Welcome to the September edition of the Noticeboard, a monthly update with news and opportunities from around the sector. If you have anything you’d like to share with members please contact our Research and Engagement Officer Ellen Kirkpatrick.
News from dassh
2025 Annual Report released
In 2024-25 DASSH prioritised member engagement and increased our member-focused activities through launching a new event series, establishing new Communities of Practice, and creating more Mentoring and networking opportunities. We continued to contribute to policy developments and debates, and advocate for the value of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities on enhancing national capabilities.
Highlights from the past year include:
- The launch of a Mentoring Program for DASSH members
- A brand new member-focused Essential Insights webinar series
- Two Associate Dean Research Communities of Practice across Australia and Aotearoa
- The release of the Pathway to Success interview series
- Three submissions informed by research and member engagement
- Four statements responding to policy developments in the higher education sector
- An ongoing census project mapping the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities across Australia and Aotearoa
Conference ticket sales closed
Ticket sales have closed for our annual conference and we are excited to see so many of you are coming! We are looking forward to hosting our members in Sydney in a couple of weeks’ time. Attending members will receive an email soon with all details about arriving at the venues and the program.
Around the traps
Universities Australia call for fee reform to be prioritised
Universities Australia President Carolyn Evans told the National Press Club that current university funding settings are not sufficient to achieve the goals of the Universities Accord. Changes to funding models including the Job-Ready Graduates package are “inherently unfair” and harming education pathways for Australians.
Read the transcript
Why no one is studying Arts
Julie Hare reports in Australian Financial Review that there are funding structures in place which actively discourage studying Arts and Humanities. She writes that this is problematic for many including Professor Barney Glover, the Commissioner of Jobs and Skills Australia. Glover says that there is a need for skills to be framed differently especially in the age of AI. He says:
“The role the humanities play will be vitally important. We don’t want disincentives. We need curriculum reform that enables more crossover fertilisation between the humanities and sciences.”
Read more (paywall)
Proposed new powers for TEQSA
The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) would be granted new powers to issue fines, injunctions, compliance notices and enforceable undertakings or to suspend providers or courses under changes proposed in a new government consultation paper.
The consultation paper invites views about the future regulation of Australian higher education and on potential changes to the TEQSA Act to allow TEQSA to step in and act when it’s justified in the public interest. It also focuses on opportunities to streamline regulation for universities and ways to support a joined up tertiary system.
Read more
Aotearoa University Advisory Group Final Report released
Sir Peter Gluckman’s University Advisory Group made more than 60 recommendations in five priority areas from their two-phase review on the future of Aotearoa New Zealand’s university system. This includes lifting student achievement, maximising economic impact, increasing access, deepening integration and boosting international education.
John Gerritsen writes in RNZ that the government’s initial response has rejected the University Advisory Group’s calls for tougher entry requirements and an elite university system with separate funding.
Read the report
Read expert reactions
Read more on government response
Equity Insights 2025: Policy, Power and Practice for a Fairer Australian Tertiary Education System
The Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (ACSES) highlights required systemic reforms and everyday practices that can make a difference in the lives of students in their flagship annual report. It brings together 22 leading voices from across the sector to examine the student equity landscape.
Read the report
Our Gen AI transition: implications for work and skills
Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) reported that Gen AI is more likely to augment jobs than replace them in the first whole-of-labour-market view of Gen AI’s potential impact to date. The report covers the differing impacts of AI, labour market outcomes and the variety of pathways for the Australian workforce.
Is Job-Ready Graduates to blame for declining enrolments?
Professor Andrew Norton writes in The Conversation that interest in higher education is falling with the biggest decline in enrolments in people in their 20s. While the cost of an Arts degree has more than doubled under the Job-Ready Graduates policy, he says downward trends in applications and enrolments began in 2018.
Read now
Cost-cutting and consultants are not the answer
Michelle Arrow, Anna Clark and Frank Bongiorno write in The Conversation that there is growing anxiety about Australian universities’ loss of social licence. They advocate a good place to start in the current ‘crisis’ is to debate what sort of expertise, capabilities and qualities we need to be a successful nation and the role of universities in contributing towards that.
Read more
Aotearoa Marsden Fund given little notice of further cuts
Mary Argue writes in RNZ that Aotearoa’s decades-old fund dedicated to blue-skies research has been forced to slash its grant allocation by more than $20 million next year. The fund says it was given a day’s notice of further funding cuts and told to ‘keep quiet’ until the government made it public.
Read more
New Australian Research Council Discovery Indigenous projects announced
The Australian Research Council (ARC) announced $18.4 million in funding for 16 new projects under the ARC Discovery Indigenous scheme. The successful projects deliver outcomes in a wide range of areas including developing culturally safe treatments and integrating Indigenous approaches to environmental care.
Read more
New working group on higher education costing and pricing
A new working group will be established to provide advice to the interim Australian Tertiary Education Commission on approaches to more efficient estimation of the price of higher education. The working group will review existing models, provide advice on data collection frameworks and benchmark against international and domestic data.
Find out more
Public good curation of humanities research
Nick Thieberger writes in Arena Online about how the Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures is an initiative ensures the longevity of cultural materials. This is important for preserving humanities research data and its importance to the broader public.
Read more
Marsden Fund update publishes 30 years of history and impact
The latest putanga issue of the Marsden Fund Update has been published. It celebrates key milestones and impact stories from 30 years of Te Pūtea Rangahau a Marsden, alongside research highlights from 2024.
Read here
Aotearoa schools to decide who takes an academic path
DASSH member Lisa Maurice-Takerei writes in The Conversation that the Aotearoa government’s proposed reforms would see secondary schools play a bigger role in preparing students for work through grouping them into either academic or vocational pathways.
Read more
Challenges of casualisation
Jess Harris, Kathleen Smither, Nerida Spina and Sarah Gurr write in The Conversation that an estimated 50-80% of undergraduate teaching is done by casuals. They explore how many challenges of casualisation are shared across early childhood education, schools, vocational education and universities.
Read more
New report reveals gaps between Australia’s future needs and science capabilities
The Australian Academy of Science’s new report ‘Australian Science, Australia’s Future: Science 2035’ reveals gaps in workforce, infrastructure and coordination, and key risks around current funding policies. This report is the outcome of the Academy’s most comprehensive and ambitious policy efforts.
Read the report
Opportunities
Consultation opens on strengthening TEQSA’s powers
The Government has released a consultation paper inviting views about the future regulation of Australian higher education and on potential changes to the TEQSA Act to align with Government and community expectations. Students, staff, and members of the wider community are encouraged to provide feedback on how the issues in the questions relate to their experiences of higher education.
Responses to the questions are open until Friday 17 October.
Find out more
dassh Events
Essential Insights series
Register now for the final 2025 Essential Insights online webinar.
2025 Policy Wrap-Up
Wednesday 19 November
12pm – 1pm (AEST)/2pm – 3pm (NZT)
Online
Associate Deans (Research) Community of Practice
Associate Deans (Research) Community of Practice
The Community of Practice is comprised of Associate Deans (Research) across member institutions. The group meets regularly to discuss spotlighted topics, share resources and guidance for addressing common challenges.
Remember: ADRs are warmly invited to attend both the Aotearoa and Australian events! There is huge value in hearing from your colleagues on either side of the Tasman.
Balancing Research Expectations
Tuesday 21 October
10am -11am (AEST)/12pm – 1pm (NZT)
Online
Implications of De-Casualisation
Thursday 27 November
12pm – 1pm (AEST)/ 12pm – 1pm (NZT)
Online
Australian events
Social Sciences Week
Monday 8 September – Sunday 14 September
Hybrid & multiple locations
Academy of Social Sciences in Australia
Social Sciences week is an annual initiative of several Australian social science associations that celebrates and showcases the diverse range of social sciences disciplines and research in Australia. A range of events and activities are held across Australia including seminars, lectures, workshops and panel discussions. These events cover a broad range of topics and themes, from politics and economics to sociology and psychology, and are designed to spark meaningful conversations and debates about key social issues.
Frameworks in Focus: Exploring Three Paths to Researcher Development
Tuesday 16 September
12pm – 1pm (AEST)
Online
Australian Council of Graduate Research
Join a free upcoming webinar showcasing research development frameworks from The University of Sydney, The University of New South Wales and Macquarie University. Each framework is designed to support Higher Degree Research candidates in building the skills, confidence and competencies needed to thrive as emerging researchers. Attendees will gain insights into how different institutions structure support for research training, professional development and transferable skills.
Register now
National Skills Forum: developing training as a non-subject expert
Wednesday 24 September
11am – 12pm (AEST)
Online
Australia Research Data Commons
The National Skills Forum is a monthly community event for trainers and research support professionals hosted by the Australian Research Data Commons Skilled Workforce Development Team. This month, hear from four research trainers who share their experiences developing sessions in highly specialised and technical subject areas, and how they facilitated relationships with key stakeholders to produce impactful and meaningful training.
Register now
TEQSA Annual Conference: Trust, Transparency and Transformation
Tuesday 18 November – Wednesday 19 November
Melbourne & online
Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency
Join TEQSA for their ninth annual national conference, a dedicated networking event focused on assuring the quality and integrity of the higher education sector. Central to this year’s theme is the rapid change in technology, demographics and global pressures facing providers and the Australian community.
Register now
Higher Education Summit – Fit for Purpose? The future of governance, regulation and impact of the Australian higher education sector
Thursday 20 November
8am – 5.30pm
The University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia Public Policy Institute
Join leading experts, scholars, senior executives and policy practitioners to explore the future of university governance, regulation and impact in a rapidly changing policy landscape. The Higher Education Summit is a unique opportunity to engage with policy leaders, share insights, and contribute to shaping a higher education system that is fit for purpose and benefits Australian communities.
Find out more
Re-defining open social scholarship in an age of generative intelligence
Tuesday 2 – Wednesday 3 December
Hybrid
Canadian Australian Partnership for Open Scholarship
The seventh annual conference of the Canadian Australian Partnership for Open Scholarship (CAPOS) will coincide with the Australasian Association for Digital Humanities (aaDH) Digital Humanities Australasia (DHA) 2025 conference. This conference aims to mobilise knowledge, research, and professional experience around the benefits and challenges of developing and maintaining open scholarship in the current age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital platforms.
Find out more