Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) has made three submissions to the Department of Education on its consultations to inform design and implementation of higher education sector reforms recommended in the Australian Universities Accord Final Report which cover the:

• Australian Tertiary Education Commission
• Managed Growth Funding System
• Needs-based Funding.

Australian Tertiary Education Commission submission key points:

1. Legislative objective - The ATEC’s objective should also include “to underpin and drive a high quality and cohesive tertiary education system, that encourages diversity and student choice.”

2. Structure and governance - The ATEC should be a steward for the whole tertiary education system, bringing higher education and vocational education and training (VET) closer together. The structure and list of officials to be consulted should include Commonwealth, State and Territory Government      representatives including those who have responsibilities for VET. To reduce complexity and support harmonisation, the Tertiary Education Quality and      Standards Agency and the Australian Research Councilbe brought under the ATEC umbrella and, in time, also the Australian Skills Quality Authority. Professional bodies such as CA ANZ should be consulted on any development of a code of conduct for professional accreditation bodies.

3. Independence - The ATEC should be an independent statutory authority rather than one under Ministerial direction and housed in the Department of Education with shared resourcing.

4. Stakeholder engagement - The ATEC should seek views from a wide range of stakeholders in the tertiary education system to assist effective decision making. CA ANZ supports establishing an ongoing Advisory Board including tertiary education providers, governments at all levels, students, staff, employers, unions, alumni, First Nations Peoples,  and civil society organisations. Consultation should also include regular engagement with other key stakeholders covering learning, teaching, research, diversity, equity and inclusion, regional issues and professional accreditation bodies, such as the accounting bodies.

5. Harmonising the two tertiary education systems - Essential elements to maximise harmonisation between the higher education and VET systems include:

• Commonwealth, State and Territory Government discussions regarding their involvement in ATEC’s governance arrangements.
• participation and attainment targets for learning over lifetimes that are less concerned with where the learning occurs
• a national classification of skills that becomes a shared language for all – education providers, accreditation bodies, skills assessors and employers
• a credentials framework that not only brings vocational and higher education qualifications closer together, but can recognise the competency levels of a broader range of credentials, and supports their verification, quality assurance and recognition
• greater congruency between vocational and higher education funding and loan arrangements including Commonwealth, State and Territory Government funds and income contingent loan entitlements where learners have agency to access and spend their entitlement on learning opportunities recognised within the above framework over their lifetimes
• national regulation of all credentials and recognised providers, in place of separate approaches for vocational and higher education only.

6. Future state - The ATEC should aspire to be a collaborative Commonwealth, State and Territory entity that facilitates harmonisation of the whole post-school education and skills ecosystem.