[csaa-forum] Draft legislation on HE reform open for feedback

[Ned Rossiter]

Dear Anna,

Many thanks for your posting on Tehan’s intervention. It prompted me to write this submission, co-signed by some colleagues at Western Sydney.  I paste it below for general circulation (and documentation on the CSAA site, if you think that’s appropriate Elizabeth – great to see the CSAA submission just now).

Ned

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Dear Minister Dan Tehan,



Amidst the ravaging of COVID-19, you have been tasked with introducing a piece of legislation designed to bring much needed reform to higher education in Australia. However, there are widespread fears and legitimate concerns that the outcome will dismantle the higher education sector in Australia. Framed around the intangible notion of ‘job-ready graduates’, it is likely that the legislation will not achieve its stated aims. A quick review of relevant literature may have delivered the signal this legislation has clearly missed. Namely, that target disciplines grouped together in Categories 2-4 are among those currently in the process of undergoing rapid automation in workplace settings.



What does this mean? That the jobs of the future assumed by the legislation will in many instances be performed by machines.



See, for example, the following report by Deloitte:

https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/technology-and-the-future-of-work/building-the-lucky-country.html



The rebuilding of Australia’s economy will depend heavily on an educated population able to work in sustainable tertiary economies. Without this capacity, the country will struggle to support an ageing population amplified by reduced levels of immigration. Moreover, financing the massive budget deficit from a taxation base not generated by a tertiary economy will inflict hardship on the people of this nation for years to come.



Astute governments around the world have realised for decades the key role that universities have to play in fostering civic populations able to work in advanced economies. The rebuilding of post-war Germany is a case in point. The Scandinavian countries would be other examples. What lessons can be gleaned from how these national economies approach the governance and funding of higher education?



Designing legislation able to support higher education in ways that prepare graduates for the future of work is a hugely important undertaking. Your ambition to address this matter is highly commendable. Certainly the sector needs policy attention. Yet to the extent numerous scholarly studies and empirically informed policy reports can ascertain, the impact of automation technologies on the future of work indicates that your legislation will have corrosive effects that undermine social cohesiveness and economic prosperity.


Please do take the opportunity to consult experts before proceeding further. The country and world is at a tipping point and smart thinking is required to design and orchestrate new paradigms of social and economic life. At this historical juncture, legislative reform for the higher education sector presents an opportunity to make critical decisions that contribute to the national interest—rather than damage it.

Kind regards,

Professor Ned Rossiter
Associate Professor George Morgan
Dr Geir Henning Presterudstuen

--
Ned Rossiter | Director of Research
Professor of Communication
Institute for Culture and Society / School of Humanities and Communication Arts
Western Sydney University
Parramatta Campus
Locked Bag 1797
Penrith NSW 2751
Australia


From: <csaa-forum-bounces at lists.cdu.edu.au> on behalf of Anna Hickey-Moody <anna.hickey-moody at rmit.edu.au>
Date: Thursday, 13 August 2020 at 9:20 am
To: Caaa List <csaa-forum at lists.cdu.edu.au>
Subject: [csaa-forum] Draft legislation on HE reform open for feedback

Dear CSAA members,

This is Tehan’s draft legislation proposing HE reform. I’m sure most of you will have seen this already. We have until Monday to email our feedback to Tehan and I think we should probably also “tweet” or “Facebook“ our feedback to encourage public debate. Email address for feedback is Hereform at dese.gov.au

We can’t let Tehan dismantle HE while the nation is in the grip of coronavirus!!!

Stay safe everyone
https://www.dese.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/b20rv123.v51.pdf


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