to the UNDA through the Other
Grants Guidelines (Education) 2012. |
41-10(1) item 1 |
National
Priorities and Industry Linkage Fund (NPILF) |
Announced in 2020 as part of the Job-ready Graduates Package, the
NPILF will provide grants to universities from 2021 to invest in more
innovative approaches to industry engagement, with the aim of improving
graduate employability. |
Table A |
41-10(1) item 13 |
Indigenous
Student Success Program |
Provide scholarships, tutorial assistance, mentoring, safe
cultural spaces and other personal support services—each provider determines
the mix of services best suited to their students. |
Table A and Table B |
38-10 |
Regional
Universities Centres |
Provide facilities such as computers and study spaces, and
support such as study advice and academic support services, to assist
students studying at a distance from their provider. |
Under the Other
Grants Guidelines (Education) 2012, funding is available to Table A and
Table B providers, any other provider allocated CSPs, a body corporate registered as a charity or not-for
profit, or any other body corporate the Minister is satisfied has, or
will have, a physical operational presence in a regional
or remote area. |
41-10(1) item 11(c) |
Higher
Education Disability Support Program |
Funding for the Disability Support Fund (DSF), which
allocates funding to institutions to undertake activities that assist in
removing barriers to access for students with disability, and the Australian Disability Clearinghouse on
Education & Training, currently hosted by the University of Tasmania. |
Table A |
41-10(1) item 1 |
HECS-HELP |
Student loan for eligible Commonwealth supported students
to pay their student contributions. |
Table A, and other providers with places in ‘national
priority areas’ for the student’s course. |
90-1(c) and 30-1 |
FEE-HELP |
Student loan for eligible full fee-paying students to pay
their course fees. |
All approved providers. |
104-10(1) |
SA-HELP |
Student loan for eligible students to pay the Student
services and amenities fee (SSAF). |
All approved providers. |
126-1 and 19‑37(5) |
OS-HELP |
Student loan for eligible students to cover overseas study
expenses. |
Table A, and other providers with places in ‘national
priority areas’ for the student’s course. |
118-7(c) and 30-1 |
[1]. J
Frydenberg (Treasurer) and S Birmingham (Minister for Finance), Mid-Year
Economic and Fiscal Outlook 2020–21, p. 151.
[2]. Australian
Research Council (ARC), ‘About the
Australian Research Council’, ARC website, last modified 27 November 2019.
[3]. Ibid.
[4]. Ibid.
[5]. ARC,
‘Peer Review’, ARC website,
last modified 9 July 2020.
[6]. Australian
Government, Budget
Measures: Budget Paper No. 4 2020-21, ‘Special Accounts Table’, p. 138.
[7]. Australian Research
Council Act 2001, Part 7, Division 1, subdivision B generally.
[8]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Education Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Bill 2021,
p. 2.
[9]. Australian
Government, Budget
Measures Budget Paper No. 2 2014–15, ‘Expanding Opportunity – Higher
Education Indexation – revised arrangements’, p. 85.
[10]. University
of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA), ‘Introducing Notre Dame’,
UNDA website, n.d.; UNDA, ‘Our
Campuses’, UNDA website, n.d.
[11]. Department
of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE), ‘2019
Section 5 Liability status categories Table 5.6: All Students by Higher
Education Institution and Liability Status, Full Year 2019’, DESE website,
created 8 September 2020. In 2019, only the University of Divinity (1,500
students) and Bond University (6,101) are smaller, and Charles Darwin
University is of a similar size with 12,010 students. There were a total of 1,609,798
students (headcount) enrolled in 2019: 852,808 Commonwealth supported students;
196,822 domestic fee-paying students; 45,555 other domestic students; and
522,782 overseas students.
[12]. Social
Research Centre (SRC), 2019
Student Experience Survey, report prepared for DESE, DESE, [Canberra],
March 2020, p. 8.
[13]. Ibid.
Factors with no relationship to education quality, such as course offerings and
the composition of the student population, may also impact ratings.
[14]. SRC,
2019
Employer Satisfaction Survey, report prepared for DESE, DESE,
[Canberra], January 2020, p. 14.
[15]. Ibid.
pp. 15–17.
[16]. SRC,
2020
Graduate Outcomes Survey, report prepared for DESE, DESE,
[Canberra], November 2020, p. 12.
[17]. SRC,
2020
GOS National Tables, report prepared for DESE, DESE, [Canberra], November
2020.
[18]. SRC,
2020
Graduate Outcomes Survey, op. cit., p. 13.
[19]. Ibid.,
p. 12.
[20]. ARC,
State of
Australian University Research 2018–19, ARC, Canberra, 2019. There are
other measures of research performance that Australian universities rely on to varying
degrees. International rankings such as the Times
Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings and QS
World University Rankings endeavour to measure university performance,
based largely on research activity. The THE World University Rankings for 2021
include 37 Australian universities in the top 1,000 institutions, and the QS
World University Rankings for 2021 include 36 Australian Universities in the
top 1,000 institutions. UNDA is not included among these.
[21]. Ibid.
[22]. Ibid.
[23]. UNDA,
‘Research at Notre Dame’,
UNDA website, n.d.
[24]. ARC,
Engagement
and Impact Assessment 2018–19, ARC, Canberra, 2019.
[25]. Ibid.
[26]. ARC,
‘Engagement
and Impact Outcomes’, ARC website, n.d.
[27]. Senate
Standing Committee for Selection of Bills, Report,
1, 2021, The Senate, Canberra, 4 February 2021, [p. 2]; Senate Standing
Committee for Selection of Bills, Report,
2, 2021, The Senate, Canberra, 18 February 2021, [p. 2].
[28]. UNDA,
The
University of Notre Dame welcomes Government funding decision, media
release, 18 December 2020.
[29]. Ibid.
[30]. Explanatory
Memorandum, op. cit., p. 4.
[31]. Ibid.
[32]. The
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights can be found at pages 5–6 of the Explanatory
Memorandum to the Bill.
[33]. Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights, Index
of bills considered by the committee, 3 February 2021.
[34]. Australian
Research Council Act 2001, section 49.
[35]. Higher
Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) funding is only available to higher education providers,
defined in section 16-1 as those providers approved under Division 16. A
list of approved providers is available from DESE, ‘Providers
that offer Commonwealth assistance’, StudyAssist website, n.d.
[36]. Certain
other programs not included in the table are funded under the ‘other grants’
provisions in Division 41. Eligibility for all ‘other grants’ funding is set
out in section 41-10 of HESA.
[37]. DESE,
‘Financial Performance – Total’, 2019
Higher Education Providers Finance Tables, DESE website, created 25 November 2020.
UNDA’s revenue from the Australian Government included $80.6 million in grants,
predominantly $68.8 million from the CGS and other grants provided under HESA
and $77.3 million in payments for student loans. It received the remainder
of its revenue from state and local government ($1.0 million), upfront student
contributions ($4.0 million), fees and charges, including overseas student fees
($22.0 million) and investments, consultancies and contracts, and other income
($5.0 million).
[38]. HESA,
section 30-1; Commonwealth
Grant Scheme Guidelines, chapter 3.
[39]. DESE,
‘Load Time Series: Liability Status (Headcounts)’, Selected
Higher Education Statistics – 2019 Student data, DESE website, last
updated 14 July 2020.
[40]. Ibid.
Total Commonwealth supported students were 537,474 in 2005 and 852,808 in 2019.
[41]. For
2021–2023, the non-Table A providers with CGS funding agreements are Tabor College, Melbourne Polytechnic, Holmesglen Institute of TAFE, Eastern College Australia, Christian Heritage College, and Avondale College. See DESE, ‘Higher
education providers' 2021-2023 funding agreements’, DESE website, n.d.
[42]. DESE,
‘2019
Section 5 Liability status categories Table 5.6: All Students by Higher
Education Institution and Liability Status, Full Year 2019’DESE website,
created 8 September 2020; DESE, Selected
Higher Education Statistics – 2019 Student data, DESE website, last
updated 14 July 2020. Note: this data takes into account the coding of students
to more than one liability status category. As a consequence, counting students
in multiple categories means that totals may be less than the sum of all.
[43]. A
move from Table B to Table A would also change the requirements for the UNDA’s
CGS funding agreement, providing more freedom to reallocate CGS funding between
courses. Currently, the UNDA’s CGS funding must be allocated by specifying the
number of places allocated for each national priority (subsection 30-10(4)). The
Minister does not allocate places to Table A providers in relation to higher
education courses or demand driven higher education courses, but places in
designated courses (currently only medicine) are allocated (subsection 30-10(1)
and section 30-12).
[44]. The
intent of re-categorising the UNDA is to transition fee-paying non-medical
domestic undergraduate students to CSPs. Explanatory
Memorandum, op. cit., p. 10.
[45]. HESA,
section 36-30. Sections 36‑10
and 36‑15 set out
these exceptions, including citizenship and residency requirements.
[46]. These
cover issues such as financial viability, quality, fairness, compliance,
student contributions and fees, and academic freedom, as well as policy
requirements such as entering into a mission based compact, and having a policy
upholding free intellectual inquiry (HESA, sections 19-1 and
19-115).
[47]. HESA,
section 19-80.
[48]. HESA,
subsection 166-5(1).
[49]. HESA,
subsection 19-45(2).
[50]. The
only legislated relationship between the tables in HESA and the provider categories
used by TEQSA is that a provider must be registered with TEQSA in order to
access funding under HESA (HESA, section 16-27).
[51]. DESE,
‘2019
List of higher education institutions’, DESE website created 8 September
2020; A Norton and I Cherastidtham, Mapping
Australian higher education 2018, Grattan Institute, Carlton, September
2018, p. 46.
[52]. S Marginson,
‘The
public/private divide in higher education: A global revision’, Higher
education, 53(3), 2007, pp. 307–333; Glyn Davis, The Australian
Idea of a University, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2017, pp. 41–58;
S Macintyre, A Brett and G Croucher, No End of a Lesson: Australia’s Unified
National System of Higher Education, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne,
2017, pp. 30–31. Other accounts place substantial emphasis on public purpose,
with, for example, the founding of the University of Sydney described partly in
terms of its contribution to the development of a ‘reasoning public’, able to
engage in the ‘public sphere’, where socially and politically significant ideas
could be discussed. See J Horne and G Sherington, Sydney the Making of a
Public University, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 2012, pp. 28–29.
[53]. In
1992, the Higher
Education Funding Amendment Act (No. 2) 1992 replaced a single list of
providers in section 4 of the HEF Act with Table A and Table B; R Bell
and K Jackson, Higher
Education Funding Amendment Bill 1998, Bills digest, 18, 1998–99,
Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 1998.
[54]. Higher Education
Funding Amendment Act (No. 2) 1992; R Bell and K Jackson, Higher
Education Funding Amendment Bill 1998, op. cit.
[55]. Higher Education
Funding Amendment Act 1998.
[56]. HESA, as
made.
[57]. G
Davis, The Australian Idea of a University, Melbourne University Press,
Melbourne, 2017, pp. 41–58. Within the Australian context secular means avoiding
identification with any particular religion and providing a neutral framework
that accommodates a broad range of religions and beliefs (including non-belief).
C Barker, D McKeown and J Murphy, Foreign
Influence Transparency Scheme Bill 2017 and Foreign Influence Transparency
Scheme (Charges Imposition) Bill 2017, Bills digest, 87, 2017–18,
Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2018, p. 47. As such, most Australian
Universities were established as institutions not formally aligned with any
specific religion or denomination, even if offering courses or units in
religious studies or theology in general or that relate to a specific religion
or denomination. Current examples of Table A universities offering courses or
units in the study of religion generally and/or specific units in theology of
particular religions that can provide a basis for becoming a recognised
Minister of Religion of particular religions or denominations include Charles Sturt University,
Flinders
University, The
University of Sydney, and The
University of Queensland.
[58]. It
is not the intention of this Bills Digest to provide a detailed account of
governance arrangements for every Table A provider, but for example see: Australian National
University Act 1991 (Cth.), especially Part 2 and section 44; University of
Canberra Act 1989 (ACT), Part 2 and sections 34 and 35; Charles
Sturt University Act 1989 (NSW), Part 3 and sections 24D and 24E; Batchelor
Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education Act 1999 (NT), Part 3 and
sections 44 and 45; Central
Queensland University Act 1998 (Qld.), Part 2 and section 50; Flinders
University Act 1966 (SA), sections 20 and 27; University
of Tasmania Act 1992 (Tas.), Part 2; Deakin
University Act 2009 (Vic.), Part 2 and sections 55 and 59; Curtin
University Act 1966 (WA), Part 2.
[59]. P
Tannock, The
Founding and Establishment of the University of Notre Dame Australia 1986–2014,
UNDA, Western Australia, November 2014, p. 2.
[60]. UNDA,
‘Introducing Notre Dame’,
UNDA website, n.d; P Tannock, The
Founding and Establishment of the University of Notre Dame Australia 1986–2014,
op. cit., p. 10; University
of Notre Dame Australia Act 1989 (W.A.), sections 5 and 25.
[61]. Australian
Catholic University (ACU), ‘Australian
Catholic University Limited Constitution’, ACU website, n.d.; ACU, ‘Governance’,
ACU website, n.d.; ACU, ‘A brief
history of ACU’, ACU website, n.d.; ACU, ‘McAuley at
Banyo Campus’, ACU website, last updated 22 September 2020. ACU has been a
Table A provider since 1992, when the category was introduced. See Higher Education
Funding Amendment Act (No. 2) 1992. ACU later sought recognition as
a university in Queensland (it had previously operated there as an interstate
university), and this was granted through the Australian
Catholic University (Queensland) Act 2007 (Qld.). Explanatory
Notes, Australian Catholic University (Queensland) Bill 2006, p. 1.
[62]. HESA,
subsection 2-1(b); World University Service, The
Lima Declaration on Academic Freedom and Autonomy of Institutions of Higher
Education, World University Service, Geneva, September 1988;
International Association of Universities(IAOU), Academic
freedom, university autonomy and social responsibility, IAOU, [Paris],
April 1988; Association of American Universities, Group of Eight (Australia),
League of European Research Universities, Chinese 9 Universities, Hefei
Statement on the ten characteristics of contemporary research universities,
[Belgium], October 2013;
[63]. S Marginson,
‘The
public/private divide in higher education: A global revision’, op. cit.,
pp. 309–310.
[64]. Explanatory
Memorandum, op. cit., pp. 10–11.
For copyright reasons some linked items are only available to members of Parliament.
© Commonwealth of Australia
Creative Commons
With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, and to the extent that copyright subsists in a third party, this publication, its logo and front page design are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia licence.
In essence, you are free to copy and communicate this work in its current form for all non-commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the work to the author and abide by the other licence terms. The work cannot be adapted or modified in any way. Content from this publication should be attributed in the following way: Author(s), Title of publication, Series Name and No, Publisher, Date.
To the extent that copyright subsists in third party quotes it remains with the original owner and permission may be required to reuse the material.
Inquiries regarding the licence and any use of the publication are welcome to webmanager@aph.gov.au.
Disclaimer: Bills Digests are prepared to support the work of the Australian Parliament. They are produced under time and resource constraints and aim to be available in time for debate in the Chambers. The views expressed in Bills Digests do not reflect an official position of the Australian Parliamentary Library, nor do they constitute professional legal opinion. Bills Digests reflect the relevant legislation as introduced and do not canvass subsequent amendments or developments. Other sources should be consulted to determine the official status of the Bill.
Any concerns or complaints should be directed to the Parliamentary Librarian. Parliamentary Library staff are available to discuss the contents of publications with Senators and Members and their staff. To access this service, clients may contact the author or the Library‘s Central Enquiry Point for referral.