I am writing in response to an article by John Biggs headlined, 'When academia loses value', which appeared in the Sunday Morning Post, on February 13. Professor Biggs is a distinguished scholar with extensive experience of both the Australian and Hong Kong systems of higher education. It is therefore surprising and disappointing to read an article by him which so cavalierly damns the entire Australian university sector and appears to ignore the internationally recognised high quality of Australian universities. The assertion made in the article by Mr Biggs that the Australian Government has cut funding for higher education is simply not true. Over the past decade, total operating resources provided by the Australian Government for higher education (in constant prices and including capital funding) have increased significantly, from A$4 billion (about HK$19 billion) in 1989 to $5.2 billion in 1999, an increase of nearly 30 per cent. In addition, last year the Government announced that a further $259 million over three years in additional funding would be made available for salary supplementation for universities, conditional on improvements in management, administrative and industrial arrangements. A key measure of the Government's commitment to higher education is the fact that operating grant funding per fully funded student (including Higher Education Contribution Scheme loans to students), expressed in constant prices, has been maintained at around $11,800 per student between 1998 and 2002 (higher than at any point since 1990). This excludes the additional funding available in 2000, 2001 and 2002 for salary supplementation. In addition, under the current funding arrangement university revenues are at all-time high. It is estimated that in 2000 the total revenue available to higher education institutions from all sources will be $9 billion, an increase of nearly $0.9 billion since 1995. It is expected that university revenue will continue to grow. The Australian Government recognises that the nation's research capabilities are central to its success in the global knowledge economy. Through their research and research training functions, universities are major contributors to the generation and transmission of knowledge. Many of Australia's university researchers are international leaders in their particular fields. Expenditure on research and development in Australian universities and government agencies as a share of national wealth is high by world standards, ranking third among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development nations. Australia also performs strongly in terms of funding expended on basic research, most of which is performed in universities. The Government recently announced a new policy framework to strengthen university research and research training capabilities and links to innovation. These reforms will ensure that Australia's universities continue to be places where discovery and creativity are nurtured and, increasingly, places where Australian and international enterprises choose to locate their research and development activities and which will attract the best quality students from around the world. The Commonwealth Government of Australia is strongly committed to ensuring that the high quality of Australian higher education institutions is maintained. To this end, in December 1999 I announced that an Australian University Quality Agency would be established which will begin regular audits of all publicly-funded Australian higher education institutions in 2001. This agency will be the cornerstone of a strengthened quality assurance framework in Australian higher education. Professor Biggs is right in acknowledging that there are significant challenges in maintaining quality higher education provision, particularly given the realities of finite budgets for both universities and governments. But the Australian Government is addressing these challenges successfully and we are committed to ensuring the provision of the highest quality university education for both domestic and international students. DAVID KEMP Australian Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs
