Universities say the Turnbull government’s multibillion-dollar cuts to funding could be worse, however

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The university sector has expressed dismay at the Turnbull government’s multibillion-dollar cuts to university funding but they also say they are grateful the proposed cuts aren’t worse.

Michael Spence, the vice-chancellor of Sydney University, said the funding overhaul was a “disaster averted” because the former Abbott government had wanted to cut university funding by 20% and Belinda Robinson, the chief executive of Universities Australia, said the changes were a “big improvement” on the notorious 2014 budget.

But they called the higher fees for students “regrettable” and said the lowering of the repayment threshold for student loans from $55,000 to $42,000 was a “major concern”.

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The Turnbull government on Monday revealed plans to save $2.8bn by cutting university funding and increasing student fees.

As anticipated by the tertiary education sector, the government has dropped plans to cut university funding by 20%, replacing it with a 2.5% efficiency dividend on commonwealth grant scheme payments in both 2018 and 2019. It will also lower the repayment threshold for student loans from $55,000 to $42,000.

The education minister, Simon Birmingham, said the government would lift the average student share of fees from 42% to 46%, with the taxpayers’ share falling from 58% to 54%. The fee increases will be 1.8% each year starting in 2018 and totalling a 7.5% increase by 2021.

Defending the cut, he cited a report by Deloitte Access Economics that found that, between 2010 and 2015, the average cost of delivery per student increased by 9.5%, while per student funding grew by 15%.

But the university sector has criticised parts of the package.

The Group of Eight (Go8), which represents Australia’s leading research intensive universities, said it was frustrated by the government’s attitude to higher education.

“It is at odds with the prime minister’s much-welcomed public commitment – less than two years ago – to economic growth through innovation, an educated workforce and research,” the CEO of the Go8, Vicki Thomson, said on Tuesday.

Thomson said it was disappointing to be presented with yet another budget that does not address the sector’s fundamental issues – namely that the sector must continue to work within a distorted funding model that relies on the fee-paying international student market, external support and philanthropy to cross-subsidise domestic teaching and research – all to make up for the government funding shortfalls.

Robinson told the ABC on Tuesday the further impost on students was “regrettable” because students already made some of the highest private contributions to their study in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

But she said there were some “very positive elements” in the package, too.

University students face fee rise of 7.5% as funding to sector cut by $2.8bn Read more

“One of them, there is a program called the higher education participation and partnerships program,” she said. “That is one that had been reported to have been abolished in this budget.

“It’s a critical program on supporting students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to succeed at university. Not only has that program been retained, it will also be legislated which makes it much harder to raid in subsequent budgets.”

Spence told ABC radio on Tuesday he was “extremely grateful” to the minister for the work he had done thinking through the competing interests.

“But it’s also ... an opportunity missed because the government’s done nothing about the significant cost of research and of course university research is fundamental to the innovation economy about which the government is so enthusiastic.”

The shadow education minister, Tanya Plibersek, said it was a “real credit” to the students, academics and university sector for fighting off the 2014 budget cuts.

“But I wouldn’t say that this package is a good package for universities – we’re still talking about $3bn of cuts,” she said on Tuesday. “The fact that the government weren’t able to get the worst of their package through the Senate, I don’t think should give people too much comfort.

“We should be investing in our universities.”