Image: Rexness [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Flickr
Institutions should look to state treasury departments for assistance, says Australian government
Federal education minister Dan Tehan has ruled out a Covid-19 emergency rescue package for Australia’s universities, suggesting they can access financial support through state treasury departments.
He stressed that the welfare of domestic students would be a government priority during the crisis and rejected claims that universities should qualify for federal assistance as registered charities.
He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that federal support for charities was for those “who are delivering food parcels, who are delivering clothing [and] who are assisting the homeless at this time”.
Tehan’s comments follow an editorial by Universities Australia, the national organisation for vice-chancellors, that claimed tertiary institutions faced losses of up to $4.6 billion “at a minimum” in 2020.
“Universities very quickly and very innovatively have moved to online learning. It’s almost been seamless in the way that they’ve done it, which shows the ability of our university sector to be able to move and adapt to this pandemic,” he told ABC morning radio host Fran Kelly.
“Most universities have relationships with their state treasuries when it comes to finances and financial loans. So, I know many universities are pursuing that with their state treasuries. I continue to work with them on what we need to be doing to look at the domestic [student] load.”
Tehan has made it clear in previous speeches and media comments that he is concerned about the potential economic and social impact of Covid-19 on Australia’s rural students and regional universities.
Universities Australia chair Deborah Terry and chief executive Catriona Jackson have appealed to the government to offer more support for international students.
“We want to work with the government to support the more than 335,000 international students in this country, many of whom have seen their part-time jobs disappear, just like their Australian counterparts. Universities have already offered welfare funds, but more support will be required,” they write in an editorial posted online.
However, prime minister Scott Morrison has said that international students who lack the financial resources to stay on in Australia “should plan to make their way home” and continue their studies online.
Terry and Jackson say universities “have not asked for a bailout” from the federal government to help weather the Covid-19 crisis.
“Rather, we have asked federal, state and territory governments to provide universities with a short-term, zero or low-interest loan facility. Anyone who has used a bridging loan between the sale and purchase of a house would be familiar with this mechanism.”
They have also warned that universities will face significant job losses without government assistance.
“Because salary and other employee costs make up an average of 53 per cent of university outgoings, we estimate this may place at risk more than 21,000 full-time jobs. That is over the next six months, but because there will be a significant pipeline effect, that will not be the end of the job losses, with perhaps as many again, after this first hit.”