University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Bill Shorten has called for a “fundamental re-imagining” of Australia’s universities as a “core instrument of our national power”.
In his first major speech on the sector’s future, Shorten has urged breaking the monopoly of the three-year degree model in favour of more flexibility; examining the development of specialist universities, and having companies directly subsidise the credentials they need, removing the financial burden from the student.
A former Labor minister and former opposition leader, Shorten became vice-chancellor early this year. In his address, delivered to the Australian Institute of International Affairs on Thursday, he linked the imperative for change in the university sector to Australia’s need to strengthen its economic resilience, which was a “pillar of national security”.
