Download: CAPA’s response to the Review of the ARC Consultation Paper
The aim of the Review is to consider the role and purpose of the ARC within the Australian research system so it can meet current and future needs and maintain the trust of the research sector.
The Review will consider how the ARC’s legislation can be aligned with comparable research agencies in Australia and overseas, current and proposed activities, and develop a clear focus on objectives and processes to drive renewed ambition within the organisation.
The Review will also consider whether the scope of the current legislation is sufficient to support an effective and efficient university research system and provide recommendations.
Our submission addresses the concerns of postgraduate students in relation to the consultation prompts provided in Terms of Reference.
Download: Response to the University Accords
CAPA is concerned with the current state of public universities in Australia as not-for-profit higher education providers created to serve the public good. We recognise the responsibility for higher education to form ethical and critical capacities in the population, specifically in the Humanities.
Universities are responsible for nurturing public intellectuals who participate in knowledge generation to benefit their communities and society. These institutions should be free, secular, diverse, democratic, socially accountable, and publicly funded and controlled, recognising that the public system is the most appropriate means of delivering educational services based on social equity and academic freedom.
We believe universities and academia are about the preservation, transmission and extension of knowledge for its own sake, the development of critical capacities and reasoning in an environment of vigorous academic freedom, and which actively fosters the development of abilities to challenge the status quo of one’s society.
Download: Response to the inquiry into Australia’s tourism and international education sectors.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted Australia, like many other countries around the world, and has allowed us to recognise the vulnerabilities within industry sectors. Throughout the pandemic, CAPA and NATSIPA have been vocal in the media and in submissions highlighting the inadequate support for international students and the consequence of inaction.
The COVID restrictions highlighted many inequalities between international students and their domestic counterparts. Unstable income flow, inadequate social or family support network, unexpected changes to academic progression and visa restrictions negatively affect international students’ experience. Consequently, these barriers are likely to have contributed to the slow recovery of international student enrolments.
For international students, Australia was a selection from a list of countries that could have invested in. their education. They would agree to the conditions of a student visa and contribute to Australia’s economy through employment and paying taxes. From their perspective, they had chosen Australia over other countries that also offered a world-class education.
At the height of the pandemic, international students in Australia had hoped their choice was worthy of recognition by governments and universities and that they would respond compassionately to this unprecedented crisis. Sadly the response fell short of their expectations leaving many disappointed and treated as ‘cash cows’.
Our submission will address the impact of the loss of international students on the higher education sector and make recommendations that will restore credibility among international students.
As Hecs and Help debts start to weigh on graduates, is it time to rethink our student loan system?
Errol Phuah, the national president of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations, sees the effect the debt is having on the students he represents.
“It manifests itself in poor mental health outcomes and just being very apathetic about everything,” says Phuah. “Students might be coping but they’re not really saving. There’s no guarantee that we’ll get secure employment and it’s really hard to get a loan when you’re on a short contract, let alone having accrued a large Help debt.”
Download: Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) 2022 Review
The last few years have been incredibly challenging for all of us and it, for this reason, we have all worked tirelessly to hold CAPA together through the most challenging time in its long history.
While CAPA has been troubled by governance issues, we have kept CAPA in the policy conversations in Canberra driven by passion and conviction. We had to freeze our bank account and manage the best we could to pay CAPA’s bills and travel because we believed the postgraduate voices must be heard.
I am proud to say we did our best under less than favourable circumstances and sought legal advice for myself and CAPA along the way. Both Saira, Sharlene and many of our affiliates are owed a big thank you for their moral support through this challenging year.
Finally, I apologise for the length of the document; the reality is that much work has been done this year, and it came from a place of genuine passion.
I hope the readers of this document find inspiration for what we tried to accomplish this year despite the obstacles placed in our way.
Sincerely,
Errol Phuah
CAPA welcomes the targeting admission information to include the two-applicant groupings that may become prospective postgraduate students. With more comparable information between courses and institutions, students can make an informed decision on their enrolment, especially with the ever-increasing investment cost of postgraduate education.
The available CSP places should be displayed as something other than an exact numerical value, as a small number may give a false perception of a highly competitive CSP process. Thus, we recommend providing the percentage of successful applicants receiving a CSP place, which serves as an indicator (based on historical data) of the ‘relative competitiveness for CSP places’, which considers the cohort size.
Other information we feel would be beneficial to prospective postgraduate students include:
Download: CAPA’s response to the Transparent Higher Education Admissions Consultation Paper
CAPA welcomes the targeting admission information to include the two-applicant groupings that may become prospective postgraduate students. With more comparable information between courses and institutions, students can make an informed decision on their enrolment, especially with the ever-increasing investment cost of postgraduate education.
The available CSP places should be displayed as something other than an exact numerical value, as a small number may give a false perception of a highly competitive CSP process. Thus, we recommend providing the percentage of successful applicants receiving a CSP place, which serves as an indicator (based on historical data) of the ‘relative competitiveness for CSP places’, which considers the cohort size.
Other information we feel would be beneficial to prospective postgraduate students include:
Download: Review of the Research Training Program (RTP): Is it fit for purpose?
Inflation and increasing cost of living are the product of the COVID pandemic, disrupted global supply chains affecting everyday Australians, and HDR students are no exception. Based on statistics shared by Universities Australia, approximately 60% of PhD students do not start their research degrees with a stipend scholarship leaving the remaining 40% with a minimum stipend living allowance of $554.88 a week for the year 2022.
In this report, we outline the current financial conditions of HDR students and the long-term economic benefits of PhD graduates to Australia’s future. We argue that the lack of state and federal government support over the years has deprived students of the basic needs required to perform at a highly intellectual level required during their research training. This will have long-term consequences for Australia’s innovative capacity and economic prosperity.
Recommendations:
Download: Response to the ‘Inquiry into the Provisions of the University of Tasmania Act 1992’
Our submission will address the Terms of Reference from the perspective of postgraduate students and provide examples that help demonstrate the poor transparency and accountability associated with existing centralised decision-making practices at Australian Universities. We note that not all the examples have taken place at the University of Tasmania. That said, all the examples have taken place at Australian Universities and are indicative of broader systemic and cultural issues impacting all Australian Universities, including the University of Tasmania.
Recommendations:
The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) welcomes the Budget’s new funding towards research. However, we are not supportive of the way the funding will be distributed, as an uneven playing field will be created where recent graduates and early career researchers may be disadvantaged. It is imperative for Australia’s future economic prospects that we retain our young research experts and not lose them to overseas markets, which beckon with more enticing opportunities.
The Budget fails to respond to the call made by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) for additional funding to support the sector. We have seen staff and students continue to bear the brunt of the cost-cutting measures at universities through job losses, restructures, and a deterioration in the quality of teaching and learning.
CAPA is supportive of the international student incentive program that will refund visa fees for international students who arrived in Australia by 19 March. However, these students, who will fill the critical staff shortages in our floundering hospitality sector, still pay outrageous tuition fees for what appears to be an ongoing online or blended learning experience. Failing to properly fund our universities pushes our beacons of education and intellectual inquiry further down the path of being businesses competing for limited funding, and offering subpar services for obtuse prices.
In our budget submission this year, as in previous years, we are lobbying for better welfare support for postgraduate students who often don’t meet the criteria for Youth Allowance or Austudy. We call on the Federal government to create a special recipient category for postgraduate students to receive the one-off $250 payment earmarked for welfare recipients in April, as many postgraduates will likely be excluded if they’re not current for Youth Allowance, Austudy, or ABSTUDY payments.
“There is something fundamentally wrong in the way research is addressed in this country. The policies are sensationalised, but lack forethought and substance”, says Errol Phuah, CAPA National President.
Buzzwords alone will not grow an innovative or productive population. Buzzwords alone will not create jobs nor save jobs. Buzzwords alone will not help us to keep our best and brightest minds from taking their big ideas for commercialisation, overseas.
END
For comment:
Acting NATSIPA National President Dr Sharlene Leroy-Dyer
M: 0417 239 909
E: president@natsipa.edu.au
CAPA National President Errol Phuah
M: 0431 545 167
E: president@capa.edu.au
The 2021 National Student Safety Survey findings were recently released and documented the unacceptable and continued prevalence of sexual harassment and sexual assault experienced by university students, since the first national survey conducted in 2016 by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).
The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Postgraduates Association (NATSIPA) acknowledge the apology made to “every single university student who has experienced sexual harassment or sexual assault”, made by Professor John Dewar AO, Universities Australia (UA) Chair, on behalf of UA and its 39 university members.
One in five (21.3%) females had experienced sexual harassment in a university context compared with 7.6% of males. Since starting at university, 4.2% of undergraduate students had been sexually assaulted compared with 4.8% of postgraduate coursework students and 5.7% of postgraduate research students.
Between 25-40% of gender-diverse students had been sexually harassed in a university context. Between 22-40% of sexuality-diverse students had been sexually harassed in a university context, compared with 13% of heterosexual students. One in three (29.1%) students with a disability had been sexually harassed in a university context, compared with 13.5% of other students.
The report found that Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students are more likely to be sexually harassed in a university context than any other students. In fact, the study found that one in five (21.4%) Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students had been sexually harassed in a university context compared to 16% of students who did not identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. In addition, one in eight (12.0%) Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students had been sexually harassed in a university context in the past 12 months compared with 8.0% of other students. “How can we ever ‘Close the Gap’ on educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with statistics like this,” said Dr Sharlene Leroy-Dyer, President of NATSIPA.
Sexual assault and sexual harassment are being disproportionately experienced by university students who identify as being one or more of the following: women, postgraduates, gender-diverse, sexuality-diverse, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, or have a disability.
The perpetrators of 84% of sexual harassment in a university context, and 85.7% of sexual assault in a university context, were males.
CAPA and NATSIPA recognise that Australian universities have implemented hundreds of initiatives since the 2016 national survey to prevent and better respond to assault and harassment. Despite these efforts, sexual assault and sexual harassment of students remains prevalent and is still largely a gender-based issue, with complex intersectionality and marginalisation factors, which allows for a culture to exist where university spaces are unsafe spaces for our most vulnerable students.
Some of this problematic culture subsists in university workplaces, where postgraduate research students were 22.3% more likely than other students to be sexually harassed by a university staff member, including lecturers, tutors, and research supervisors.
CAPA and NATSIPA call on the Federal Government to adequately resource Australian universities so they can continue and strengthen their response and prevention strategies. Emphasis needs to be placed on evidence-based training for all staff and students that addresses the drivers of gender-based violence, as recommended in the 2020 Respect@Work Report by the AHRC on sexual harassment in the workplace. Smaller and regional universities that may not have the resources to deliver such training should receive additional Federal Government funding.
University spaces are now increasingly online spaces, with the continuation of blended and flexible learning options. Slightly more than one in ten students had been sexually harassed in the past 12 months in a university online space. Continuing to increase awareness of and improve reporting and support pathways for students who have experienced sexual assault and/or sexual harassment, are important initiatives deserving increased funding and prioritisation by university leadership.
“Sexual assault and sexual harassment of students in university spaces is unacceptable”, said Errol Phuah, CAPA National President. “It’s particularly important for men to acknowledge that this is a men’s issue that we have a big role in fixing”, he said. “I call on my fellow male student leaders to complete the training, do the work, and have the tough conversations. We are not looking to take something away from men; we are asking for cooperation towards changing the attitude. It is our shared responsibility to help create the cultural change needed to make university spaces safe and inclusive for everyone”.
END
For comment:
Acting NATSIPA National President Dr Sharlene Leroy-Dyer
M: 0417 239 909
E: president@natsipa.edu.au
CAPA National President Errol Phuah
M: 0431 545 167
E: president@capa.edu.au
Public Universities Australia is a nation-wide alliance of organisations and individuals that connects academic professors and students (https://puau.org/). All are concerned with the current state of Australian universities and committed to ensure that the value and function of Australian universities for the broader public is fully realised. Public Universities Australia aims to give expression to the voices of all academics, all students and alumni, and all professional staff of Australian public universities. Public Universities Australia is independent of government and other directions.
Funding cuts and grant vetoes do not only affect academics and staff; they change the atmosphere on campus. Students feel and share the disappointment of lecturers, supervisors, friends and mentors. They share the same passion for pursuing knowledge for the betterment of society. Therefore, political vetoes hurt students just as deeply. More importantly, they take away the students’ sense of hope for a brighter future when they see their role models lose the jobs they love.
To deny academics pursuing what they love, especially when their intellectual peers have validated the quality of their proposal, is counterproductive for individuals, for our communities, and for society as a whole.
Finally, political interference has a disproportionate impact on Indigenous research and academics, thus constituting a blatant example of a culturally disrespectful approach.
In summary, while we believe that there should be a necessary degree of political oversight in establishing the ARC and in periodically reviewing its operation, merit decisions ought to be free from political interference and be solely based on academic criteria if Australia is to improve its standing as a knowledge-economy on the world stage.
As a result, we fully support the proposed amendments contained in subsections 51(1), 51(2) and 52(4) of the Australian Research Council Amendment (Ensuring Research Independence) Bill 2018.
