Uni IR requirements will put off young academics

New workplace relations requirements for universities were released yesterday by Education Minister Brendan Nelson, and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott--and universities must comply with them if they want access to $404 million in desperately needed funding.

"The new workplace relations requirements are all about union-bashing and have nothing to do with a concern for quality in higher education," said CAPA President Benjamin McKay today.

"The National Tertiary Education Union says the guidelines are bureaucratically complex and costly. The VC of Sydney University thinks it's wrong to attach workplace reform to the much need funding on offer. The Minister has got the key staff union and the head of Australia's most prestigious university in agreement. What they agree on is that the Minister's got it wrong. CAPA shares this view," Mr McKay said.

"These guidelines will also hurt future growth in new academics," McKay continued. "The guidelines stop universities putting caps on the number of casual and contract staff that they employ. This means universities will be encouraged to employ recently graduated doctoral students on short term and casual contracts--already a problematic trend for us. There's less and less reason to start your academic career in Australia," McKay concluded.

CAPA supports the NTEU's opposition to the new requirements, which come into effect immediately.

CAPA will be giving evidence to the Senate Inquiry into the higher education reforms, of which the new workplace requirements are part, in Tasmania on Friday.