MEDIA RELEASE: CAPA generally endorses ACOLA Review recommendations
MEDIA RELEASE- CAPA GENERALLY ENDORSES ACOLA REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS
18 April 2016–
The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) welcomes the release of the long awaited ACOLA Review into Research Training. The report lends significant support to issues that CAPA has been calling attention towards for the last decade, particularly regarding the income support levels and length of the Australian Postgraduate Award. The report recommends that the length and amount of the APA be left to the discretion of individual universities, subject to minimum values- which CAPA believes ought to be at least the minimum wage.
The report also recommends that specific higher value scholarships be created for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to recognise their uniquely different financial circumstances upon entering the research training system. CAPA welcomes this recommendation as a concrete measure to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation in Higher Degrees by Research qualifications. CAPA also strongly supports the recommendations made to create joint academic appointments during the course of HDR degrees for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, so as to ensure that the university sector is able to attract and keep Aboriginal students in the academy.
As highlighted in CAPA’s 2016 Federal Budget Submission, industry placements funded by the Commonwealth are a critical part of improving industry engagement with research and it is encouraging to see that this has been given strong support by the review. CAPA looks forward to working with universities and the Commonwealth to create an agency charged with the management of this crucial element in the research training system.
Finally, CAPA strongly endorses the need for more data on the outcomes of HDR candidates and their five to ten year employment prospects. CAPA believes that longitudinal studies would result in much higher quality data, which could then be utilised more effectively by the higher education sector to ensure better outcomes for HDR candidates. Furthermore, the transparency of these datasets to prospective HDR candidates is absolutely central to the future success and sustainability of Australia’s research training system.
CAPA National President Jim Smith says, “The review sets the scene for significant change in the research training system among Australian universities. What remains to be seen is if Vice-Chancellors and the Commonwealth government are actually willing to step up to the plate and provide adequate resourcing to support the changes recommended by the review.”
ENDS
For comment: Jim Smith, National President, CAPA: 0437 006 605 / president@capa.edu.au
