Australian universities should prepare for further cancellations of international research partnerships as the Albanese Government tightens scrutiny of foreign collaborations, Nobel Prize-winning physicist and former Australian National University vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt has warned.
Schmidt made the comments at the Australian Financial Review Higher Education Summit, following the Albanese Government’s decision to terminate an ANU research partnership with China’s Shandong University.
He warned that while stronger research security was necessary, cutting international collaborations could carry significant risks for Australian universities and the nation’s research capacity.
“If we’re not at the table, we’re going to be left in the backyard,” Group of Eight chief executive Vicki Thomson told the summit during a panel discussion on research security and international collaboration.
Thomson stressed that international partnerships were essential because Australia accounts for only about 3 per cent of global research and development, meaning 97 per cent of the world’s R&D takes place elsewhere.
She said Australia had developed world-leading research-security infrastructure but needed to remain engaged internationally if it wanted to maintain its position at the forefront of research and innovation.
The panel included Schmidt, a Distinguished Professor at ANU, and Australian Research Council chief executive Ute Roessner, with discussion ranging from research security and international collaboration to the chronic underfunding of university research.
Australia currently invests about 1.69 per cent of GDP in research and development, well below the 3 per cent target advocated by the sector.
The summit comes as the Federal Government pursues a broader overhaul of the higher education sector, including stronger regulatory powers, new funding arrangements and tougher research-security requirements.
Education Minister Jason Clare used the summit to outline a series of reforms flowing from the Universities Accord.
Clare said the first university compacts were expected to be finalised next month, setting out each institution’s domestic student load for next year.
The Australian Tertiary Education Commission will allocate about 36,000 additional Commonwealth-supported places, including about 20,000 places for universities currently over-enrolled and another 16,000 places across the higher education system.
The Government is also pursuing legislation aimed at expanding university access for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and regional and remote communities.
Clare described the proposed needs-based funding model as effectively “Gonski for universities”, with additional funding intended to support tutoring, mentoring, scholarships, emergency grants and other assistance.
The Government is also expanding its paid placement scheme to 10 additional frontline health professions, including clinical psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, radiography, pharmacy, audiology, podiatry and paramedicine.
Clare said unpaid placements could create significant financial pressure for students, including those required to travel or maintain accommodation away from home.
Research security remains one of the most sensitive areas of the Government’s university reform agenda.
Clare said the Government had asked the higher education regulator to review threshold standards to ensure they adequately addressed emerging research-security challenges.
The Foreign Minister is also progressing legislation dealing with foreign arrangements, while Universities Australia and the Universities Foreign Interference Taskforce are working on stronger approaches to managing risks associated with researcher-to-researcher collaboration.
The Government’s decision to end the ANU-Shandong University arrangement has nevertheless raised concerns about the potential consequences for Australia’s international research networks.
Schmidt’s warning highlights the difficult balance facing universities: protecting sensitive research and national interests while ensuring Australian researchers remain connected to the global scientific community.
Clare also announced plans to give the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency stronger enforcement powers.
Under the proposed legislation, compliance with the Higher Education Standards Framework would become a condition of registration.
TEQSA would be able to direct universities and other providers to address non-compliance and impose fines for breaches.
Civil penalties would increase from about $40,000 to more than $2 million.
The reforms would also give TEQSA greater powers to address systemic risks, including racism, governance failures and other emerging threats.
Clare said the changes were intended to allow the regulator to intervene earlier while reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens on high-quality providers.
The legislation will also amend the Australian National University Act following advice from TEQSA.
Under the proposed changes, the ANU Council would have equal numbers of elected and ministerially appointed members and would be required to have appropriate expertise and representation, including financial expertise, gender diversity and First Nations representation.
The Chair of ANU’s Academic Board would also become an ex officio member of the Council.
Clare said the reforms were part of a broader effort to restore public confidence in Australian universities.
“I don’t like it when people say universities are overrated or friendless. It’s not true,” Clare told the summit.
He described universities as “the great hope for anyone seeking a better world” and said the Government wanted them to be “better too”.
The competing pressures around research security and international collaboration, however, are likely to remain a major issue for Australian universities as Canberra seeks to strengthen national-security safeguards without cutting Australia off from the global research community.
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