Submission to the inquiry into the Universities Accord

The Universities Accord has outlined the generational reforms needed for the higher education sector, with deep engagement from stakeholders to outline a vision and a pathway towards the higher education system that Australia needs. The Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Bill 2024 [Provisions] will enable the first stage of the Australian Government’s response to the 47 Universities Accord reforms, as well as permitting the merger of the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia. ATSE welcomes the Universities Accord reforms in this Bill as facilitating fairness and equity for many students, enabling growth of tomorrow’s skilled workforce. ATSE takes particular interest in the creation of placement payments and recommends that this is extended to engineering students, targeting the critical engineering shortages.

ATSE makes the following recommendations for this inquiry:

Recommendation 1: Lay out a staged approach to Universities Accord implementation.

Recommendation 2: Extend placement payments to include compulsory engineering placements.

Recommendation 3: Redesign the distribution mechanism of the placement payments scheme to improve accessibility and efficiency.

Recommendation 4: Repeal the Job-Ready Graduates package.