VET groups have enlisted advertisers and researchers in their battle with federal politicians of all colours. And they’ve aimed a few sideswipes at each other. Six Victorian TAFE institutes have funded a series of large advertisements in The Australian, imploring ...

It’s goodbye TTCs, hello again ATCs if the Coalition wins the election. A Coalition government would spend $740 million to establish 30 new Australian Technical Colleges (ATCs), Opposition leader Tony Abbott and shadow training minister Mathias Cormann announced last week. ...

Stark comparisons can be drawn between the government’s attitude to the mining industry and international education, writes Paul Rodan. Those in the international education sector cannot have missed the obvious contrast between their treatment by government and that given to ...

Australian outbound mobility is much higher than some would have us believe, writes Stephen Connelly. The article ‘Mobility a one way street’ (CR, 02.08.10) seriously under reports the number of Australian students undertaking international study experiences. The real story is ...

Indigenous affairs have moved on in Australia, but Stuart Middleton says there’s a strange undercurrent. I have been in Australia a bit lately - conferences and a holiday. The issue of relations between governments and indigenous peoples has been not ...

Universities can play a key role in balancing the short-term interest and obfuscation that politicians in the climate change debate, writes Joseph Gora. The recent announcement of the ALP’s climate change policy by Prime Minister Julia Gillard was greeted with ...

Is voluntary teacher registration better than a mandatory scheme, asks John Mitchell. Improvements are needed to assessment practices in the VET sector. Research conducted last year by the National Quality Council (NQC) as part of a project entitled Quality of ...

The federal government has the Opposition’s support on the national VET regulator. But getting the states to agree is always tricky. There’s bipartisan support in Canberra for a new national VET regulator, but that hasn’t stopped the federal election throwing ...

Universities are the breeding ground for ideas. Think tanks are the perfect way to get them mobilized, writes Bruce Muirhead. The term think tank is a particularly vivid paradox. Thinking is intangible. Lightweight. The human brain is said to have ...

A recent paper on Australia’s research workforce offers a genuinely creative opportunity to rethink the ideal research worker, writes Sharon Bell. The federal government’s discussion paper ‘Meeting Australia’s research workforce needs: A consultation paper to inform the development of the ...