January 29, 2025
2025-26 Pre-Budget Submission
The Innovative Research Universities (IRU) welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the 2025–26 Federal Budget. This year’s Budget is another critical step in implementing the long-term policy reform agenda set out in the final Australian Universities Accord report, released in February 2024.
The IRU strongly supports the vision of the Universities Accord for a bigger and fairer higher education system, and the government’s commitment to increasing participation in tertiary education and training (to 80% of all working age Australians by 2050) to meet the future needs of our economy and society.
There is unfinished business for equity in higher education and the IRU welcomes the Accord’s focus on increasing tertiary participation by students from under-represented backgrounds, and the government’s commitment to population parity for these groups by 2050.
Investing now for sustainable growth and equity in our university system will boost productivity and support inclusive economic growth and social cohesion. Strong and innovative universities ensure that Australians have the skills to meet current workforce needs and the new knowledge to create the jobs of the future.
The IRU acknowledges the significant progress already made on implementing major reforms recommended in the Universities Accord. Through the 2024-25 Federal Budget and Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) update, the government has allocated new funding for key measures in line with IRU recommendations to the Accord, including:
- Supporting students with cost-of-living pressures (initially through reform of HELP loans and student debt).
- Financial support for students undertaking mandatory work placements as part of their studies.
- An expansion of fee-free “enabling” programs to provide more pathways into university.
- An independent Australian Tertiary Education Commission to oversee the long-term reform agenda and negotiate enhanced mission-based compact agreements with each university.
- Funding for a new Managed Growth Funding System for universities, incorporating Needs-Based Funding (to be fully implemented by 2027).
The 2024-25 Budget also included the announcement of a Strategic Examination of Research and Development – a major review of the R&D system that has been charged with taking forward the recommendations on research from the Universities Accord.
In this submission, we focus on four key actions that cannot wait for the new university funding model or the outcomes of the R&D review. These four recommendations for the 2025-26 Budget are essential to support students and to deliver on the government’s own priorities. Targeted action in these four areas in 2025-26 will support the ongoing implementation of remaining Accord recommendations and the goal of a fairer higher education system that puts students first.
Read the full submission here.
