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News & Views item - February 2008 |
Ms Gillard Commends a Bill to the House. (February 19, 2008)
Julia Gillard, the Deputy Prime Minister; Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations; Minister for Education and Minister for Social Inclusion at 16:28 on February 15 opened her address the Australian House of Representatives: "I am pleased to introduce legislation that will be a nail in the coffin for the Howard Government’s extreme and unfair Work Choices workplace relations agenda and remove unwarranted, bullying government interference over our universities and other higher education providers."
It will be a matter of considerable interest to follow what additional legislation affecting higher education and research will follow this initial bill which, while welcome, addresses only a small segment of the damage done by John Howard and his compliant ministers in over a decade of abuse.
Below is Ms Gillard's speech in its entirety:
I am pleased to introduce legislation that will
be a nail in the coffin for the Howard Government’s extreme and unfair Work
Choices workplace relations agenda and remove unwarranted, bullying government
interference over our universities and other higher education providers.
This Bill is about getting the heavy foot of the Liberal Party off the throat of
our universities.
This Bill amends the Higher Education Support Act 2003 by repealing section
33-17. This section of the Act currently requires higher education providers to
meet the Higher Education Workplace Relations Requirements (known to most as the
HEWRRs) and the National Governance Protocols as a condition of their
Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding for student places.
Failure to meet the HEWRRs and the Protocols currently results in a reduction of
a provider’s Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding. This Bill will remove that
condition.
The HEWRRS required universities to implement the Howard Government’s
ideologically driven workplace relations agenda. The Governance Protocols
required adherence to a one-size-fits-all model of how to run a university.
These were the worst manifestations of the distrust that the Howard/Costello
Government had for our universities. They thought they knew best how to run
workforce management in universities and how to govern those institutions. This
was another manifestation of their born to rule mentality and their contempt for
their fellow Australians.
Our higher education providers were expected to run things the Howard/Costello
way – or face severe financial penalties that reduced core funding for teaching
and learning. This is the legacy of the current Leader of the Opposition and the
current Deputy Leader of the Opposition to universities.
At the same time that it was ordering universities around, the previous
government failed on the very matter it had direct responsibility for. It
presided over a massive decline in public investment for our universities. From
1995 to 2004 while other OECD countries increased public investment in tertiary
education by an average of 49 per cent, on the Howard/Costello watch public
investment in Australia was cut by 4 per cent. Their legacy has been to leave
our higher education system lagging the rest of the world.
The legislation I am introducing today will put an end to the HEWRRs and the
Protocols and with it the distrust that characterised the Howard Government
relationship with universities.
Consistent with our commitment to abolish Australian Workplace Agreements, the
requirement that universities offer AWAs to employees, which is one key element
of the HEWRRs, will cease. Higher education providers will be subject to the
same laws as all other employers. The Rudd Labor Government will trust higher
education providers to manage their own industrial relations within those laws.
We won’t be telling them what to do.
Removing the HEWRRs will also give needed funding certainty to the higher
education sector.
It is clear that these requirements have impinged upon higher education
providers’ freedom to carve out distinctive missions. Furthermore they diverted
energy and resources away from where they are most needed – the development and
delivery of high quality teaching and research.
While the Governance Protocols will be removed as a condition of funding, the
Government will of course encourage universities to pursue good governance
practices and increase productivity and efficiency. This will be built into our
more collaborative relationship with universities.
In addition to these timely changes, a number of technical adjustments have been
made in this Bill.
In relation to the approval of higher education providers, this Bill amends the
Act so that the approval of a provider that no longer meets certain criteria may
be revoked. For example, if the provider no longer has its central management
and control in Australia, this Bill enables for its approval to be withdrawn.
The Bill also amends the arrangements for quality auditing of higher education
providers. Currently, the only quality auditing body in this country is the
Australian Universities Quality Agency. This Bill amends the Act to allow the
Commonwealth to designate additional bodies to perform this role, such as State
and Territory government accreditation authorities. Further, the amendment will
enable the Commonwealth to specify the higher education providers that those
bodies can audit. This includes the class of provider and the state or territory
where their accreditation lies.
Currently, if a body were designated to conduct audits, it would be able to
audit all higher education providers, including Universities. This Bill will set
limits on the providers that can be audited. This also is an efficiency measure.
By State and Territory government accreditation authorities conducting audits at
the same time as they currently conduct their normal registration and approval
processes, the administrative burden on private providers will be reduced.
The approach has been subject to consultation with private providers and a trial
process with two State accreditation agencies (Queensland and Victoria). The
approach has been well received.
Importantly, the Bill also includes the addition of a transitional mechanism so
that existing funding commitments made to providers under the Collaboration and
Structural Reform Fund can be honoured now that the new Diversity and Structural
Adjustment Fund has been established.
This Bill before the House is a clear expression of the Government’s strong
commitment to abolishing Australian Workplace Agreements and reducing the
constraints upon universities’ autonomy. It will also further improve the
operation of the Act.
The Rudd Labor Government’s commitment is to a strong, diverse higher education
sector that makes an essential contribution to our national prosperity. We look
forward to rebuilding the relationship between Government and higher education
providers based on trust and mutual respect.
Mr Speaker, I commend the Bill to the House.