The Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) is releasing two previously unpublished reports and other analysis on factors effecting access to higher education, including the effect of the Higher Education Contribution Scheme.
The Department had previously stated its intention that the draft reports and analysis would not be publicly released. The Department has done so now at the request of the Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP, who considers that in light of recent media comment it is in the public interest to release the material.
Recent media reports have mentioned four reports in this context. In fact there are only two draft reports. These are:
One of the other reports referred to in the media, HECS: the Impact of changes, by MacLachlan and Karmel, had previously been incorporated into HECS and opportunities in higher education during 2002.
The fourth, referred to in the media, University participation by persons from non-English-speaking background, by R Fleming and T Karmel, was never written up as a report and currently exists as a collection of data and associated analysis. It is however, being released in this incomplete form.
All of this work was undertaken by officers of DEST as a part of the usual processes of policy analysis and development. None of it was commissioned research.
In releasing the material, the Department stands by its reservations regarding the usefulness of the data and findings.
The reservations stem from the Department’s concerns in relation to the inherent methodological difficulties presented by the issues being examined, as identified in the papers themselves, and the inconclusiveness or relatively small impact of some of the findings. The Department considers that the material should be used with caution.
The reports can be accessed through http://www.dest.gov.au.