Canberra¡¯s migration policy poses an existential threat to industry as well as universities, and the two can only secure their futures by working together, new Universities Australia (UA) chair Carolyn Evans has warned.

Evans, who has led Queensland¡¯s Griffith University for the past six years, said the federal government¡¯s ¡°very abrupt change¡± to international education policy settings had stripped vital funding from universities.

It had also raised questions over the degree to which migration could continue to fill Australia¡¯s skills gaps. ¡°It¡¯s important for industry to see that it¡¯s only through partnership that we¡¯re actually going to have the type of graduates that they want,¡± Evans said.

¡°We are going to need to have a new model of doing things. It is a time to be imaginative.¡±

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Evans was elected unopposed to chair UA for two years, succeeding University of South Australia vice-chancellor David Lloyd. A Rhodes Scholar and lawyer who specialises in human rights and academic and religious freedom, she has also served as chair of the Innovative Research Universities and president of the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association.

She nominated Hong Kong as a ¡°fabulous example¡± of a society where industry ¡°sees itself as a real partner in the development of the workforce of the future¡±. Australia¡¯s experience had been more mixed, with some businesses prepared to ¡°put real skin of their own in the game¡±, while others took ¡°no responsibility¡± for helping universities ¡°discharge that onerous burden¡±.

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Evans said industry could help by providing work opportunities or expertise, but it also needed to contribute financially. She said Australia¡¯s ¡°persistently¡± low unemployment had generated ¡°much more interest¡± from businesses. ¡°We all know that economic cycle will change¡­so we really need to establish constructive and sustainable long-term partnerships.¡±

In particular, industry should assume responsibility for bankrolling students¡¯ practical placements. But Evans acknowledged the difficulties. ¡°The health system is underfunded. The education system is underfunded. Everybody is scrambling for resource. From each side, there¡¯s a temptation to want the other to do more.

¡°We have to recognise that governments have a range of priorities ¨C of legitimate, important, pressing priorities ¨C and a limited pool for that funding to come from.¡±

Nevertheless, hard conversations were needed with a federal government hell-bent on reducing the number of international students who ¡°make up for a funding gap¡± in university teaching, research and infrastructure.

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¡°If government feels that it is critical in the national interest to reduce the number of those students ¨C and I think we would contest that to some degree ¨C [we] have to recognise that¡­universities [cannot] continue to make further cuts to meet that gap. We¡¯re already seeing hundreds, thousands of jobs being lost in the sector, and that¡¯s not sustainable.

¡°The taxpayer has been able to get away with a relatively modest contribution to get an outstandingly good education system. We need a sensible position between allowing [a] sufficient number of international students in¡­plus a reconsideration of the funding that the government puts into universities. My sense is that the government is up for looking at those big questions.¡±

Evans said she wanted UA to provide a ¡°united front around key policy issues¡±, while also ensuring that it was delivering the right benefits for its members. ¡°It could be sharing resources. It could be joint professional development. It could be sharing policies to fast-track the process of compliance with new legislation.

¡°It¡¯s a member organisation. I¡¯m looking forward to the opportunity to engage quite deeply with¡­members around what they want.¡±

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com