If you're a parent of a public school student who's paying for all the extras like excursions, laptops or more books for the library you might question the idea that public schools are free. But the idea of school fees for public education has proven to be politically unviable. A leaked discussion paper from the...

Looked at over time and ranked against other OECD countries, public funding of Australian universities is at a record-breaking low At a conference of university leaders in early 2013, Tony Abbott promised “relative policy stability” in higher education if he became prime minister. A year later, Universities Australia began its first Abbott-era budget submission by...

State school education is widely considered to be free, but there are many extra costs parents are asked to pay.

Universities are integral to Australia’s research effort and provide the foundation of skills and knowledge required for the nation’s long-term success. Research and innovation have been consistently identified as essential ingredients for improving productivity and quality of life.

The Australasian Council of Deans of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (DASSH) represents humanities, arts and social science (HASS) disciplines across 36 Australian universities. While these universities differ in their responses to the proposed deregulation of higher education, there is agreement among DASSH members that the proposals to reduce government funding of university education and...