Commentary
The Albanese Labor government is preparing to forge a new relationship with the university sector—the “Universities Accord.”
An education commentator, Gavin Moodie, has argued that there is a tenuous relationship “between university staff and many of their managements that they regard as exploitative” and “between students and universities that they see as driven to maximise profits.”
He concludes that a “sizeable body of Australians seems to be alienated from higher education and its values.”
However, this fractured relationship does not seem to have resulted in financial hardship because Department of Education figures reveal that the university sector recorded a $5.3 billion (US$3.6 billion) surplus during the COVID pandemic….