CA ANZ's submission to the Department of Education on our priorities for the review of Australia's higher education system, to be led by the Australian Universities Accord Panel, focuses on:

• Meeting Australia's knowledge and skills needs, now and in the future
• Access and opportunity, including improving access to higher education and increasing access and participation of students from underrepresented backgrounds
• Investment and affordability, with a focus on review of the Job-ready Graduates Package 
• Improving the connection between the vocational education and training and higher education systems.

Our key recommendations, which are discussed in further detail in the submission, are outlined below.

Immediate actions

• Make digital, financial and sustainability capability an integrated endeavour of all programs of learning.
• Commit ongoing funding to review and maintain the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO).  
• An outcome of the review of the Job-ready Graduates Package review should be reduced student contributions and increased Commonwealth contributions to the cost of degrees in Management and Commerce, including Accounting. 
• Extend funding support to all TEQSA registered higher education providers, whether university or non-university. 
• Review the National Microcredentials Framework and extend its coverage. 
• Make the Microcredentials Marketplace more widely available. 
• Recognise microcredentials and prior learning through independent assessment.  
• Plan for a more ambitious rollout of the Government's Microcredentials pilot program. 
• Provide funding to support the cost of undertaking micro-credentials and short courses. 

Medium to longer-term recommendations

• Bring the processes for reviewing and updating the ANZSCO and Australian Skills Classification (ASC) together.
• Encourage and support pathways for First Nation’s People into business-relevant fields of work and study, and enhance the credentials of those already in business by investing in their business capabilities, including accounting and finance skills. 
• Reintroduce participation targets for disadvantaged groups, not only for higher education but also for all post-secondary education.
• Facilitate more flexible pathways for entry of international students into Australian university degrees in areas of high demand including accounting, management and commerce.
• Extend the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) to recognise and reward shorter form qualifications, including microcredentials, offered by both traditional and non-traditional providers, alongside traditional formal qualifications. 
• Provide lifelong learning entitlements that learners can draw upon over their lifetimes to fund their continuous learning and credentialing, approved with an expanded AQF.