Unis fear research funds ‘cut’ will top $135m

Universities fear they may suffer an actual cut in research funding, not just a cap on growth.

Education Minister Dan Tehan, right, with Scott Morrison. Picture: Adam Taylor

Universities fear they may suffer an actual cut in research funding, not just a cap on growth, amid confusion about the impact of the curb on research funding announced by federal Education Minister Dan Tehan on Monday.

Mr Tehan said that a $135 million boost to students in regional areas across the next four years would be paid for with a cap on growth of government funding to universities through the research support program, currently worth $900m a year.

In 2016 the Turnbull government announced a $50m a year boost to this program following the Watt review of research policy and funding.

It is believed that this extra $50m a year is what universities will lose in order to pay for the new student places in some regional universities and new scholarships for regional students announced by Mr Tehan.

But the lack of detail has caused concern that the loss of $50m a year for four years will take away more from research than the $135m being transferred to regional students. It also raised fears that the government could retrospectively take away the annual $50m boost to research back to when it was first paid last year.

It will particularly hurt the research-intensive Group of Eight universities, which receive nearly two-thirds of the funding for research support.

Group of Eight chief executive Vicki Thomson said Mr Tehan needed to explain exactly how the research support program was going to be affected.

“I don’t think you can characterise it as anything other than a cut in funding to a program which funds salaries for research support staff and research infrastructure,” she said.

The government is expected to release more details of the funding arrangements in the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook statement next month.

The government has allocated $92m of the $135m of spending on regional students to creating student places — mainly in sub-­bachelor degrees — and to enabling courses that aim to help students in regional areas reach the ­required standard to enter ­university.

In his announcement Mr Tehan also postponed the introduction of an initiative announced last year to allocate student places in postgraduate courses, enabling courses and sub-bachelor courses according to industry needs.

However, critics pointed out that the plan did not take into account some courses, such as language programs, which were important but were not a direct response to industry needs.

Mr Tehan said in his announcement on Monday that the date of introduction has been put back a year to January 1, 2020, to allow for more consultation.