FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 2025
19th August 2025 – The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) welcomes the Education Minister’s recently announced review into the powers of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA).
The Senate Education and Employment Committee Inquiry into University Governance has revealed a deeply concerning governance culture at the Australian National University. This has occurred amid a landmark national debate around productivity, damaging trust in our public universities.
CAPA believes that backing higher education and R&D is critical to preserving Australia’s place as the ‘clever country’. Yet, any increase in R&D expenditure can only occur with the knowledge that our hard-working academics, researchers, and Higher Degree by Research (HDR) candidates will see the much-needed funding.
CAPA acknowledges that Australian universities have grown in scale, complexity, and scope over the preceding decades. They must comply with tightly interwoven legislation and regulations at the State and Federal levels. Universities are capable of self-governance, yet it is clear that the current corporate-style governance arrangements, conceived by the Howard government, is not only outdated, but have created a disconnect between the universities and key stakeholders: the students and staff.
In our submission to the Inquiry into University Governance, CAPA proposed changes to TEQSA’s powers to put students at the heart of University Governance.
The majority of university governing members are appointed and do not interact with students. Student positions in university governance groups have frequently been described as ‘tokenistic’ or ‘obligatory’ by the student members filling those positions.
“Postgraduate students are at the nexus of staff, students, and researchers. We are the perfect partners to work alongside academics and the university management to improve our universities,” said Jesse Gardner-Russell, CAPA National President
“[Post]Graduates are not just students: we are researchers, academics and future leaders. Stronger oversight of governance will ensure that the voices of HDR and Coursework students are not only heard, but embedded in the decision-making process across the Higher Education sector,” said Ethan Chou, President of The University of Melbourne Graduate Student Association.
“[Post]Graduate students will keep fighting for dedicated postgraduate representation on our University’s Governing Council,” he said.
CAPA calls for TEQSA to be given the powers to independently audit or appoint an independent auditor for the reviews of governing bodies of Australian universities.
“The University of Western Australia Postgraduate Students’ Association strongly supports the review into TEQSA’s powers. Without genuine representation in governance structures, student perspectives are too often treated as symbolic rather than central,” said Charlotte Backshall, President of UWA PSA.
We also call for the TEQSA Higher Education Standards to be amended to prioritise and include student participation, specifically Postgraduate Coursework and Higher Degree by Research (HDR) participation in all university corporate governance structures.
“Universities exist for the public good; if universities are serious about transparency and accountability, they must empower students to be genuine partners in decision-making,” said Dr Aadhya Babu, President (Coursework) of the Association of Postgraduate Students, The University of Queensland.
“University governing bodies need to be less reliant on external members that are disconnected from the institution, and instead have greater representation of the academics, professional staff, and students who have a stake in the institution’s success,” said Mitch Craig, CAPA National Secretary and 2023 Curtin University Council Member.
“Students bring significant value to university governing bodies, as demonstrated by institutions that embrace their contributions. Their presence is not symbolic; rather, they serve as genuine partners in shaping and advancing the mission of education. This represents a step in the right direction and highlights the potential for broader application across Australia,” said Viknash VM, CAPA Board Chair and 2023 UWA Senate Member.
Finally, we call for the amendment of the Higher Education Standards Framework to include a framework for how universities should work with students as partners in corporate and academic governance.
“We want our universities to succeed in their mission of teaching and research,” said Jesse Gardner-Russell, CAPA National President .
“Australia has some of the leading higher education institutions in the world; we have world-class facilities, phenomenal academic and professional staff, and, of course, the best student cohorts; we must ensure our university governance is student-focused and allow students to play a central role in its design,” said Gardner-Russell.
Universities continue to carry the majority of the nation’s research load, investing $14 billion in 2022, with over half funded from their own revenues. CAPA backs calls to increase public investment in R&D to the OECD average of 0.74 per cent of GDP, yet believes that university governance overhaul is necessary for trust in any R&D expenditure boost.
—ENDS—
