Two of Australia's preeminent university leaders will lead a review into building closer ties between Australian universities and industry.
Currently, Australia is missing out on the full benefits of university-industry collaboration, including having better skilled graduates, more innovation and greater research commercialisation.
Professor Martin Bean CBE, outgoing Vice-Chancellor of RMIT University, and Professor Peter Dawkins AO, former Vice-Chancellor and President of Victoria University will lead the University-Industry Collaboration in Teaching and Learning Review.
The review will focus on:
- Improving work-integrated learning and options to count work experience as credit towards a qualification like a microcredential
- Opportunities to combine work, study and ongoing skill development
- Reforming curriculum, teaching methods and assessment
- Enhancing pathways between schools, VET, higher education and industry.
Minister for Education and Youth Alan Tudge said there was consensus that creating a culture of collaboration between universities and industry provided benefits for students, universities and businesses.
"We want industry and higher education working together to drive Australia's economic recovery by giving students the skills they need and the skills that industry needs them to have," Minister Tudge said
"Industry can give students access to practical work experience, real-world technology and the ability to learn from established leaders in their chosen field.
"In return, business gets access to world-leading research and potential new employees who are job-ready - the entrepreneurs and workplace innovators of the future.
"Building these relationships between universities and business will also help us achieve our ambitions for more research commercialisation and ensure we are getting the most for Australia out of our world-class research."
Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business Stuart Robert said the review will also look at the interaction between the VET and higher education sectors.
"When it comes to reskilling or upskilling to get into a job, people should have as many options available to them as possible," Minister Robert said.
"There could be options to allow people to combine VET and university study to get a qualification and flexibility to fit training in around existing work."
The review by Professors Bean and Dawkins will look at options for both young people looking to enter the skilled labour market and experienced workers looking to upskill or reskill.
The review will run alongside the ongoing work of the National Priorities and Industry Linkage Fund and the University Research Commercialisation Scheme.
It will also build on the progress that universities have been making in this space including through the National Strategy on Work Integrated Learning in University Education.
The final report will be delivered by the end of August 2021.
