by: Dr Michelle Mosiere
Universities Australia’s CEO, Luke Sheehy, addressed the National Press Club on 26 February 2025 with an impassioned plea for greater collaboration between the government and the higher education sector. It was a journey from The Good, to The Bad and beyond, to the downright Ugly.
Sheehy acknowledged the transformative power of education – and its ability to take people from a place of adversity to a world of opportunity – as the perennial Good of our sector. He flagged sector-wide challenges from sexual assault and antisemitism to funding shortages and free TAFE as the post-covid Bad. But what of the Ugly? This was expressed with confounding simplicity: “Universities are not treated as a policy priority”.
A foray into the unholy trinity of workforce shortages, a politicised international market and structural underfunding offered insights into the implications of a de-prioritised sector that is nonetheless charged with educating 1 million more students per year by 2050.
In concrete terms, Australia needs a further 123,000 nurses and 1.2 million technology graduates by 2030. Doubt already exists as to whether these targets are achievable. The nation is currently 4,000 teachers short of 2025’s targets amid a projected shortfall of 100,000 engineers in coming years. Not accounted for in Sheehy’s reported statistics are the future professionals in other fields. As commented, graduates are needed to lead the transition to clean energy, calm conflicts, nurture aging Australians, and drive economic growth.
This begs the question – why is higher education repeatedly sidelined? International education is Australia’s second largest export outside of mining. As Sheehy observed, it is an additive industry that pays for essential services, funds research and strengthens the nation’s cultural fabric.
That our sector supports the economy is undeniable. The essential dilemma resides in the lack of reciprocal support. Research, innovation and development have suffered a 30-year decline that Sheehy now describes as “a national emergency”. Sub-optimal funding that allocates 1.66 per cent of Australia’s gross domestic product to research and development is only one side of the coin. The other is the cost of degrees set by the government (not the universities) that disallows fair and affordable rates.
How can the sector fund the requisite student places to fuel Australia’s economy when the fundamental architecture of the funding system needs renovation? Recognising universities as a baseline solution to the nation’s skills challenge in the current climate is like acknowledging the ability of a bird to fly while clipping its wings.
The full address is available online at National Press Club Address: Luke Sheehy – Universities Australia CEO : ABC iview.
(Photo from Universities Australia)
