Australian Higher Education Country Report

Abstract

The discussion of the Australian Country Report starts with a general overview of the higher education system's structure and function, followed by a more detailed analysis. We then describe and analyze the national policy framework in which higher education is located. Australia has had its fair share of reviews and government policy initiatives, and currently again is going through a period of major review. This makes it difficult to look forward as the system at the moment is in a veritable status quo and much of the future directions depend on political priority setting and economic developments. Nevertheless, an attempt has been made to highlight major trends an issues, both in the sections on societal commitment and on research and innovation, as well as in the separate section on this thematic. As the discussion demonstrates, market disciple and the principles of concentration and selectivity have significantly shaped the Australian higher education system in recent decades. However, this by no means implies that burdensome bureaucratic regulation has disappeared. The final section briefly discusses the main topics that were suggested under the heading "Towards a new agenda".