Our regular columnist Dr John Mitchell interviews one of the more divisive people in Australian tertiary education this week, former federal education minister John Dawkins. In the late 1990s, Dawkins revolutionised the sector. He abolished the “binary system” that distinguished ...

 Universities need to think about the future in a more constructive manner, writes Lenore Cooper. A vice-chancellor recently told me that, given the level of dynamism in the Australian higher education environment and the vagaries of government policy, he saw ...

The initial slow regulatory process by TEQSA and ASQA has put private providers at disadvantage compared with public institutions. By John Wood.  There is considerable dialogue at present around the impact of the new regulatory regimes in higher education and ...

The Productivity Commission report into vocational education and training has flaws in some very important areas, writes John Mitchell. The current damage being inflicted on the VET system in Victoria is no surprise to those who have observed related attacks ...

 University of Canberra vice-chancellor Stephen Parker muses on the economic, demographic, technological and intellectual challenges for our higher education sector. To help us evaluate the importance of universities, I want to focus on the Australia of the future, perhaps in ...

Retirees, Dr Fred Flint and Professor Harry Spark, ponder some of the changes that have swept over universities since their retirement in the mid-’70s. (Inspired by Monty Python’s Four Yorkshire Men sketch.) By Richard Hil.   Fred [Taking first gulp from ...

 New Zealand’s struggles with tertiary reform may provide some guidance for its neighbour across the ditch. By Stuart Middleton.  From this side of the Tasman, the weekly soap opera that appears to be TAFE in Australia makes interesting reading. We ...

The new Law Associate Deans Network is moving to adapt the curriculum and teaching to meet modern needs. By Kate Galloway. In the nearly 10 years since Johnstone and Vignaendra (2003) published their report on learning outcomes and curriculum development ...

To help students from low socio-economic backgrounds do their best universities need to engage with them and their teachers rather than act when it is too late, writes Marcia Devlin. Students from low socio-economic status (LSES) backgrounds are entering Australian ...

While controversies rage in Victoria about shonky providers, ASQA is closing in wherever it can. By John Mitchell. Just a few years back shonky providers were viewed as a temporary aberration in the VET sector, located within and then hopefully ...