UCC Position Statement

Affordable access to university and TAFE was once a national ambition. It’s time to renew that conversation, not as nostalgia, but as a forward investment in people, productivity, and fairness. We must restore the link between education and opportunity for students, by ending policy settings that distort student choice, undermine quality, and establish inequity. Students should not be priced out of their study areas of interest, or of disciplines that align with national priorities.

A fair and forward-looking university systems listens to students, protects their rights and wellbeing, and fosters environments where they can thrive, as learners, citizens, workers, and community members,

Student voice and student unionism are essential for active university life and a healthy democracy. They foster active citizenship, build democratic skills, ensure collective representation, ensure students have a voice in institutional decisions, and provide a support network for their when students are at their most vulnerable.

To deliver for students, we envision:

• Guaranteed access to high-quality, inclusive education throughout all stages of life

• Ensure no capable student is priced out of opportunity to undertake tertiary education in their study area of choice

• Create clear, supported pathways from study to work, with less debt, stress, and confusion

• Foster strong social connection through inclusive campuses, supportive services, and opportunities to belong

• Remove funding distortions that limit choice and learning pathways, and shift towards a system that reflects the real costs of higher education and national priorities

Behind every student’s success are staff members who have continued to show up day after day, year after year – both academic and professional. Universities aren’t just places of learning; they’re places of work, places where careers are realised and ambitions are fostered. It’s time for a new compact; one built on respect, fair and sustainable employment, and a shared commitment to the future.

Universities don’t just shape students; they are workplaces for more than 130,000 Australians in metropolitan and regional communities across the country. From casual tutors to Nobel-winning researchers, every staff member deserves fair conditions, genuine respect, and the chance to thrive. Too many work in insecure roles, under rising pressure, with limited pathways for progression. This isn’t just a workforce issue, it’s a risk to our national knowledge base, a risk to the student experience, and a risk to our international reputation.

To support educators and a sustainable workforce for universities, we envision:

• Improvement to sustainability of employment across the sector, by increasing certainty, supporting career progression and pathways, and reducing sector reliance on casualisation

• Investment in the next generation of educators, researchers and leaders through sustainable workforce planning, inclusive recruitment, and strong early-career support

• Promoting a culture of respect, safety and wellbeing, where staff are valued, protected, and empowered to contribute their best

• Embedding employment sustainability transparently into university governance as a condition of public trust, sector integrity, and long-term performance

Every major breakthrough - medical, technological, environmental - began with long-term public investment in research. Our future depends on backing it boldly, consistently, and at scale.

We recognise that great breakthroughs begin with independent discovery. Supporting curiosity-driven research is essential to securing Australia’s long-term innovation and competitiveness.

Australia cannot afford to be a nation of smart ideas and slow action. Our investment in research has fallen behind global competitors, placing our health, prosperity, and sovereignty at risk. We must urgently restore national ambition and commit to international levels of investment in research and development. This is not a sectoral plea, it is a national imperative.

To reclaim the value of research and innovation, we envision:

• Lift investment in research to globally competitive levels to drive productivity, secure national capability, and unlock new industries.

• Protect discovery and long-term inquiry as the engine of sovereign capability and the source of next-generation ideas.

• Accelerate translation and impact through smarter partnerships with industry, government and community, without compromising academic freedom or public good.

• Align national research priorities with public investment, but not at the cost of intellectual diversity or independence.

If we want Australian solutions to Australian challenges, we must back Australian research at the scale the world’s best do, and with the confidence our people deserve.

Our universities are not special interests, they are stewards of public purpose, and will continue to lead with honesty, humility and courage.

Continuing to build trust and display transparency includes:

• Holding ourselves to the highest standards of governance and integrity

• Providing clarity about how public funds are used and public good is delivered

• Sharing of success and taking responsibility when we fall short

Education should be a source of national pride, not political point-scoring. It’s time to reclaim it as a force that unites Australians and prepares us for what’s next. In a time of division and distraction, universities can help Australia look up, think ahead, and come together. Our role is not just to deliver qualifications, but to spark ideas, build capability, and shape a fairer, more confident nation.

To do this, we seek to:

• Move beyond culture wars and short-termism by recommitting to education as a long-term public good

• Lead a new national conversation about the purpose of learning, one that brings together students, staff, employers, First Nations voices, regional communities, and emerging generations

• Position higher education as part of Australia’s nation-building story: practical, visionary and unifying, just as it was in the postwar years and must be again

Universities thrive when they have the capacity to ask questions, challenge ideas, and pursue knowledge wherever it leads. That freedom is a condition of excellence, and a foundational pillar of democracy. Autonomy protects academic freedom: the right of students and academics to teach, learn, and debate. It ensures that universities are able to continue contributing to the public interest, and are not serving political, commercial, or ideological agendas.

In a time of polarisation and misinformation, universities must remain spaces for open dialogue, peaceful disagreement, and independent thought. They help build democratic skills, support human rights, and foster critical engagement in civic life.

When university autonomy is undermined, education becomes compliance, research becomes restricted, and dissent becomes dangerous.

To protect academic freedom is to protect democracy itself.

• Support institutional autonomy as an essential pillar of a democratic society

• Uphold academic freedom and freedom of expression in university environments – alongside the education on how to manage this freedom responsibly and respectfully

• Ensure universities remain free from political, commercial or ideological interference

• Promote universities as places for debate, critical inquiry, and civic engagement