Budget 2024: Government pulls TEQSA and ARC from new super agency ATEC

The federal government has clipped the wings of the powerful, new super agency to oversee universities that was announced in the budget.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare. Picture: David Swift

The federal government has clipped the wings of the powerful new super agency to oversee universities that it announced in the budget, deciding not to merge the university regulator and the government’s main research funding authority into the new body.

Universities have been told the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, which regulates higher education, and the Australian Research Council, which funds university research, will not be included in the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, the new statutory body that will administer higher education,

The new body was recommended by the Universities Accord review, which envisaged the inclusion of the TEQSA and the ARC.

The super body is planned to be the government’s independent tertiary education policy and decision-making arm, recommending funding and tuition fee levels, matching the availability of education to Australia’s skill needs and ensuring the nation develops a variety of tertiary institutions.

The decision to remove the regulator TEQSA from ATEC will resolve the potential conflicts of interest that arise if the body running higher education (ATEC) controls the body that regulated it (TEQSA).

However, following the government’s decision, announced on Saturday, to put caps on the number of international students each university and other educational institutions can enrol, ATEC is likely to have the additional controversial role of deciding the number and composition of international students who will be allowed at each university. This will be a major task, requiring it to take into account each university’s student housing capacity, which the government says will influence the international student cap.

Tuesday’s budget started the process of implementing the Universities Accord review, which aims to fulfil the government’s goal of having 80 per cent of working-age Australians holding a tertiary qualification by 2050.

Education Minister Jason Clare has set up a committee of tertiary education representatives to advise him on establishing ATEC and implementing some other accord recommendations.

Chaired by Education Department secretary Tony Cook, the other members are University of South Australia vice-chancellor David Lloyd; University of NSW vice-president societal impact, equity and engagement Verity Firth; economist Stephen Duckett; University of Sydney historian Julia Horne; former University of Canberra chancellor Tom Calma; Jobs and Skills Commissioner Barney Glover; and TAFE Directors Australia CEO Jenny Dodd.

Independent colleges are concerned they have no representation on the implementation committee.

The Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia said its members were “uniquely equipped” to help meet one of the accord’s objectives of bring higher education and vocational training closer together.

“ITECA members contribute significantly to both higher education and vocational training, and are ideally positioned to offer invaluable insights that support the alignment of these sectors,” the council said.

Pascale Quester, vice-chancellor of Swinburne University – which teaches both higher education and vocational training courses – said the lack of representation from dual sector institutions like Swinburne was a “glaring omission”.

“The government must ensure dual sector institutions like Swinburne are brought to the implementation table,” she said.

“If we are to meet Australia’s lifelong learning challenges and address our skills crisis, we need a combination of practical skills gained through vocational education and analytical knowledge acquired in higher education. We know that for many learners, it will, more often than not, require both, this is only achievable through dual-sector institutes.”