KEY POINTS
- In 2010, the Australian Government and universities will agree mission-based compacts commencing in 2011, which will detail public funding commitments and reciprocal institutional commitments. They will support universities to pursue their distinctive missions and to contribute to the Australian Government’s aspirations for the higher education sector as whole.
- Mission-based compacts will promote excellence and build capacity and international competitiveness in the Australian university sector. They will give universities the chance to capitalise on their strengths and articulate the unique role they play in the higher education and innovation systems, their regions and communities, and internationally.
- The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr has said that one of the most important aims of compacts will be to minimise duplication and fragmentation within the research system and to concentrate resources for maximum efficiency and impact.
- Compacts will enhance institutional autonomy while encouraging greater collaboration and sectoral diversity, and increased participation in higher education by under-represented groups. They will facilitate the distribution of performance-based funds and the alignment of institutional activity with national priorities. They will also assist universities to achieve the highest standards of research and research training.
- As noted by the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, compacts herald a new era for the operation and funding of Australian higher education. They will play a key role in implementing the Australian Government’s reforms and in ensuring improved outcomes from increased Government investment in higher education.
- Compacts are expected to be in three parts: a preamble outlining the university’s mission, a teaching and learning component and another component covering research and research training. The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research will be responsible for the research elements and the Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations will be responsible for the teaching and learning elements. The Commonwealth will adopt a single, integrated process to ensure that each compact reflects a whole-of-university mission and a coordinated response to the Government’s reform agenda.
- Consultations concerning the compacts framework were undertaken with the higher education sector in August 2009 in response to a discussion paper released by the Government in July. From September to December officials from the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations engaged in bilateral meetings with 41 universities and other higher education providers to discuss the development of Interim Agreements and institutions broader strategic directions. Interim Agreements will be finalised in early 2010 and will be published.
FACTS AND FIGURES
No decision has been made by the Australian Government about the future funding arrangements for compacts, or for any specific component of the mission-based compacts.