Ladies and gentlemen – thank you for taking the time today to take part in this discussion about the importance of higher education and skills development for the ACT.
This morning I am here to talk about a number of important initiatives - and to talk specifics. Perhaps most relevantly I shall outline some of the Government’s response to the Tertiary Taskforce Report.
Can I state from the outset that the Government is keenly aware of the importance of this sector, both as a contributor to the Territory economy and to Canberra’s social capital. We are keenly aware of national developments also.
In the ACT, we have the best educational institutions in the country. But, as we all know, the tertiary education environment is evolving.
There is a new wave of reform being driven by the Australian Government with guarantees of access, changes in funding and competitiveness and a new national VET system. The ACT has to evolve with it.
With these changes, come opportunities. Tertiary education providers should look to:
- how they can provide access to a wider range of students who have traditionally not participated in higher education;
- how to improve students pathways, to allow them to access the skills and training they need to get the jobs of the future; and
- provide industry with the skilled workforce they want to be competitive in a tight national labour market and a fast-paced global economy.
These changes will allow our economy and our community to prosper.
The ACT needs to position itself for a greater market share of domestic students as well as of international student market. So business as usual is not an option.
There must be change - if we are to further develop Canberra as an education and learning hub, embodying excellence and innovation. Clearly, there must be more collaboration between industry, employers, governments and education and training providers.
With this in mind, in 2009, I set out the need for bold ideas to make the most of the opportunities and the challenges that lie ahead. In the face of these modernising national reforms and the changing needs of students and employers, the ACT needed to examine the whole tertiary sector in the ACT.
During 2010, the ACT Government undertook a number of initiatives to position us to meet future challenges. First we established the ACT Tertiary Taskforce to make recommendations on the future of tertiary education in the ACT.
Second, we commissioned work to reform our high schools and colleges in the ACT.
Both projects were aimed to place the ACT at the centre of an evolving education environment.
The work on high schools and colleges will be provided to the ACT Government later this month, and will recommend changes to the secondary education system, including the place of Vocational Education and Training in high schools and colleges.
The Tertiary Taskforce met through May to November 2010 to progress its agenda and to consider the outcomes of consultation meetings with stakeholders. The Taskforce delivered its report ‘Learning Capital’ with twelve recommendations, which I launched in February 2011.
The Taskforce envisaged Canberra having the best tertiary education system of any city in the world, linking lifelong learning with research and innovation to create a learning capital, serving our region, as well as students across Australia and from around the globe.
Today I reiterate the Government’s commitment to establishing and promoting Canberra as the learning capital. In the long-term, I would like to see the education and training sector in the ACT employ more people than the Commonwealth public service. This means many more Canberrans staying here to study, and thousands more students from inter-state and overseas choosing to come here.
With this in mind, we agree with the recommendations of the Taskforce to establish a more integrated tertiary education system. We support the establishment of a single information portal and this will be examined in line with the establishment of the Government Information Office recommended by the Hawke Review.
Today I also announce that the Government will establish the Learning Capital Council – responding to the recommendation for a steering committee of high level stakeholders to support the implementation of the tertiary education vision.
The establishment of the Council provides the opportunity for further collaboration and cooperation between education and training stakeholders – including industry. The scope of the Council will include education, training, workforce planning and migration.
The Government also agrees with the need for a greater level of collaboration between education providers.
A major recommendation of the Tertiary Taskforce Report referred to closer relations between the University of Canberra and the Canberra Institute of Technology. The matter came up again in the recent Hawke Review, indicating that there should be a formal marriage between the UC and the CIT. It is fair to say this has generated considerable discussion.
I welcome this discussion because a well considered response to these issues needs to be developed and the process should not be rushed. Ensuring high quality education and training whilst at the same time improving integration within the ACT Tertiary sector requires careful consideration, not only in theory but also in practice.
There appears no disagreement on the idea of much closer co-operation between these two fine Canberra institutions. There are a number of examples around Australia of dual institutions of higher learning, for example Swinburne and RMIT.
The question we now ask is what is the best model for Canberra?
The Government accepts the direction of the Taskforce and the Hawke review and as a positive step in meeting these visions, the Government will undertake a two stage process towards a new model.
Firstly, we will commission work to:
- Explore and report to Government on the opportunities for formal collaboration between UC and CIT, including amalgamation.
- Assess these opportunities against the vision, goals and principles contained in the Federal Government’s review of higher education;
- Assess how the VET sector can be strengthened to meet the needs of the ACT, including strengthening VET in schools; and
- Recommend to the Government the preferred arrangements/model to achieve these objectives.
I envisage that this work will be complete within 6-8 weeks.
Following this, the Government will commission implementation of the recommendations – involving all stakeholders.
I look forward to working with many in this room to achieve the best outcome for Canberra – for our students, our economy and our industry.
In concluding, let me again thank you for your contributions today. We look forward to working together to see Canberra become the first Australian city to create a truly integrated, high quality, low cost, easy to navigate andefficient tertiary and training education system.
