Australia¡¯s shadow education minister has vowed to keep a close watch on the ¡°philosophies¡± guiding the nascent Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec), while condemning the government¡¯s indifference towards the ¡°inextricable link¡± between education and productivity.

But Jonathon Duniam, also a Tasmanian senator, said he will give the government the ¡°benefit of the doubt¡±?that its managed growth funding scheme will ¡°work in a practical sense¡±.

In an address to the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (Acses) symposium, Duniam said he was astonished that education had not been given more prominence in the government¡¯s recent productivity roundtable. ¡°So central and essential is this ingredient to our nation¡¯s success,¡± he said. ¡°The fact that it hasn¡¯t been spoken about is something that defies belief.¡±

Duniam promised ¡°bipartisanship¡± in higher education policy development but ¡°no blank cheque¡±. He expressed ¡°cautious optimism¡± about the government¡¯s plan to use needs-based funding in the ¡°noble cause¡± of making university admissions more equitable but said the mechanism was ¡°yet to deliver its promised results¡± in schools.

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¡°We should all seek assurances about what elements of a needs-based funding model will work in universities¡­especially if it¡¯s fundamentally being developed at arm¡¯s length by the Atec,¡± he told the symposium. ¡°Whether this latest attempt works or not remains to be seen.¡±

Duniam noted ¡°diverse and wide-ranging¡± views about Atec and its role. ¡°That includes how it will be structured¡­configured and staffed in its final form. It also includes what its philosophies as an organisation will be. I obviously intend to monitor the implementation of this very closely.

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¡°I¡­don¡¯t think I¡¯ve met a single higher education stakeholder yet who¡¯s completely content with either the current or proposed funding of the sector.¡±

His observations suggest that Atec could become a battleground area between the government and its opponents, according to Tim Pitman, trials and evaluation programme director at Acses.

¡°They will be looking very closely at any sense that Atec is not evidence-driven but ideologically driven,¡± Pitman told the conference. ¡°That will be a point of interest for¡­the opposition. I think we¡¯ll see some very heated...very interesting debates.¡±

To date, much of the debate around Atec has centred on whether it is sufficiently at arm¡¯s length from government. The Universities Accord recommended an independent body, but the government proposes that Atec will sit within the Department of Education.

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Although?legislation to establish Atec as a statutory body is yet to be lodged, the agency has begun interim operations, with staff preparing advice on how it should manage its future functions.

Needs-based funding will be available for every socio-economically disadvantaged student, which means Atec will not determine the quantum of funding. But work has begun on refining the definitions of disadvantage that will guide eligibility for the extra money.

Acses executive director Shamit Saggar said parliamentary debates about the Atec legislation would reveal whether the opposition wanted to ¡°constrain or liberate¡± the agency.

¡°It¡¯ll be interesting to look at the extent to which the opposition sees long-term reform guided by a commission that is going to have an arm¡¯s-length relationship with day-to-day higher education politics,¡± he told the symposium.

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Saggar echoed Duniam¡¯s criticism of the sidelining of universities in the economic reform roundtable. ¡°The university sector simply [was] not present in the way you would expect it to be in any other comparable industrial democracy.¡±

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com