Media Release - Our Universities – Backing Australia’s Future 
Media Release - Funding Boost for Regional Universities and Campuses
A strong higher education sector is vital to Australia’s economic, cultural and social development. The Commonwealth is this year providing $6.7 billion to support the sector. There are more than 700,000 students studying in Australian universities. A Review of Higher Education last year identified a number of challenges facing our universities which, if not addressed, will put the future of our universities at risk.
To assist institutions to meet these challenges, the Government has developed an integrated new policy framework based on four foundation principles: sustainability, quality, equity and diversity.
WHAT THIS BUDGET WILL PROVIDE:
Laying the foundation for a ten year vision, approximately $1.5 billion in additional funding will be invested in higher education over the next four years, with more than $660 million in additional funding per year from 2007. Over the next ten years, the Commonwealth will provide more than $10 billion in new support for the sector, including an estimated $6.9 billion in additional funding to the sector and approximately $3.7 billion in financial assistance to students through a system of new student loans.
The reforms will establish a partially deregulated system of higher education in which individual universities are better able to capitalise on their particular strengths and determine the value of their course offerings in a competitive environment.
New arrangements for student financing will encourage lifelong learning and ensure equity of access to higher education – no eligible student will be required to pay fees up front when they enrol with an eligible higher education institution. Education will be free at the point of entry.
1. Support for higher education institutions
Funding of $1059 million will be provided over four years for a range of initiatives to support institutions:
-
A new Commonwealth Grant Scheme (CGS) will replace the current system of block operating grants to each university. The Commonwealth will negotiate with each higher education institution to deliver a specified number of Commonwealth supported places in particular course disciplines. This will ensure that universities provide the courses and the numbers of graduates that are needed by the nation.
-
Each university will set its own student contribution levels within ranges set by the Government. Commonwealth funding per student will increase, following institutions’ adherence to a set of National Governance Protocols and compliance with Commonwealth workplace relations policies. Higher funding levels will also be introduced for student places at regional campuses of public higher education institutions. Approximately 25,000 new Commonwealth supported places will replace marginally funded places from 2005. An additional 745 places will be provided in the National Priority areas of nursing and teaching. There will be additional Commonwealth supported places provided annually from 2007 to meet anticipated population growth. This will create 1,400 new Commonwealth supported places in 2007
2. Support for students
Funding of $85.1 million will be provided over four years to support students:
-
A suite of income contingent loans under the new Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) will underpin student financing. All eligible Australians will receive a Learning Entitlement of five years of equivalent full-time higher education (extended on a pro-rata basis if studying part-time) with an extension beyond five years where a student is undertaking an initial undergraduate course or pathway in which the normal enrolment period is longer than five years (e.g. medicine at undergraduate or graduate degree levels or double degrees with honours). Individuals will also receive an additional entitlement after a specified number of years to be determined by the Commonwealth at a later date.
-
There will be enhancements to the current Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS), including an increase in the repayment threshold to $30,000 from 2005 (the threshold currently stands at $24,365).
-
For the first time loans will also be offered to help students who are paying full fees in public and eligible private higher education institutions (FEE-HELP). A third loan scheme will be established for students who need financial assistance to study overseas (OS-HELP).
-
Commonwealth Learning Scholarships for educational and accommodation costs will also be offered. Increased support will be provided to students from disadvantaged groups, particularly Indigenous students. The number of Australian Postgraduate Awards will be increased in line with population growth.
3. Support for a diverse and equitable system
Funding of $218.8 million will also be provided over four years to support universities to individualise their missions and achieve reform in areas such as learning and teaching, workplace productivity and collaboration:
-
A Learning and Teaching Performance Fund worth $83.8 million in 2006-07 will be established to reward those institutions that achieve excellence in learning and teaching. Commencing in 2006 with an initial $54.7 million, the Fund highlights the Howard Government’s commitment to learning and teaching and will help to ensure the ongoing high quality of the Australian higher education sector.
-
In 2004 a new National Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education will be established as a national focus for the enhancement of learning and teaching in Australian higher education. The Australian Awards for University Teaching will also be enhanced to further heighten the status of teaching.
-
The Commonwealth will provide $55.2 million from 2006 to 2007 for a new Workplace Productivity Programme to encourage institutions to pursue a broader workplace reform agenda, with institutions encouraged to implement flexible working arrangements and focus on direct relationships with employees and improved productivity and performance.
-
An additional $20 million over three years will be provided for a Collaboration and Structural Reform Fund from 2005 to foster innovation and collaboration between universities and other education providers, business, industry, professional associations, and community groups.
Media Release - Our Children – Australia’s Future Record Funding for Australian Schools
Media Release - Our Children – Australia’s Future Increased Federal Funding for Government Schools in NSW
Media Release - Our Children – Australia’s Future Increased Federal Funding for Government Schools in VIC
Media Release - Our Children – Australia’s Future Increased Federal Funding for Government Schools in QLD
Media Release - Our Children – Australia’s Future Increased Federal Funding for Government Schools in SA
Media Release - Our Children – Australia’s Future Increased Federal Funding for Government Schools in WA
Media Release - Our Children – Australia’s Future Increased Federal Funding for Government Schools in TAS
Media Release - Our Children – Australia’s Future Increased Federal Funding for Government Schools in NT
Media Release - Our Children – Australia’s Future Increased Federal Funding for Government Schools in ACT
Media Release - Government Boosts Language Teaching and Education
Media Release - ECEF Savings Measure - Supporting Young Australians from school to work ECEF moves into DEST
Quality education is vital to Australia’s future. The Government is committed to continuing to provide substantial levels of funding to produce real results for all students.
In 2003 there are more than three million students attending more than 9,600 primary and secondary schools. Some 68 per cent attend government schools and approximately two-thirds of non-government school students are in Catholic schools.
The Commonwealth has a national leadership role in conjunction with State, Territory and non-government school authorities in identifying national standards and priorities for schooling and setting policy direction for schools to achieve the National Goals for Schooling in the 21st Century. The Commonwealth provides significant additional funding to State, Territory and non-government school authorities to support agreed priorities and strategies.
Good progress has been achieved in improving literacy and numeracy standards, with only one country performing better than Australia in reading and maths literacy, and only two in scientific literacy (OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)).
The Howard Government remains committed to schools reporting to parents the results of national benchmark tests in literacy and numeracy.
Last year Victoria agreed to join Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory in reporting these results to parents. Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania have been urged to do likewise.
The Commonwealth provides supplementary assistance for the recurrent costs of schools and improvement of capital infrastructure, particularly for educationally disadvantaged students. It also promotes and supports a range of policies and programmes for these students, including helping them achieve a minimum standard of literacy or numeracy and assistance for students with disabilities, students in rural and remote areas and students with a non-English language background. Funding is also provided to close the gap between the educational outcomes of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.
WHAT THIS BUDGET WILL PROVIDE:
-
The Government has allocated record funding levels of $6.9 billion to Australian schools and students for 2003-04, an increase of $528 million or 8.3% over last year. The unprecedented funding for schools and students in 2003-04 continues the trend of the past seven Howard Government Budgets. Since 1996, Commonwealth funding for schools and students has grown by more than 93% per cent.
-
In 2003-04, almost $2.5 billion is being provided for government schools and students – an increase of almost $130 million or 5.5% over the past year and a 60% increase since 1996.
-
This Budget also commits a further $210 million to improve the literacy and numeracy of Australian students. Some $172.3 million over four years to 2006-07 is provided to continue the funding of literacy and numeracy programmes at existing levels. More than $37.6 million is also provided to continue the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies and Projects Programme over the same period.
-
This Budget also maintains the Howard Government’s Capital Grants Programme in real terms, providing $249 million for government schools and $97.9 million for non-government schools in 2003-04.
-
$5.3 million in 2003-04 has been allocated to continue the National School Drug Education Strategy, building upon the progress achieved to date, and to foster the capacity of school communities to provide safe and supportive school environments for all Australian school students.
-
The Government will provide $467.7 million in 2003-04 to enhance the outcomes of Indigenous students in schooling, training and higher education.
Funding for Schools and Students
Media Release - $2.1 Billion for Skills Opportunities for All Australians
Media Release - ECEF Savings Measure - Supporting Young Australians from school to work ECEF moves into DEST
More and more Australians are undertaking vocational education and training (VET) courses. Each year more than 1.7 million students or about 13% of the working age population participate in vocational education and training, with increasing participation by Indigenous Australians (up 122% since 1995) and people in rural and remote areas (up 49% since 1995).
Vocational education and training is a partnership involving industry, the States and Territories and the Commonwealth. The States and Territories have regulatory responsibility and the primary funding role for vocational education and training, with the Commonwealth also providing funding and leadership of the system, particularly in improving quality and national consistency.
Since 1996 the Howard Government has reinvigorated vocational education and training – with record numbers in training, record numbers in New Apprenticeships and significant progress towards developing a truly national system.
WHAT THIS BUDGET WILL PROVIDE:
-
Record 2003-04 funding of $2.1 billion will ensure Australia’s vocational education and training system continues to meet future industry skills needs and contributes to Australia’s strong economic growth.
-
The Government’s popular New Apprenticeships scheme will receive $2.8 billion over four years to continue to build on its record high, with some 375,000 people in training, up from 141,400 in December 1995.
-
The Commonwealth has offered State and Territory Training Ministers an additional $218.7 million between 2004 and 2006 under a new Australian National Training Authority Agreement. This will be in addition to the record $1.1 billion the Commonwealth currently provides to the States and Territories for training places and infrastructure. In order to receive this funding, States and Territories will be asked to work with the Commonwealth to give more Australians the opportunity to achieve their potential through quality training and to deliver better quality outcomes for Australian industry.
Funding for Vocational Education and Training
Media Release - Continuing our Commitment to Indigenous Learning
Improving educational outcomes for Indigenous Australians remains a key priority for the Commonwealth Government. Results are being delivered for Indigenous students, with more achieving the national literacy and numeracy benchmarks. 38% of Indigenous students are now staying at school until Year 12, the highest level to date, and there are now record levels of Indigenous people participating in vocational education and training and higher education. Despite these gains, improvement is still required.
WHAT THIS BUDGET WILL PROVIDE:
-
In continuing its commitment to improving opportunities for Indigenous students in preschool, schooling, training and higher education, the Howard Government has allocated $467.7 million in funding for 2003-04.
-
As part of the higher education reform package, Our Universities: Backing Australia’s Future, a range of measures aim to improve participation and outcomes for Indigenous people in higher education. Additional funding of $10.4 million over three years will be provided to the Indigenous Support Fund to enable institutions to develop additional strategies to increase the participation of Indigenous people in higher education, and to provide them with more support as they progress through their studies.
-
A new scholarship programme will be established for Indigenous staff in higher education to further develop Indigenous leadership in the sector. Five national scholarships ($0.2 million) will be provided each year from 2004, enabling recipients to take one year of leave from their university employment to undertake full-time higher education study.
-
An Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council ($0.3 million per year) will be created to provide a framework for the improvement of outcomes for Indigenous people in higher education through effective consultation with Indigenous people on policy development.
-
New Commonwealth Learning Scholarships will also be introduced in 2004 to assist rural and regional, low-income and Indigenous students with the costs associated with higher education.
Funding in 2003-04 for Indigenous education also includes:
- Indigenous Support Fund ($24.8 million);
- Indigenous Researchers’ Development Scheme ($0.2 million);
- ABSTUDY scheme (an estimated $197.6 million);
- Indigenous Education Strategic Initiatives Programme (IESIP) ($174.2 million);
- Indigenous Education Direct Assistance (IEDA) programme ($66.3 million); and
- Indigenous VET Infrastructure Programme ($4 million).
Funding for Indigenous Education
Media Release - $7.3 million for Mt Stromlo Observatory
Media Release - Science and Innovation
Media Release - Continuing the Commitment to Research
Media Release - World Class Centre in Marine Research and Teaching for Far North Queensland
The Commonwealth believes science and innovation have become influential drivers of national economic growth and they are one of the Government’s nine strategic priorities. The Government takes a strong strategic approach to this vital sector by providing support for both basic research and the creation of world class centres of excellence.
The Commonwealth supports measures that strengthen Australia’s research infrastructure; it promotes collaboration among public researchers, and between public researchers and industry; and it fosters a number of programmes to increase awareness of the importance of science and technology in the community.
The Commonwealth also provides substantial direct support for science to world-class organisations such as the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).
National research priorities were announced following extensive consultation, and they cover the environment, personal health, frontier technologies for industry, and safeguarding Australia. The research priorities provide a focus for investment in key areas that can deliver significant economic, social and environmental benefits to Australia.
The Government has also commenced a detailed programme to evaluate Australian research and innovation. This includes:
- a major mapping exercise that is being undertaken to build a detailed picture of Australia’s science and innovation effort, and to enable a better understanding of where our research activity is taking place. The mapping will provide the fundamental building blocks for planning future directions in Australia’s science and innovation;
- the establishment of a high level taskforce to examine the scope for greater collaboration between universities and Australia’s major publicly funded research agencies;
- a comprehensive evaluation of the 1999 Knowledge and Innovation reforms to the funding of research and research training in Australia’s universities;
- the establishment of a taskforce to develop a nationally integrated research infrastructure strategy for public higher education institutions and publicly funded research agencies; and
- the evaluation of the Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) programme will be concluded during 2003.
Together, all these activities will be used to inform the future shape for research funding and research training.
Accordingly, more detailed consideration of BAA initiatives beyond 2005-06 will be undertaken in the 2004-05 Budget. Extra funding, however, beyond the final year of Backing Australia’s Ability has been provided in 2006-07 for several initiatives that involve multi-year competitive grants: the Australian Research Council, and the CRC programme.
WHAT THIS BUDGET WILL PROVIDE:
-
The Commonwealth has committed $5.4 billion in support of Australian science and innovation in the 2003-04 Budget. This level of support is an increase of more than $437 million over its 2002-03 funding, further underscoring the Government’s vision of securing Australia’s future.
-
The Government’s continuing commitment to world class research is underscored by the five year $3 billion Backing Australia’s Ability initiative which continues to be delivered in full and on time, with $644 million allocated for 2003-04, which represents an increase of around $217 million on the 2002-03 commitment.
-
One of the largest single initiatives of Backing Australia’s Ability is an additional $740 million to research funded through the Australian Research Council (ARC). This will double, over a period of five years, the ARC’s capacity to fund grants through National Competitive Grants Programme. An additional $275 million will be provided for 2006-07, maintaining funding at the doubled level.
-
The Cooperative Research Centres programme will receive $55 million in 2003-04, as part of the expansion of the programme under Backing Australia’s Ability. The programme will also receive an additional $62.5 million in 2006-07.
-
The CSIRO Flagships programme will receive a $20 million Budget boost for scientists, research institutions and commercial companies, as they begin work on major new research projects aimed at improving Australia’s social and economic growth over the next 25 years.
-
A new world class marine research centre will be created in Townsville as a result of a formal affiliation between the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and James Cook University. It is proposed that the newly affiliated body be called AIMS at James Cook University. Funding of $5 million will help implement the affiliation which will take place in consultation with the Queensland Government.
-
In the wake of the devastating Canberra bushfires in January, the Government has also provided $7.3 million to assist the Australian National University rebuild its world class facilities for teaching and research in astronomy at Mt Stromlo Observatory in Canberra.
-
The Budget also commits an additional $17.9 million over four years for upgraded security at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation’s (ANSTO) Lucas Heights Science and Technology Centre.
-
As part of its commitment to effectively manage the safe disposal of low level radioactive waste, $2.2 million has been allocated in 2003-04 with more than $600,000 allocated for the following three years for the construction and operation of a repository for waste.
-
One of the nation’s pre-eminent science-education facilities, Questacon, will be transferred into the Education, Science and Training portfolio from 1 July 2003. This will allow Questacon to take advantage of strong synergies – particularly in raising science awareness.
Website - http://aei.dest.gov.au/
Media Release - $113 million to Strengthen International Education
Media Release - Funding For International Centre Of Excellence For Asia Pacific Studies
Media Release - Protecting Australia’s International Education Sector
Media Release - Government Boosts Language Teaching and Education
Education is now Australia’s third largest services export worth more than $5 billion in national income.
In 2002, about 280,000 overseas students were studying with Australian education providers in Australia and overseas.
The Commonwealth Government recognises the broader opportunities that flow to the nation as whole from this burgeoning industry.
International students provide the foundation for strong foreign and trade relations, as well as research and scientific exchanges and collaboration that are vital to our continued economic growth and development.
WHAT THIS BUDGET PROVIDES:
-
The Commonwealth has announced initiatives worth $113 million that will support and expand Australia’s vital international education industry and is a key feature of the 2003-04 Budget.
-
The Government’s package, to be introduced during the next four years, will:
-
increase promotion and government to government work in new overseas countries to further develop export opportunities ($41.7 million);
-
establish four Centres of Excellence in education, science and innovation at Australian universities or consortia, and support existing international activities of the CRC for Sustainable Tourism ($35.5 million);
-
establish the Endeavour Programme of scholarships and fellowships to attract high performing students from around the world to Australia, and provide Australian language teachers with short-term overseas fellowships ($7.9 million);
-
establish a new National Language Centre to boost the language and business cultural skills level of Australian exporters, business, teachers, professionals and the tourism industry ($4.6 million); and
-
explore and develop with industry a regulatory framework to enhance quality assurance for international students studying offshore ($10.4 million).
-
A new income-contingent loan scheme will be established to assist Australian university students to study abroad for one or two semesters of their degree. Overseas Study HELP (OS-HELP) will offer full-time undergraduate students in Commonwealth supported places at public higher education institutions loans of up to $10,000 to finance their overseas study.
-
Greater resources have been provided for enforcing the laws that protect the world-class reputation of Australia’s international education and training services sector, and the integrity of the student visa programme. In order to ensure that only bona fide, quality education and training providers remain in the industry, an additional $5.1 million over four years has been provided on an ongoing basis, for the Department of Education Science and Training (DEST) to pursue stronger onshore compliance with the Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act 2000 which regulates providers in Australia. This additional capacity to enforce the ESOS Act will be resourced through charges on providers registered to enrol and teach students on student visas.
-
Additional funding for the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA), announced separately in the Budget, will further support the drive to boost international education by enhancing DIMIA’s capacity to process student visa applications in emerging markets, to enforce the conditions of student visas, and will create new visa categories for people applying to come to Australia for education related purposes.
-
The initiatives are being partially funded through an increase to the International Education Contribution paid by overseas students as part of their visa fee and through increases in charges to institutions through the ESOS Act.