Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

There is no doubt that the face of the higher education sector will change over the period ahead as a result of the government’s significant reforms in response to the Bradley review of higher education, and this will have implications for the way in which universities are funded in the future. Earlier today, the appointment of an expert panel to conduct a review into higher education base funding was announced. This review implements one of the recommendations of the Bradley review to establish principles for public investment in Australian higher education and to make sure that funding levels are competitive and appropriate. The review builds on the government’s substantial new injections of capital and recurrent funding for higher education. Last term, the government committed to lifting caps on undergraduate university places for domestic students at an estimated additional cost of $2.1 billion over five years. We also introduced a new indexation approach, which will mean that universities will have an additional $2.6 billion over five years to provide top-quality education. (Time expired)