Budget Fiddles at the Edges of Higher Education and Research

Responding to the budget CAPA President, Mr Bradley Smith, said "the increases to SPIRT and RIEF will enhance industry related research but do not reverse the dis-investment in Australian research of previous Coalition budgets. Perhaps it is a modest starting point for the Government to begin re-investing in higher education and research after years of defunding."

The two new measures are an increase of $62.8 M over three years for the Strategic Partnerships with Industry - Research and Training (SPIRT) scheme and $16.3M over four years for the Research Infrastructure and Equipment Facilities (RIEF) scheme.

"The commitment of new money to SPIRT and RIEF is welcome but will only maintain current funding levels for these two schemes. The increases are simply a reversal of reductions in previous forward estimates and, by the Government's own admission, only maintain infrastructure funding at 1996 levels."

Mr Smith added that "the core problems confronting universities and research remain unaddressed by the budget."

"CAPA is disappointed that the budget has not addressed the significant barriers to postgraduate coursework which have seen effective full time domestic student numbers decline by 7.5% since 1997. This lack of investment characterises the education budget and does not serve future prosperity and economic success."