Postgraduates and Higher Education 2008

The stage is set for a series of important reforms in higher education, with a range of reports due between now and the end of the year.

The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) has published a summary of important developments for postgraduate students in an Issues Paper released today.

“High on the list of priorities for the Government now must be better support for the next generation of teachers and researchers. The need for urgent improvements has been clearly emphasised in the report on the Review of the National Innovation System and through the House of Representatives Inquiry into Research Training and Research Workforce Issues in Australian Universities, due to report by the end of the year,” CAPA President, Nigel Palmer said.

“Income support reform must be next on the priority list for government, in particular for the estimated 67,000 postgraduate students without access to any form of income support at all. If there is to be any sort of equity agenda to come of the “Bradley” Review of Australian Higher Education, the review report must include clear recommendations to deal with this problem.

“The solution here is simple: access to Youth Allowance, Abstudy or Austudy must be extended to all students enrolled in a tertiary degree, regardless of the nature of the course in which they are enrolled.”

The Issues Paper also addresses the urgent need for measures in response to the former Federal Government’s so-called “Voluntary Student Unionism” legislation. “Time’s up on VSU. The Government has enough evidence now to deal with this problem - and this has been the case since early in the year. Postgraduates have borne the brunt of the impact of this legislation. Urgent measures are needed to prevent further decline in the quality of the campus environment for postgraduates,” CAPA President, Nigel Palmer concluded.

The issues paper is available from the CAPA website via the link below: