Australian public universities are struggling to maintain parity with international counterparts in an environment that is becoming increasingly competitive globally. While most universities are now heeding calls from sector leaders to become more competitive, any strategies that they implement to effect change in this regard might be too late to…

A project funded through the National Vocational Education and Training Research and Evaluation program investigated higher education programs--mostly bachelor's and associate degrees--offered by technical and further education (TAFE) institutes. This overview highlights some of the implications for public policy identified through this project.…

There has been much critical comment in recent years about the tensions between the regulation imposed on public universities and the flexibility needed to compete effectively in international and national markets for students and funding. In the partisan world of politics each side points the finger at the other as the author of "too…

This Go8 Backgrounder explores the possible uses of compacts in government financing of university activities, examines their potential costs and benefits, and outlines principles for their design and implementation. The Government has committed to compacts as an element of its future funding arrangements with public universities but has not yet…

In 2003/4, 13 Australian universities took part in a follow-up survey of occupational stress following an earlier one conducted in 2000. More than 6000 staff participated at each time, of whom 969 (stayers) participated at both times. This paper presents the cross-sectional data obtained on both occasions as well as the longitudinal data provided…

A project funded through the National Vocational Education and Training Research and Evaluation program investigated higher education programs--mostly bachelor's and associate degrees--offered by technical and further education (TAFE) institutes. This overview highlights the implications for TAFE management identified through this project. [This…

This article introduces the notion of the "educational franchise" of Australia's public universities established in the mid-nineteenth century. In his recently published study of the public university and social access in the United States, John Aubrey Douglass suggests that from the mid-nineteenth century a social contract was formed…

In the search for a viable twenty-first century cost-sharing contract between university, student and state, the issues of rising participation and student demand, functional differentiation, institutional competition and stratification and social inequality are systematically discussed. The argument develops through, firstly, a critical appraisal…

In early twentieth-century Australia, men managed coeducational state training colleges (equivalent to normal schools) but teacher education programmes for kindergartners were initiatives of the free kindergarten movement and firmly in women's hands. The Kindergarten Training College in Adelaide, South Australia, was established in 1907 with…

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative research project, part of a doctoral thesis, which examines the impact of university study on a group of 20 female and male mature-age students at the University of Newcastle, Australia, who have entered university via a non-traditional pathway. These students are in the second to final years of…

A key determinant of the new relationship between students and universities in Australia is the changing nature of higher education funding arrangements and the shift towards "user-pays". In 2007, the Centre for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE) completed a commissioned national study, "Australian University Student Finances…

Discusses the changing role of government as Australian universities face restructuring including: (1) shaping the system for national policy purposes; (2) funding research and teaching; (3) setting industrial relations and related policy parameters; and (4) quality assurance and accountability. Urges universities to tackle their problems without…

Describes attempts to establish at least 20 private universities in Australia between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s, of which only 4 remain viable. Discusses five categories of national higher-education environments. Suggests that most proposed private universities were undermined by their overtly commercial character and the strength and…

Assesses two recent Australian studies of diversity in higher education institutions, both financed by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Training, and Youth Affairs. Study results suggest significant diversity among universities in a number of areas, most of them closely associated with the history of the system. At the same time, state…

Replacement of Australia's binary system, which separates the roles of colleges and universities, is discussed in this seminar report. In addition to seven seminar papers, information is provided on the Australian higher education system, including access, the curriculum, research, fiscal accountability, and program relevance and quality. In the…