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News & Views item - August 2008 |
Reviews, Inquiries and Consultations. (August 8, 2008)
Julia Gillard and Kim Carr, Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, and Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research respectively might do well to consider the work ethic the third Secretary General of the United Nations, U Thant, set for himself. He rarely attended public functions such as formal dinners, or honoured requests for speeches too numerous to list, stating he had too many matters of consequence that needed his attention.
Below is a listing of some of the 25 reviews, inquiries and consultations, to which Universities Australia, numerous other bodies and individuals have or will be responding, which impinge upon higher education and research.
They will deliver themselves up for critical evaluation and consideration in the coming months in reports totalling thousands of pages:
Bradley review of higher education
review of the Government's offshore education activities
review of the full cost of research
Cutler inquiry into the national innovation system
Senate inquiry into academic freedom
inquiry into voluntary student unionism
inquiry into export policies
inquiry into academic research
inquiry into intellectual property
inquiry into research training
inquiry into the learning and teaching fund formula
inquiry into temporary visas
inquiry into research misconduct
inquiry into climate change skills
inquiry into national gender equality
As The Australian's Guy Healy notes: "Innovation and Science Minister Kim Carr recently said the Government was serious about implementing change and consultation was essential, so universities and academics should get used to dealing with a high number of reviews."
No doubt the good Senator and Ms Gillard will forgo many of their public appearances in order to allow time to digest not only the reports generated by the reviews, inquiries and consultations but also to read at least a reasonable number of the thousands of submissions which will have been generated.
There's just so much you can take in or bother to try to take in when hyper-multitasking.