CAPA Welcomes Greens’ Vision for Higher Ed
The Council of
Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) has welcomed higher education
policy announcements issued today by The Greens. “Research workforce issues
have certainly emerged as one of the key sustainability issues in higher
education. CAPA welcomes the Greens'
approach to valuing our higher education system and the academic workforce that
supports it, alongside their active and committed approach to student equity”
CAPA National Secretary, John Nowakowski said.
CAPA welcomes the kind
of sustainable vision found in The Greens Higher Education Policy. Significant
policy statements outlined by The Greens include:
· Reform the Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) to better support our early career researchers by:
o Increasing the duration of APAs from 3 to 4 years;
o Increasing amount of APAs to $26,000;
o Exempting part-time APAs from assessable income for income tax purposes.
· The appointment of a Higher Education Parliamentary Secretary to provide appropriate focus on higher education issues and liaison across portfolios in relation to research and international higher education issues;
· Require universities to develop higher education workforce plans to address the emerging workforce issues, in particular the increasing casualisation of the academic workforce. The plans will need to demonstrate workforce sustainability, reduced reliance on casual staff and include career development opportunities and early career support.
“CAPA welcomes the
vision outlined by the Greens, and their clear message to the major parties on
the sustainability of higher education in
CAPA's priorities for the 2010 Federal Election
are available from the CAPA website at
www.capa.edu.au/federal-election-2010.
Media
contact – CAPA National Secretary John Nowakowski 0447 251 131 or natsec@capa.edu.au