Funding plan does not penalise regional universities

Small and regional universities would not be penalised under a funding model proposed this week by leading universities, University of Queensland Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hay said today.

Professor Hay said the Group of Eight, an alliance of Australia's leading research-strong universities which he chairs, was seeking an extra $385 million in Federal Government funding for universities overall.

This was to address a significant anomaly in the current funding system, which meant universities that were successful in research were financially penalised.

Professor Hay said he recognised the importance of smaller universities to regional centres and he believed there was a place in Australia for a broad spectrum of higher education institutions.

“My comments on regional universities at the National Press Club yesterday were in the context of research and the associated infrastructure,” Professor Hay said.

“What we can’t afford in a country of this size is the duplication of expensive research infrastructure across a large number of universities for purely political reasons.

“Under our proposal, research funding would be distributed on merit according to established research criteria. It would in no way damage existing universities.”

“In fact, if smaller universities were doing significant research in a particular area they could access the funds in the same way.”

Professor Hay said, under the present scheme, the research component of a university’s operating grant was distributed according to undergraduate student numbers rather than research success.

“It is blind to the amount or quality of research being done and to the actual costs of building and maintaining major infrastructure, from high-tech labs to libraries,” he said. “Thus if you succeed in research you are penalised, if you do not you are rewarded.”

Professor Hay welcomed the support of the Australian Vice-Chancellor’s Committee for his call for an improved research funding formula.

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