Universities Australia has released its long awaited policy agenda on how best to address key issues facing the tertiary education sector.

In the Smarter Australia vision, Universities Australia has made an urgent call to the Federal Government to increase investment levels to compete with developing countries, such as Brazil, India and China, who rolling out massive funding boosts for their research and higher education institutions.

The release of the agenda comes after new statistics shows that industry demand for post-school educated workers will rise from 60 per cent to an estimated between 65 and 75 per cent in the coming decade.

A Smarter Australia calls for a partnership between the university sector and government to establish a practical and pragmatic policy framework around four key themes:

  • Increasing Australians' university participation
  • Developing Australia's globally engaged university sector 
  • A powerful research and innovation system that drives economic and social progress 
  • Increasing investment, improving efficiency and reducing red tape