On 16 November 2022, the Commonwealth Minister for Education, the Hon. Jason Clare announced the panel charged with developing the Australian Universities Accord that will provide a long-term plan for Australia’s higher education system.

Leading the team is Society Fellow, Emerita Professor Mary O’Kane AC FRSN FTSE — former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide, former NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, and currently Chair of the NSW Independent Planning Commission.  Also, a member of the six-person panel is Society Fellow Professor Barney Glover AO FRSN FTSE —  currently Vice-Chancellor of Western Sydney University and a former Vice-Chancellor of Charles Darwin University.  

Other members of the panel are Ms Shemara Wikramanayake, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Macquarie Group; the Hon. Jenny Macklin, former Minister for Families, Community Services, and Indigenous Affairs; Professor Larissa Behrendt AO FASSA, Professor of Law and Director, Academic and Research Programs in the UTS Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Research and Education; and the Hon. Fiona Nash, who currently is Australia’s first Regional Education Commissioner and a former Minister for Regional Development, Regional Communications, and Local Government and Territories.

Speaking at yesterday’s announcement, Mr Clare noted that this will be the first broad review of the higher education system since the Bradley Review, and an opportunity to look at everything from funding and access, to affordability, transparency, regulation, employment conditions, and how higher education and vocational education and training can and should work together.

Key areas for the review are:

• new targets and reforms for lifelong learning
• greater access and participation for students from “under-represented backgrounds”
• funding and contributions, including a review of the coalition’s Job Ready Graduates program
• regulatory and workplace relations
• VET and HE connections with an emphasis on student experiences
• a competitive international education sector
• the research pipeline and collaboration between universities and industry “to drive greater commercial returns”.

To read more about this review, please consult the Minister’s announcement and an article in the Sydney Morning Herald.