The Dawkins Revolution was a series of Australian tertiary education reforms instituted by the then Labor Education Minister (1987-92) John Dawkins. John Sydney Dawkins was the Treasurer of Australia from December 1991 to December 1993. ...

Aims and outcomes

The reforms were aimed at improving the efficiency and international competitiveness of Australian universities, as well as a solution for the perceived brain drain. These reforms included the introduction of HECS, the conversion of all Colleges of Advanced Education (CAEs) into universities, and a series of provisions for universities to provide plans, profiles, statistics etc. to justify courses and research. As a result, undergraduate student numbers increased dramatically as universities were given economies of scale. There were also many mergers between universities and CAEs, with some successful (University of Queensland Gatton Campus), and others not so (Australian National University and the Canberra CAE, now the University of Canberra). This is a list of universities and higher education institutions in Australia. ... A brain drain or human capital flight is an emigration of trained and talented individuals (human capital) for other nations or jurisdictions, due to conflict or lack of opportunity or health hazards where they are living. ... The Higher Education Contribution Scheme, or HECS, is a tertiary education funding scheme introduced in 1989 by the Australian Commonwealth Government. ... The College of Advanced Education (CAE) was a class of Australian tertiary education institutions that existed in the period of the 1970s until the early 1990s. ... ... The University of Queensland The University of Queensland (UQ) has its main campus in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, specifically in the suburb of St Lucia. ... The Australian National University (ANU), is a university located in Canberra, the national capital of Australia. ... University of Canberra   The University of Canberra, or UC, is primarily located in the suburb of Bruce in Canberra, the capital of Australia, near the Belconnen Town Centre. ...

Criticisms

Many, especially those among the Group of Eight, saw these reforms as a dumbing down of the higher education sector, as college diploma students became university graduates overnight. The traditional universities were forced to focus more on teaching and thus research also suffered. As a result, many of Australia's top academics left for overseas, bringing down the quality and international competitiveness of Australian universities. The rise in the number of university graduates has also been blamed for the shortage of skilled labour which Australia is currently experiencing. The Group of Eight (Go8) is a lobby group for the tertiary institutions generally considered to be the most prestigious and research-intensive universities in Australia. ...