The Guardian 17 October, 2007
What are Labor’s education intentions?
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) believes that the Coalition’s higher education policy record presents voters with a strong argument for a change at the upcoming election, but more detail is needed about Labor’s policy intentions in this area and what Kevin Rudd’s Education Revolution will mean for universities.
"Over ten years of Coalition Government has had a major impact on universities. In particular, control of both houses of our federal parliament has enabled the Coalition to pass a range of policies which have had negative impacts on our institutions, their staff and students, and the communities that they serve", NTEU President, Dr Carolyn Allport said.
"The Government has increased its industrial attacks on university staff and their representative organisations through the Higher Education Workplace Relations Requirements and the WorkChoices legislation, and undermined the independence of universities and the Australian Research Council.
"Not only has Commonwealth funding to universities become more fragmented and more conditional, but according to the latest OECD data, it is continuing to decline relative to other comparable countries."
In place of public funding, universities have been forced to rely on private income sources, mainly increased student fees, with significant equity and debt implications.
But these changes have done little to address the main issues of concern identified by university staff, including rising student/staff ratios, growing workloads and the challenges posed by the aging of the academic workforce.
"Labor’s statements to date indicate that they recognise many of the critical issues facing our universities, such as the need to provide increased public funding and ease the pressure on students through spiralling fees and charges and lack of appropriate income support", noted Ms Allport.
"We have also been heartened by the commitment in Labor’s platform to increase research funding and introduce separate legislative arrangements for universities and non-university higher education providers.
"Despite this, however, very little concrete details have been announced about exactly what Labor’s Education Revolution will mean for universities.
"We look forward to the release of more detailed policy during the campaign. This is vital in order for university staff to be able to make an informed choice about which political party is best equipped to deal with the challenges facing our sector.
"While the Greens or the Democrats will not form Government, NTEU acknowledges their commitment to equity and the need for increased public support for higher education.
"There is the possibility that one of these parties could end up holding the balance of power in the Senate, in which case their position on key issues will be integral in the government’s handling of higher education."