The Hon Julie Bishop MP

Twenty-three universities will receive a share of more than $83 million to reward excellence in teaching and learning, the Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Julie Bishop MP, announced today.

“I congratulate the successful universities that have demonstrated a commitment to high quality learning and teaching, and particularly those which have performed strongly across multiple discipline groups,” Minister Bishop said.

The successful universities were recognised for their achievements as part of the 2008 Learning and Teaching Performance Fund in the following discipline groups:

The fund, announced on 13 May 2003 as part of the Australian Government’s Our Universities: Backing Australia’s Future package of reforms and initiatives, has provided more than $220 million since 2006 to universities that best demonstrate excellence in undergraduate learning and teaching.

While the Australian Government has increased funding for universities from $5.4 billion 1996 to $8.8 billion in 2007, significant funding increases have been made since 2004 when the Government eliminated the Labor’s $96 billion debt.

In 2007 alone, there has been $7.9 billion committed to universities, including the visionary $6 billion Higher Education Endowment Fund, which will provide universities with a perpetual growth fund for decades to come.

Details about the outcomes and funding allocations are at Attachments 1 and 2.

For further information, visit:
http://www.dest.gov.au/highered/2008_learning_teaching_performance_fund.htm

Media Contacts:
Minister Bishop’s Office: Murray Hansen 0417 886 155
Dept of Education, Science & Training: Media Unit 02 6240 7300
Non-media queries 1300 363 079

2008 Learning and Teaching Performance Fund winners
These tables show the top bands of achievement for each discipline group. Universities appear in alphabetical order within each band.

Universities in Band A1 or A2 will receive a student load-related grant for each discipline group in which they appear, plus a single university grant of $1 million. The load related grant will be weighted by 1.5 for A1 universities and 1.0 for A2. For funding detail, please see Attachment 2.

Science, computing, engineering, architecture and agriculture	Business, law and economics	Humanities, arts and education	Health
BAND A1
The Australian National University	The Australian National University	The Australian National University	Monash University
The University of New England	The University of Melbourne	The University of New South Wales	University of Ballarat
The University of New South Wales	The University of New South Wales	The University of Sydney	University of Canberra
University of Tasmania	University of Canberra	The University of Western Australia	University of Technology, Sydney
University of Technology, Sydney	University of Technology, Sydney	University of Technology, Sydney	University of Wollongong
University of Wollongong	University of Wollongong	University of Wollongong
BAND A2
Edith Cowan University	Monash University	Monash University	Deakin University
Monash University	Murdoch University	Swinburne University of Technology	The University of New England
Southern Cross University	Southern Cross University	The University of Melbourne	The University of New South Wales
Swinburne University of Technology	Swinburne University of Technology	University of Ballarat	The University of Western Australia
The University of Melbourne	The University of Sydney	University of the Sunshine Coast
The University of Sydney	The University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia	University of the Sunshine Coast
	University of Tasmania

An additional group of five universities not featured in the “A” list merit recognition as having performed well in a highly competitive context. These universities will receive a grant of $500,000.

** Indicates universities excluded by the Fund’s Expert Panel from this discipline group due to a low number of responses.

Media Release

$83 million to reward excellence in our universities