Three universities dodge federal funding freeze
The federal government has again breached its university funding freeze with an extra $41m for the University of Tasmania.
The Turnbull government has again breached its freeze on university funding by giving an extra $41 million to the University of Tasmania to pay for 1500 extra places for students over the next four years.
It follows revelations earlier this year that two other institutions also received funding top-ups after the funding freeze was imposed last December by federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham. The University of the Sunshine Coast received $69m and Southern Cross University got $13m.
Most government funding announcements are widely publicised but Senator Birmingham has kept news of the extra money for the three institutions out of the spotlight in the face of hostility from other universities, which will have their course subsidies for this year and next fixed at last year’s level, with no adjustment for inflation.
The extra money for the University of Tasmania was quietly announced by Tasmanian Liberal senator Eric Abetz on his website on March 15, but little noticed.
It was fully revealed this month in a government answer to a question asked on notice by Labor senator Jacinta Collins in a Senate estimates hearing.
The University of Tasmania will use its extra money, $41.1m up to mid-2022, to pay for 500 more associate-degree students this year, with an extra 1000 associate-degree students due to start next year.
It is part of a broader program by the university to tackle Tasmania’s education deficit, with more teenagers not finishing school than any other state. The associate degrees, which are two-year courses focused on job-ready skills, are aimed at mature-aged people without Year 12 credentials who want to upgrade their skills and move into better jobs.
Many of the associate-degree places will be in northern Tasmania where the school-leaving problem is most acute.
While other universities won’t comment on the extra money for the three universities, there is widespread anger at what are seen to be special deals. However a government spokesman said the extra money was a 2016 election promise made to those three universities only, and predated the December funding freeze,
Until the freeze, all universities were subsidised for all bachelor students they enrolled, with no upper limit on numbers.
The University of Tasmania funding is different to the other two universities in that it offers no extra degree places, but extra associate-degree places which have always been funded through special agreements.
However Grattan Institute higher education analyst Andrew Norton said there was still a question about the approach. “If there is unmet demand for associate degrees in Tasmania, why isn’t the same unmet demand not being met in other states?” he asked.
Federal Labor education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek said thousands of Australians would miss out on university places because of the funding freeze. “Malcolm Turnbull should reverse his cuts so everyone capable of a university education gets the chance,” she said.
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