News
Media Release
22 February 2012
Act early, act local to save threatened landscapes
Australians have been urged to "act early, act local" to save large tracts of the Australian landscape from shifting into radically-altered states.
A team of 26 leading ecologists from the Innovative Research Universities (IRUs) today released a list of the continent's ten most highly-threatened environments.
Executive Director's Comment
9 February 2012
Response to Frank Furedi Article - The Australian 4 Feb 2012
The Australian Thurs 9 Feb 2012
More students may not make us smarter but then nor will fewer (Frank Furedi, The Weekend Australian Inquirer 4-5/2, p2). It depends on what they learn. Mr Furedi's analysis is based on some mis-readings of the changes to university funding and some interesting assumptions.
It is not accurate to state that universities are subject to a supply led initiative. The Government has set a long term goal for graduate numbers but it has not set universities target numbers to enrol. To the contrary it has removed the university targets and allowed universities to respond to demand from applicants. If there is no increase in demand there are no extra places.
Executive Director's Comment
14 December 2011
Report on the Base Funding Review - Initial Analysis
The base funding review report is a significant analysis of the complex questions about how best to support high quality education in our universities. The IRU is considering the report in detail to understand all its proposals for reform both individually and in operation together. This will form the basis for our engagement with the Government and other interested parties over 2012 and beyond.
Some initial analysis follows.
Media Release
12 December 2011
IRU welcomes united university Cabinet and farewells Senator Carr
The IRU welcomes the Government's decision to bring back together responsibility for higher education and research under the leadership of Senator Chris Evans, the Government Leader in the Senate.
Media Release
8 December 2011
IRU universities: a leading part of Australia's world class university system
In his David Davies Memorial Lecture (7 December 2011) Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training advances three main points to his theme of 'excellence in universities':
- that we should retain a focus on universities as places for education and creation of knowledge;
- that we should support a variety of ways in which universities achieve their missions; and
- Australia needs to concentrate on pushing a small set of its universities into the highest level of international university rankings.
Newsletter
October 2011
The past three months have seen further development of the Government's reform program across many areas...
Newsletter
June 2011
IRU, established in 2003, is a group of universities sharing common origins as research intensive universities, most of which were established during the 1960s and 1970s a previous period of expansion in Australian Higher Education.
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