Focus areas of the Social Licence Steering Committee

Established and agreed at the commencement of the Steering Committee in March 2025 were five priority areas. An additional sixth priority area was included mid-2025.

Priority areas reviewed in 2025

The SLSC’s work is grounded in six agreed priorities that reflect areas of high public interest and internal complexity: student safety and inclusion, workforce reform, governance integrity, federal election positioning, public communication, and the evolving role of international students.

The initiative builds on the shared understanding that social licence is shaped at the intersection of governance, leadership, and community expectations, and that engagement is essential for our universities to progress.

Safety, Inclusion, and Dialogue

Recent events have heightened concerns around student safety and discrimination on campus, particularly for Jewish, Muslim, and other student minority groups. Alongside this, since the National Student Safety Survey in 2021 there has been increasing concern around safety on campus in the context of sexual harassment and sexual assault. There is concern that universities need to take more visible role in ensuring student safety, fostering inclusive dialogue, and responding decisively to discrimination while upholding freedom of expression and academic integrity. 

  • How can universities strengthen their capacity to create and maintain inclusive, respectful, and safe campus environments in a way that actively prevents harassment, discrimination, and marginalisation while also promoting open and constructive academic discourse?

  • What role should universities play in setting and communicating cultural expectations to ensure students understand their rights, available protections, and responsibilities as members of a diverse university community? 

Policy and advocacy alignment

In the lead up to the 2025 federal election, universities had a critical opportunity to advocate for sustainable funding, policy certainty, and recognition of their role as national assets. 

Universities Australia (UA) has already undertaken work in this space, but multiple university groups, unions, and business groups have their own policy priorities - some of which intersect with higher education. Coordination of these areas for a nationalised approach will avoid fragmented advocacy efforts, which risk diluting the sector’s influence and reducing the effectiveness of its collective voice. 

  • How can universities ensure that their advocacy efforts are aligned across the sector, bringing together existing work by different university groups, while also exploring common ground with unions and business groups? 

  • Can a unified election platform be developed that strengthens the sector’s ability to influence policy outcomes? 

Strengthening workforce fairness

There is concern and ongoing public dialogue over fairness in university workforce practices, including the casualisation of academic staff, complex and protracted enterprise bargaining processes, and cases of underpayment. At the same time, public and political scrutiny of Vice-Chancellor and senior executive remuneration has intensified. 

  • How can universities strengthen trust in their workforce practices while ensuring they remain competitive employers? 

  • How can we balance the need for strong leadership with public expectations for fairness and transparency in executive remuneration? 

Public messaging for the sector

Trust in public institutions - including universities - is increasingly fragile. While the sector delivers immense public value in education, research, and innovation, this value is not always clearly communicated or widely understood. Fragmented narratives, inconsistent messaging, and reactive media engagement risk weakening the public perception of universities’ role and relevance. 

At a time when disinformation, polarisation, and distrust are rising, universities must reassert their public purpose through clear, coordinated, and proactive communications. The sector has a unique opportunity to serve as a trusted source of knowledge and evidence-based information—but only if it embraces this role collectively and strategically. 

  • How can universities work together to establish a consistent, proactive, and effective public messaging framework that builds trust, demonstrates relevance, and communicates the sector’s public purpose in a compelling and coordinated way? 

  • What principles should guide the development of a national communications approach that supports both sector-wide advocacy and institutional autonomy? 

Strenghtening University Governance

Universities must proactively ensure that best governance practices are implemented, consistently applied, and transparently disclosed. 

  • How can universities proactively foster an environment that supports and embeds the recommendations that will come from the Expert Council on University Governance? 

  • What steps should universities take to ensure best governance practices are implemented consistently and disclosed transparently to stakeholders, ensuring accountability and trust in the sector?

Considering international students

Australia’s international education sector is a critical national asset. Growing political and community concerns have prompted student visa caps and tighter restrictions on international student enrolments. Blanket limits on student numbers risk undermining a major export sector, destabilising institutional finances, and diminishing Australia’s reputation as an international provider of high-quality education. These issues must be addressed transparently and in collaboration with the sector. 

  • How can Australia’s universities and government work together to ensure that international student numbers remain sustainable and transparent, while addressing concerns around housing, infrastructure, and quality through distinct, evidence-based policies? 

  • How can governments and universities jointly explore mechanisms—such as raising caps on domestic student access—to complement international student policy reform, support broader national goals, and maintain Australia’s competitive standing as a world-leading study destination? 

  • How can universities ensure that growth in international enrolments does not compromise domestic students’ educational experience, and instead fosters a more globally enriched, inclusive, and academically rigorous learning environment for all?