Funding promises must be backed by sound policy

Any promises of additional funding for regional education initiatives must be underpinned by sound policy rather than ‘band-aid’ solutions which may undermine current successful initiatives. In commenting on the recent announcement by the National Party, ATN Chair, Professor Ross Milbourne says, “The commitment from the National Party to provide funding to help regional Australians get to university is a welcome recognition of the importance of higher education to the national economy. However, the ATN seeks clarification about how and over what time the fund would be allocated.

“What would be disappointing is to see the EIF, which has had a significant impact on the sector, redirected away from vital education infrastructure projects,” Professor Milbourne said.

“The role of the EIF is to build a modern, productive, internationally competitive Australian economy by supporting world‐leading, strategically-focused infrastructure investments that will transform Australian tertiary education and research. It is not the role of EIF to support recurrent expenditure for a limited number of universities.

“These issues need a far more comprehensive investigation of the relative costs of provision across the entire sector rather than a poorly thought out band-aid solution which only underpins a small proportion of the nation’s student load,” Professor Milbourne said.

“The ATN’s already established commitment to access and equity is well recognised by Governments and within the communities in which each of our five members operate. We seek a national policy framework which puts the interests and needs of students first and leads to measures that will act as an incentive for all students, be they disadvantaged by income, age or geography.”