Group of Eight Puts Out Guarded Statement Regarding "Universities Australia". (September 7, 2006)

    Following the meeting this past Monday, the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee released a statement to which all present including three VCs from the Group of Eight universities as well as a representative of Melbourne University's vice-chancellor could agree.

It was hardly surprising that what was omitted were references to the principal concerns of the Go8 that their dominance of funding from the ARC and NHMRC should certainly not be diminished and overall governmental funding should give increased preference to the Go8.

Such a view, sotto voce or not, had led to suggestions that the Go8 might break away from the AVCC.

 The President of the AVCC, Gerard Sutton, vice-chancellor of the University of Wollongong summed up the results of meeting with a very carefully crafted couple of sentences. "I see this as a maturing of the body and acceptance that there are some issues on which the Universities Australia will be able to make comment for the sector as a whole. There will be other issues on which individual groupings will be asked to make comment and in some cases individual institutions."

The Group of Eight had scheduled a meeting for Thursday September 7 and have now issued a short circumspect statement which in essence commits it to a watching brief but with something of a sting in the tale.

Whether or not Universities Australia will be up to devising a potent policy to bring the Australian public on side, thereby forcing the hand of the nation's parliamentarians who, according to the analysis of PhilipsKPA, seem to take exception to being told that they treat the universities as Mr. Bumble treated the boys in the workhouse, is debatable. But there are indications that an understanding of what needs to be done is gaining some ground.