Australia’s review of higher education must consider whether universities are too big and too similar, and whether “bold experiments” in specialist, teaching-only institutions would serve the economy better, the nation’s most senior public servant has said.

Former Melbourne University vice chancellor Glyn Davis, who is now the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, told a conference in Melbourne last week that policy settings over the past 30 years had created a sector in which all universities looked alike, which was a disservice to the growing numbers of students.