Higher education in Australia

The collection Select Documents in Australian History 1851-1900 (Clark, 1969) includes a newspaper report of a speech by Charles Wentworth to the Legislative Council of New South Wales on 4 October 1849 proposing the establishment of Australia’s first university, The University of Sydney. It reads:

“[Wentworth] hoped the institution they now contemplated would afford a sphere of instruction, not for that colony alone, but for the whole family of man. That it would be the fountain of knowledge at whose spring all might drink, be they Christian, Mahomedan, Jew, or Heathen. That its gates would be open to all whether they were disciples of Moses, of Jesus, of Bramin, of Mahomed, or Vishnu, or of Buddha …

He believed [the establishment of the university] would be the crowning act of the deeds of the [Legislative] Council … So long as this institution should exist they would not be forgotten-so long as it flourished their memory would not decay. He looked upon this measure as more important than all that they had heretofore done in that House. They had passed laws, but those laws might be altered-might, in the change of fleeting circumstances, be swept away; but this measure-this, which was to enlighten the mind-to refine the understanding and to elevate the soul of their fellow-men-this, of all their acts, alone contained the germ of immortality.” (pp. 697-698)

What has changed since this speech was made? What are the roles of universities today? How many universities and higher education providers are there in Australia now?

The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Links to an external site. (TEQSA) provide up-to-date figures on the number of higher education providers in Australia in the National Register of Higher Education Providers Links to an external site. (TEQSA, 2017). Approximately a quarter of these, 40 institutions at present, are universities. The remainder are colleges, institutes and schools which may offer higher education qualifications if authorised by TEQSA. Most non-university higher education providers (HEPs) are private sector institutions (non-university public institutions include the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, the Australian Institute of Police Management and TAFEs [Technical and Further Education]). Some public institutions also own for-profit colleges.

For an up-to-date list of Australian universities see Universities Australia's website Links to an external site..

 

 

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