A University of Wollongong spokesperson said reducing student numbers could have catastrophic consequences for both the manufacturing and service sectors.
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“The current squeeze on student numbers (over the period 2018 and 2019) will have to be released in 2020 to avert this risk,” the spokesperson said.
The comments follow a new report by the Mitchell Institute which suggests as many as 235,000 fewer Australians would be at university by 2031 under the Turnbull Government's freeze on university funding.
The UOW spokesperson said the Mitchell Institute report highlighted the need for Australia to have a highly skilled workforce to meet the demands for the next few decades.
“In this period nearly all the new jobs will be filled by candidates with VET or degree qualifications. The report highlights the sensitivity of the labour market demands and starkly shows that governments need to develop long-term policies on the proportion of 18-30 years old in training or education.”
Universities Australia chief executive Belinda Robinson said the report was a timely reminder that the funding freeze would slowly start to inflict frostbite on the nation's graduate labour force.
"If the number of skilled graduates that Australia is educating starts to fall much below the growth in our population, the portion of our citizens with a university qualification will begin to fall," she said.
“But the number of jobs that need to be filled by skilled graduates is tipped to keep growing.
“So either Australia won't be able to fill some jobs that require skilled graduates – or we will need to boost our skilled migration levels with more overseas graduates so those jobs can be filled.”
The Mitchell Institute report states that ensuring that tertiary education participation grows rather than declines in the years ahead, should be a primary policy objective.
It says this is important to meet the needs of the country's growing population and to support increased participation in the workforce.
Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
