April 13, 2026
Higher Education Support Amendment (Reverse JRG and End 50k Arts Degrees) Bill – IRU Response, April 2026
Executive Summary
The Innovative Research Universities (IRU) welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on this Bill and the important issue of reforming the Job-Ready Graduates (JRG) policy package.
We agree that there is an urgent need to reduce the most expensive student fees for higher education, end $50,000 Arts degrees and reverse the negative impacts of the JRG. However this Bill does not provide for comprehensive JRG reform and would make current problems worse.
IRU analysis shows the increasing financial and social costs of the JRG, with rising costs and debt for students, and fewer students from low socioeconomic backgrounds enrolling in university, particularly in the most expensive degrees. We believe that pricing some students out of degrees at the point of entry not only undermines their future but also Australia’s future. Without urgent reform, JRG will mean that the long-term goals of the Australian Universities Accord for increased participation and equity to meet Australia’s future skills needs cannot be met.
Our most recent paper (from March 2026) shows that under the JRG, students paid up to $368m more in 2024 than they would have under pre-JRG rates, with students in the most expensive courses paying up to $1.3b more. In 2024, Government contributed $1.18b less to the cost of teaching Australian university students, with universities receiving $813m less in base funding.
This Bill would reduce student contributions without increasing government contributions. It would not just “end $50k Arts degrees”, it would end Arts degrees and academic careers. Our modelling below shows that the Bill would result in a funding cut to universities of approx. $1.4b per annum, on top of the $800m p.a. cut already implemented by the JRG. We estimate that this could lead to job losses and/or work intensification for up to 8,400 university staff.
The IRU has set out clear principles for JRG reform (see summary below) and has costed various reform options (see here). We welcome Parliament’s focus on the urgent need for changes to the JRG and recommend that, instead of this Bill, a comprehensive reform proposal be developed that includes both student and government contributions.
We support the principles and process outlined in the Australian Universities Accord final report:
- Reducing student contribution rates in the highest charging fields and moving towards a student contribution system aligned with lifetime earnings (Recommendation 16a).
- Implementing a simpler system of student and government contributions with sufficient base funding to cover the cost of teaching and scholarship (Recommendation 40).
- Increasing government funding to support STEM courses, to reduce the negative impacts of the JRG package (Recommendation 41d).
JRG is socially regressive and is creating a two-track education system and society. Genuine reform with increased public funding is an investment in young people and Australia’s future.
