This report outlines the key issues and priorities for Australia’s 280,000+ postgraduate students in the lead up to the 2010 Federal Election. The report is informed by the efforts of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) to support improvements and reforms for postgraduates for over 30 years, as well as ongoing engagement and consultation on the interests and needs of this important group.

[Below is an edited version of the information available on the DIISR website].

The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) has welcomed the release of the Consultation Paper for informing the development of the Federal Government’s Research Workforce Strategy. The Consultation Paper follows directly from Building Australia's Research Capacity, the Final report from the 2008 House of Reps Inquiry into Research Training and Research Workforce Issues.

Research Workforce Strategy

The Federal Government's Research Workforce Strategy represents and integrated approach to tackling some of the key sustainability issues facing Higher Education in Australia.  Key aspects of the strategy are outlined below:

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) will launch a major campaign tomorrow, Thursday 24 July, under the banner of “Our Universities Matter – Investing in People and Society”.

Details of the launch are:

THURSDAY 24 JULY 2008, 12.45 PM

KALEIDE THEATRE,
RMIT UNIVERSITY, SWANSTON ST MELBOURNE (enter from Swanston St)

LAUNCH PARTICIPANTS:

Professor Margaret Gardner, Vice-Chancellor, RMIT University (host)

Dr Carolyn Allport, National President, NTEU
Sarah Cole, Victorian President, National Union of Students (NUS)

THE looming shortage of academic staff will mean falling standards, even larger classes, heavy reliance on part-time and imported lecturers and a loss of courses, experts say.

A SHARP increase in the age of academic staff and a looming rush to retire will create a shortage of university teachers just as two waves of school-leavers engulf post-secondary education.

The percentage of the academic workforce aged over 50 increased from 26 per cent in 1991 to 39.8 per cent in 2006, according to University of Adelaide research fellow Graeme Hugo.

The oldest baby boomers would pass 65 in 2011, so the exodus of baby boomer retirees would gather momentum during the second and third decades of the century, Professor Hugo said.

The House of Representatives Industry, Science and Innovation Committee has announced an inquiry into the contribution that Australian universities make to Australian research training, and the challenges those universities face in recruiting, training and retaining quality research staff.

The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) welcomes the outcome of the 2007 Federal Election. “We look forward to working with Labor to rebuild the higher education sector, to support the promise of an education revolution, and to ensure that Australia remains a leader of innovation and research, in the sciences, in the humanities and in the arts. There will be many opportunities for the new Labor government to demonstrate “new leadership”.

A report card on the higher education policies of the Coalition and Labor parties released by university staff and students on Tuesday has failed the Howard Government for its record on universities.

The report card, prepared by National Tertiary Education Union, the National Union of Students and the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations, awarded Labor a pass on the basis of the well targeted but limited commitments announced during the campaign and its stated commitment to build on these in office.