The Australian Federal Budget invests in every stage of Australia’s education system, including several areas CA ANZ has advocated for to address the accounting profession’s ongoing skill shortages and increasing demand. Here are the tertiary education highlights. 

Reforming university funding 

CA ANZ welcomes the government’s investment of an additional $2.5 billion over 11 years from 2024-25 for a new higher education funding system as part of the Australian Universities Accord reforms.  

This will provide more Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) and support for disadvantaged students as advocated in our submissions to the Department of Education on the Universities Accord and implementation through the new Managed Growth Funding System and Needs-based Funding. 

However, we remain concerned that the new system for CSPs may limit provider flexibility, create perverse incentives, and impose unnecessary restraints on enrolment growth by imposing a hard cap which will not allow for over-enrolments where institutions do not receive any Commonwealth grant but still receive student tuition fees. 

CA ANZ supports maintaining flexibility for universities to enrol above their caps and extending CSPs to all Australian higher education providers to expand student choices. 

Supporting students and graduates 

The government will cut student debts by 20% before indexation is applied on 1 June 2025, which will wipe $16 billion from outstanding student loans. This will be introduced to Parliament after the election and cost more than $500 million. 

CA ANZ called for reducing student debt in our pre-budget submission as enrolments in higher education programs of accounting in Australia have been on a downward trend for most of the past decade, leaving a critical shortfall of accounting, audit and finance professionals for Australians looking to access their important services.  

At the same time, demand is increasing, with employment projections prepared by Victoria University for Jobs and Skills Australia estimating that the number of accounting roles in Australia is expected to rise from 201,600 in May 2024 to 234,000 by May 2034.  

Permanent free TAFE

Ensuring supply meets demand requires a strong pipeline of students and diverse pathways into the profession. For this reason, CA ANZ welcomes the government making permanent 100,000 free TAFE places every year from 1 January 2027, subject to the passage of legislation.  

CA ANZ is taking a multi-faceted approach to building the profession’s talent pipeline including developing flexible new pathways into the CA program and providing a range of resources and initiatives to assist young people, and their influencers, to discover the exciting opportunities an accounting career can provide. 

What’s missing? 

Other education commitments CA ANZ would like to see as we head towards an election include reducing the cost of accounting degrees, which is a deterrent to students and a major source of student debt, supporting more schools to offer accounting subjects, and introducing a robust national senior secondary accounting curriculum. 

In addition, we call on the government to provide more support for international students and graduates including work readiness programs and pre-employment services to better match their skills to jobs and boost productivity. Australia’s Migration Strategy found more than 50% of graduate visa holders with a bachelor’s degree or higher are working significantly below their skill level, despite studying in areas in shortage.  

This budget removes $3 million over two years from 2024-25 from the International Education Support program. With the accounting profession already facing a declining graduate pipeline, ongoing shortages, and global competition for talent, it is in Australia's interests to provide a destination of choice for international students and graduates.