Privatisation of universities by stealth

by Anna Pha

For some time now the Federal Government has been transferring public 
funding from public to private schools. Its latest amendments to the Higher 
Education Funding Act could see public university funding transferred to 
private institutions.

Notre Dame University, a private Catholic university in Western Australia 
will now be able to receive the same funding for teaching, research, 
community education and major capital works as public universities.

In the Senate last week, the Coalition with the backing of the Labor Party, 
put Notre Dame University on schedule A of the Higher Education Funding Act 
to give it the same rights to government funds as public universities.

"The old Parties stand condemned of prioritising a private university in 
allocating public monies, while our public universities are falling apart", 
said Democrat Senator Natasha Stott Despoja. The Australian Democrats along 
with the Greens opposed the amendment.

Notre Dame students will be eligible for HECS, the system of deferred fees, 
on the same basis as students at public universities.

The Minister, David Kemp, says that Notre Dame's Broome campus will receive 
$900,000 in 1999. The Government defends this by pointing to its remote 
location and the lack of a public alternative in the area.

A spokeswoman from Kemp's office said the funding would be restricted to 
Broome, the students at Notre Dame's Fremantle teacher training campus 
would still be full-fee paying.

But the legislation does not guarantee this.

The Government will be able to allocate additional funding to Notre Dame as 
it chooses without returning to Parliament.

"It seems that this Government is now taking funding directly from public 
institutions in order to give it to private bodies", said Dr Carolyn 
Allport, National President of the National Tertiary Education Union.

The Government has made no provision for additional higher education 
funding. Public universities have already suffered funding cuts and forced 
to sack staff, close departments, faculties and even campuses.

While Notre Dame will receive the same rights as public universities there 
is no guarantee that it will be subjected to the same responsibilities or 
strict accountability as public ones.

It is only a matter of time before someone points out how unfair it is and 
recommends that public institutions be put on the same relatively 
unaccountable footing as the private ones!

Dr Allport asks: "Does the inclusion of a private institution within the 
same category as existing public institutions pave the way for competitive 
tendering for student places by private providers?"

The answer to her question is "Yes".

Courses previously provided by the Adult Migrant English Service and TAFE 
sector have been put to competitive tendering and fists full of public 
money handed over to private operators.

Staff have been sacked, quality sacrificed — all part of the privatisation 
by stealth that the Coalition and Labor Governments are pursuing.

The Australian Catholic University, established in 1991, is already on 
schedule A and receives the same benefits as public universities. It trains 
teachers and nurses for Catholic schools and hospitals.

Its mission statement, like that of Notre Dame, is based on canon law and 
explicitly promotes Catholic faith and values.

Public universities have already undergone transformation with the 
introduction of fees, including full fee-paying places, competition for 
research grants between universities and increasing reliance on the 
corporate sector.

As the Government moves towards a market model, with institutions competing 
for students and funding attached to students, then more private outfits 
will appear.

The differences between public and private will be blurred.

The concept of a universal, secular higher education system will be 
replaced by Catholic, fundamentalist (already in the secondary system) and 
other narrowly based religious or corporate private institutions with no 
public accountability.

The only "accountability" will be the markets — which ones are successful 
in attracting students with government funds attached or those who can 
afford the fees.

This is does not bode well for a multicultural society, or for tolerance or 
a well educated population.