Parliamentary Inquiry into the rise in the number of Australian university graduates who struggle to find work after graduating

The Australian Senate is inquiring into "The rise in the number of Australian university graduates who struggle to find work after graduating". Normally I would have to compose a short pithy summary into what an inquiry is about. But in this case that is a direct quote from the very short terms of reference. The Senate Education and Employment References Committee has called for submissions by 5 June 2026, aiming to report by 20 November 2026.

The full terms of reference is: 

"The rise in the number of Australian university graduates who struggle to find work after graduating, with particular reference to:

1. the state of the entry-level job market for graduates;
2. the quality of university education in Australia;
3. whether graduates of Australian universities are being taught the skills that employers are looking for;
4. the state of affairs in comparable jurisdictions;
5. the economic, social and psychological effect that this experience has on graduates; and
6. any other related matters" 

Some have taken this as an attack on universities, that they are not teaching the right things. But these seem reasonable questions. The Australian community spend a lot  on universities and need to be sure they are getting their moneys worth. 

As one of those teaching work integrate learning and "soft" skills to students, in accordance with professional accreditation requirements, we have a good story to tell. However, in my submission to a previous inquiry, I suggested universities could offer nested online programs with more work integration. My academic colleagues may not like the idea, but I suggest applying more of the techniques from the Vocational Education sector. This would also improve the economic, social and psychological impact of study, as students could undertake it in smaller, cheaper chunks, mostly while employed.

Improved assessment design can also help reduce the stress of study. I am one of those students who suffers stress in formal paper based examinations. As a result I spent my early university years failing, until I realized I could select courses and programs which did not have exams. This limited my choice, buy I was able to help expand the options in my own designing of courses and setting policies for accreditation for my profession.

Can Online Study Improve Equity?

In "Equity off course: Mapping equity access: across courses and institutions" (2022), Cakitaki, Luckman, & Harvey, provide an overview of how Australian university are doing providing education for all, or not. Something curiously missing from their report was how online learning might help, or hinder this.

Many of the report's findings (reproduced below) relate to regional and remote students, and their participation at Group of Eight (Go8) universities. All the Go8 are located in capital cities, out of commuting distance for regional and remote students. Low SES students, those with family or cultural commitments, would also find on-campus attendance difficult. These students therefore have the choice of a regional non-Go8 university or distance education. Pre-pandemic, the Go8 universities provided online limited online learning options. 

Some of the findings seem self evident, such as low SES students being underrepresented in creative arts courses. Having a low SES background myself, it would never occur to me to enroll in creative arts, as that would not be likely to result in a secure well paid job.

Similarly, it would be an entirely rational choice for a low SES student to enroll in a regional university, or one of the city ones which places an emphasis on teaching, not a Go8 research intensive university.

Findings from the study included:

• Relative to their overall representation in the sample, low SES, regional and remote, and Indigenous students were underrepresented at the selective Group of Eight (Go8) universities.
• Low SES students and NESB students were underrepresented in creative arts and communications courses.
• High ATAR students from all groups (equity and non-equity) were more likely to commence at Group of Eight (Go8) universities than other universities, yet just over half of high achieving low SES students commenced at a Go8 university compared to more than two thirds of high achieving medium and high SES students.
• High achieving regional and remote students were much less likely to commence at Go8 universities than metropolitan students.
• Indigenous students with high ATARs were much less likely to enrol at Go8 universities than non-Indigenous students.

Recommendations from the study included:

• That the DESE report equity participation and achievement data for the official “Fair Chance for All” equity categories, both by field of education and by the 21 QILT study areas.
• That, where the Department of Health has set equity targets for Indigenous and regional and remote participation in medical training and allied health courses, they also include targets for low SES students.
• That the DESE reform the existing Access and Participation Plans by adopting the UK system of making institutions set equity targets and evaluate progress towards those targets. Such an approach could be connected to the Performance Based Funding for the Commonwealth Grant Scheme or the awarding of the Indigenous, Regional and Low-SES Attainment Fund.
• That the DESE commissions a review into the representation of women in male dominated study areas, with the object of setting participation targets in the terms of reference.
• That individual institutions monitor and track equity participation rates by course and discipline as part of their standard evaluation and monitoring processes.
• That institutions set themselves targets to increase equity participation in their most selective courses.
• That institutions employ an achievement focus as part of their school outreach work.
• That institution approaches to outreach are cognisant of career stereotypes and expectation differences by class, race, gender and other categories. Effort is required to ensure that all students are receiving the information, advice, and guidance required to make an informed choice when applying for a course.
• That equity researchers conduct further research on the course choices and motivations of high achieving equity students.

EY Suggests More University Completions for Productivity Increase

The Productivity Uplift from Better Outcomes for Our University Students was commissioned by the Australian Government from EY. The report suggests more university completions would increase economic productivity. However, I suggest the report's authors made some unjustified assumptions, and if implemented the report's recommendations would reduce, rather than increase productivity. 

The 27 page report emphasizes "job-ready" graduates, suggesting a productivity uplift from improved graduate outcomes. I teach work skills to undergraduate and postgraduate students, so would welcome any way to improve these, but EY's approach makes a few questionable assumptions.

EY's report suggests that aligning graduate skills with workforce needs would boost economic growth. However this leaves out the Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. VET is specifically intended to provide intimidate skills for jobs. In contrast vocational education is only a part of what universities do. Abandoning research and the fostering of advanced skills by universities, and instead focusing on short term job skills will harm the Australian economy in the long term. This focus will turn out graduates who can meet intimidate needs, but not create new industries, or have the skills to work in them.

The EY report points out that the proportion of students completing their degree after nine years has fallen from 75% in 2009 to 66% in 2017. The claim is that improving
completion rates, could save money. However, this assumes that these students learned nothing useful in their non-completed studies, and that the three year degree is the best way to learn vocationally relevant skills.

There are some easy and inexpensive ways to increase the completion rates of students. I suggested some in my submission to the Senate last year.  

 The simplest way to increase completion is to have students undertake shorter, nested university programs, combining VET and university. Students can be encouraged to undertake shorter certificate and diploma programs at TAFE, before university. Government can also encourage universities to offer nested programs, where the students get vocationally useful qualifications, on their way to a degree.

Other ways to increase completion rates are to provide quality online part-time programs, and improve the teaching skills of university academics. At present, online education is seen as a poor substitute for on-campus face-to-face education. However, research shows there is no significant difference between the two.

In reality most Australian university students who are officially enrolled on campus are not attending most of their classes. These are really blended mode students. Unfortunately university academics have not been trained to teach in this mode and are instead giving lectures to mostly empty classrooms, with the recordings of the lectures being watched by students. This is a poor quality form of online education, but most academics have not been given the training to do any better.

Cyber-attack Targets Australian Universities

Countries with targeted universities.
Source: Secureworks

Greetings from the Australian Computer Society conference in Canberra where Alex Tilley, Senior Security Researcher (eCrime) Secureworks warned of a cyber-attack targeting universities around the world. This has been labeled COBALT DICKENS. This appears to be a state  attempt to steal intellectual property, as well as identities. 

Unis Already Together with TAFE

In "Unis should get together with TAFEs as a way of being more efficient says minister" (Robert Bolton, AFR, 25 February 2018), federal education minister, Simon Birmingham, is reported to have suggested universities share teachers and buildings with TAFEs. This is not as radical, or new, idea as it first sounds.

A search of the national register shows that nineteen universities, out of forty three, are also Registered Training Organizations (RTOs). These universities are able to deliver the same vocational training programs as TAFEs. Other universities are either dual registered as TAFEs, or have an arrangement with a TAFE, or a commercial RTO.

Universities also run short courses for industry. In Canberra I have helped teach such courses for government agencies. These courses are not vocationally registered (although I use vocational techniques teaching them).

The Minister is addressing the wrong area, by pointing out capital tied up in university buildings. There is little scope for more efficient use of university buildings. Most of the existing lecture theaters and small tutorial rooms at universities are rapidly becoming stranded assets, as teaching becomes blended and on-line. Conventional lecture theaters are not flexible enough for modern learning techniques and tutorial rooms are too small for large scale interactive workshops.

TAFEs will have not use for the obsolete teaching buildings at universities. ANU demolished its central lecture theater complex last year and is replacing this with flexible facilities. These facilities will be in demand for university teaching year-round.

Higher Education in Australia, both at universities and the vocational sector, is now conducted on-line more than in the classroom. The significant cost is in course design and trained staff, especially on-line course design and staff trained to teach on-line. It is here that savings could be made, particularly with the vocational sector lending their expertise in carefully scaffolded teaching to the universities, which have emphasized research skills for their staff.

What is the Embedded Energy in a University Degree?

Byron Washom, was speaking on University of San Diego's Microgrid at the 2015 ANU Energy Update the Australian National University in Canberra. He was discussing how to reduce energy used on a university campus. So I asked about metrics used to measure the energy efficiency of the university. He said UCSD uses measures such as energy per square foot.

Half jokingly, I suggested the embedded energy of a university degree should be the measure, as education is one of the products universities produce (the other being research). I might set this as an exercise for me ICT Sustainability students next semester. They could compare the energy use of an on-campus versus an on-line student, to see if e-learning saves energy.

Not-for-profit Private Australian University

Marko Beljac in "#Occupy the university" (Online Opinion, 5 November 2015) suggests that "In a free society university life must necessarily be autonomous and self managed" but "... the university essentially becomes a private enterprise supplying graduates to other corporations. The courses universities provide, the manner they are delivered, and the research that they do, necessarily will cater to the interests and concerns of the corporate sector. ...".

Universities do cater to the vocational needs of their students, which I suggest is not all together a bad thing. There should be scope for non-vocational studies, but someone has to be willing to pay for these. If the students are not willing to pay, because such studies will not get them a job, and the state will not pay, because their is no perceived social benefit, then who will pay?

Calls for a non-corporate approach to universities, such as that by Beljac, are not new. These are documented in Hannah Forsyth's "A History of the Modern Australian University". We do not need to look to Paris students riots and have our own history of learning experiments:

    "LEARNING EXCHANGE

    On Thursday, July 12th, a meeting was held of some of those interested in the concept of a Learning Exchange in Canberra. Laura Turnbull, of the World Education Fellowship, was present and was able to suggest several possible contacts potentially influential in getting an exchange underway.

    The meeting learned that there are several, Community Service Centres already becoming established in Canberra. These are at private addresses where people can ring for information on various things - such as, clubs and societies, legal advice, etc. Obviously, this is similar in concept to a learning exchange and any exchange set up should logically work with theses groups. ..." From "LEARNING EXCHANGE", Woroni , Thursday 2 August 1973

A radical dawn in the corporatization of Australian universities happened, almost unnoticed, in July 2012, when Torrens University Australia was admitted to the Australian National Register of higher education providers as an "Australian University" and authorized to self-accredit courses. Torrens is part of the private for-profit, Laureate International Universities, which provides education online to 800,000 students around the world.

Professor Jim Barber, while UNE Vice-Chancellor,  advocated changes to government regulations to allow on-line universities to be established in Australia. He failed in this, however Laureate's example with Torrens shows it is possible to establish a new institution with a different way of working. This approach could be applied for new non-government, not-for-profit higher eduction institutions which have social goals.