The peak body representing Australia's universities will attempt to steer the higher education debate away from fee deregulation by calling for a "radical" policy re-think based on increased public funding for research and development.
Universities Australia chair Barney Glover will release the organisation's pre-election policy blueprint in a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday that does not mention either fee deregulation or higher student fees.
Instead, his speech calls for an end to the "intolerable" uncertainty universities have faced since the government announced its plan to deregulate university fees in last year's budget.
Professor Glover will warn Australian universities are currently caught in a "funding limbo ... without a structural and strategic vision for the coming decades".
New Education Minister Simon Birmingham has said he is "all ears" for ideas on how to create a more vibrant higher education system.
The speech marks a significant break from the past 18 months by stressing the case for renewed public funding in universities so they can help drive innovation and economic growth.
"Notwithstanding the recognised private benefit that might accrue to individual students, universities have a public purpose," Professor Glover will say.
Professor Glover, who is also vice-chancellor of Western Sydney University, will call for a "radical re-think and commitment from government to create the conditions for prosperity to flourish".
Noting that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has made innovation the "central organising principle" of his cabinet, Universities Australia will urge the government to establish:
- a major technology and innovation program - similar to the United Kingdom's Catapult centres - to link universities with businesses
- an "Innovation Board" including government, industry, university and research community leaders to drive an integrated national approach to research and innovation
- a "Student Innovation Fund" to encourage university students to be more entrepreneurial
- a premium tax concession rate for businesses collaborating with universities on R&D
Britain's Catapult centres promote collaboration between researchers and businesses in fields such as high-end manufacturing, cell therapy and renewable energy.
New research by Deloitte Access Economics, commissioned by Universities Australia, put the value of university research at $160 billion a year, equivalent to 10 per cent of gross domestic roduct and more than the entire value of the mining industry.
The group also notes Australia has plummeted from six to 24th out of 25 developed countries for the share of GDP devoted to tertiary education over the past two decades.
Professor Glover stresses that universities should not be funded only for their economic benefits, but to foster creativity and the pursuit of knowledge - including in the humanities.
Research and innovation should be valued as much for their contribution to social wellbeing as economic growth and prosperity, he will say.
Earlier this year Professor Glover told Fairfax Media that fee deregulation was not essential for Australia to have a high-quality university system.
"Deregulation is at one end of the spectrum; at the other end is the system as it is now," he said.
"We are going to continue to engage in a debate about what the appropriate balance is."
