Harmonisation of vocational and higher education is a “complicated piece of macroeconomic reform”, and credit transfer is “not the whole story”, according to the newly appointed permanent boss of Australia’s higher education steward.
Barney Glover said a “joined-up” tertiary education system would help drive productivity in the “disrupted global labour market”. And while improved credit transfer arrangements were an “important part of the puzzle”, other elements – including reforms to qualifications, funding, regulatory arrangements, data compatibility and “national skills taxonomy” – would be vital.
“We need to get…the enabling architecture right,” Glover said. “Taxonomy is a crucial part of that because it allows universities to think skills [as well as] knowledge. It’s directly related to having a common language between employers, employees, education and training providers, universities. If we understand the skills base, we have a better chance of aligning our education and training system with the jobs of the future.”
Glover, who became acting head of the interim Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec) in January, has now been appointed statutory chief commissioner of the fully legislated body. He will step down in June from Jobs and Skills Australia, which he has led since 2024.
It is the latest step in a career which has swung between higher and vocational education. Glover’s previous leadership roles included a five-year stint as vice-chancellor of dual-sector Charles Darwin University, which provides both vocational qualifications and degrees.
The government has also appointed three other substantive commissioners to Atec. All have held executive or governing positions in the university sector, and one was also chief executive of the public vocational training provider, Tafe, in South Australia. Glover said the appointments demonstrated the government’s “absolute imperative” to make higher and vocational education work together more effectively.
Education minister Jason Clare has urged universities to make degrees “quicker and cheaper” by systematically granting advanced standing to vocational education graduates. Clare, who is under pressure to reverse the Job-ready Graduates (JRG) hikes to tuition fees, says students will benefit financially by being able to fast-track their undergraduate studies if they have vocational qualifications in equivalent fields. “It means if you do a free Tafe course, the first year of your uni degree is effectively free,” he said. “That’s what I have asked the Atec to drive this year.”
Another of the new commissioners is Stephen Duckett, a renowned health economist, who leads an Atec working party analysing the economics of university teaching. Glover said the appointment reflected Atec’s intent to address issues around subsidies and fees – although the work would take time.
“We’re working on probably an 18-month horizon, realistically, to…pilot some data collection and analysis, then go to a more substantial data collection exercise and really test some assumptions around alternative models of funding,” he said. “It is a vital piece of work, in my view, before any government should seriously consider how they can make changes to JRG.
“The government naturally wants high-quality education consistently across the board, but to be as efficient as possible in doing it.”
While Atec’s legislation specifies an advisory role on government subsidies, Glover said the research into efficient costing would inevitably extend to fees. “By default, the Atec will provide advice to government that will be crucial to their consideration of student contributions.
“And should the minister invite the Atec to look at that in more detail in the interim, we’d be happy to do it.”