- In 2010, the Australian Government and universities will enter into mission-based compacts for 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 opportunity 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. The aim is to maximise efficiency and the impact of resources by minimising duplication and fragmentation within the research system. They will also assist universities to achieve the highest standards of research and research training.
- 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 contain the following components: the context in which the compacts are established, the university’s mission, a teaching and learning component and another component covering research, research training and innovation. The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research will be responsible for the research and research training 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.
- The Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations are currently developing the draft compact template for circulation to the sector for comment.
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.