Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

With the growing funding that universities will receive and the record base, we are also determined to ensure that universities are accountable for that and particularly accountable for ensuring that their graduates have relevant skills, have appropriate support and are graduating in disciplines with the support to get a job and succeed in the workforce. That's why the Turnbull government proposes that there should be a stronger performance system in relation to the funding of Australian universities. An element of funding ought to be tied to the performance of universities in terms of them adhering appropriately over time to the right types of admissions practices, the right support for their students through the duration, the quality of the education they provide and the outcomes of those students in terms of getting a job and guaranteeing the benefit that accrues to students from their university education. For the autonomy and funding universities enjoy, we think it is a small price to pay that there should also be some performance contingency to that funding to guarantee success in the future.