Continuing growth in Victoria’s higher education sector vital for jobs, innovation, trade and the wider economy: VECCI taskforce report

RECOMMENDATIONS to strengthen Victoria’s higher education sector by growing our share of the international education market, boosting innovation, increasing workforce productivity and enhancing student access and employability are among the findings of VECCI’s Higher Education Taskforce Report, released today.

VECCI Chief Executive Mark Stone said Victoria’s higher education sector, which includes universities and private providers, is diverse, competitive and internationally recognised as delivering high quality graduates and leading edge research. 

“The sector is crucial to building a highly skilled, adaptive and productive workforce, supporting the dissemination of innovation throughout industry and driving international trade. The challenge for policy makers, higher education providers and business is to build on these strengths,” said Mr Stone.

VECCI’s Higher Education Taskforce Report, Strengthening the competitiveness of Victoria’s higher education sector, makes a range of recommendations to support continuing growth. These include:

Strengthening Victoria’s position in the international education market

While our performance has been strong, there are several barriers that could see our reputation come under pressure as global competition in education services intensifies.   These barriers range from student transport costs, health cover costs, and student accommodation affordability and availability.  These issues need to be addressed in order to enhance positioning for inbound students. 

Recommendations:

• Encourage universities to develop streamlined systems to help students and graduates find employment and work based learning placements.
• Extend public transport concessions for international students to short term tickets across all fare zones in Victoria, providing the same discounts that apply to domestic students.
• Improve student accommodation across the state, facilitating affordable close to campus and on campus options.

Driving innovation by broadening and deepening university-industry research links

With global competition intensifying, research and development collaboration between Victoria’s higher education sector and industry is more important than ever.  

To remain competitive, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) must acquire the knowledge and capabilities needed to continually adapt their business models, developing new markets and new applications for their products and services.  This means looking outside their boundaries for new ideas and expertise.

Recommendations:

• Encourage SMEs to partner with universities on research and development by reducing the company tax rate to 10 per cent on SME profits earned from their patents developed in Australia.
• Provide $50 million of seed funding and grants for universities and students to partner with industry to pay for patent costs, technology transfer operations and the set-up of spin-off companies.
• Undertake a feasibility study to extend physical and virtual technology enterprise zones and start-up hubs with incentives for universities and industry to co-invest in research infrastructure.

Increasing productivity and employability by more closely aligning graduate skills with employer needs

Because industry is constantly changing, so too are the skills and competencies required by employers.  While our education standards are already high, more needs to be done to ensure students not only possess relevant technical qualifications but appropriate job ready skills and work experience. 

Recommendations:

• Create an online portal to link higher education students to employers with information on available internships, post study placements, research and training projects.
• As part of student coursework, include an internship preparation unit which teaches students how to engage in a work environment and necessary ‘employability’ skills (teamwork, communication, lateral thinking, flexibility and resourcefulness).
• Aim for a 30 per cent increase in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) graduates over the next decade, recognising that a workforce with a strong STEM skills base is critical to business innovation. 

Enhancing student access, learning and employability

Students need to be confident that their studies will lead to employment outcomes.  While the higher education sector cannot guarantee employment for graduates, it should aspire to ensure students graduate possessing employability skills.  Further, because how and where students study is also changing, education providers and employers must embrace new learning models using technology to provide flexible and innovative learning on and off campus.

Recommendations:

• Provide free Wi-Fi on all metropolitan and regional public transport, assisting students to study while travelling.
• Introduce a competitively priced disposable Day Pass for all international and interstate students using public transport throughout Victoria.
• Strengthen the culture of entrepreneurship and innovation among students by establishing mentoring and microfinance programs.
• Support the development of regional and rural education models that attract and retain graduates in provincial Victoria.

“Ultimately, the objective of reforms must be to not only strengthen Victoria’s reputation as a market leader in the provision of higher education, but ensure education outcomes are more closely aligned to the needs of employers and students, now, and into the future,” said Mr Stone.

The Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) is the most influential business organisation in Victoria, informing and servicing more than 15,000 members, customers and clients around the state.

vecci.org.au

ENDS