Considering the benefits that enterprise agreements (EAs) can bring to Indigenous employees, this paper considers the question of whether respectful cultural policies that are aligned with reconciliation and included in EAs can be achieved to Close the Gap on reducing Indigenous disadvantage. A document analysis of EAs at eight Australian…

There is substantial evidence that supports the theory that higher education and democracy are highly correlated. Throughout modern history, students have been at the forefront of democratic movements, including the 1989 pro-democracy uprising in China. Since then, and despite the increased availability of Western-style education within and…

Snobbery in academia can involve academics, general staff, students and members of the public, and can be based on degrees, disciplines, cliques and other categories. Though snobbery is seldom treated as a significant issue, it can have damaging effects on morale, research and public image. Strategies against snobbery include avoidance, private…

Mental health problems in young Australians continue to be a major public health issue. Studying at university can generate social pressures particularly for youth, which have been associated with the onset of a mental illness or a worsening of an existing condition. Many universities provide health services to support students with health…

Drawing on various secondary sources and direct encounters with casual academic staff, this article examines the emergent context and lived experiences of casualisation in Australian universities, with specific reference to on-going developments in teaching arrangements across the sector. Particular attention is paid to the challenges associated…

Quantitative methods and secondary data informed by critical realism and a feminist standpoint provide a contemporary snapshot of academic gender ratios in Australian universities, along with historical data, for the entire population of interest. The study is set in the context of the well-researched, worldwide gendered nature of higher education…

The advent of a new national regulatory and quality assurance regime in Australia, through the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), presents additional requirements to university governing bodies, for compliance with standards and for risk management. This paper discusses TEQSA's approach and potential vulnerabilities for…

Disciplines have emerged as an alternative administrative structure to departments or schools in Australian universities. We presently investigate the pattern of discipline use and by way of case study examine a role for distributed leadership in discipline management. Over forty per cent of Australian universities currently employ disciplines,…

From 2015, Australian universities will be required to demonstrate that their programmes explicitly teach and assess achievement of, knowledge and skills, and the application of both as specified by the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). Over the last twenty years, the sector has applied significant effort and resources to embedding the…

This paper provides an overview of recent trends in the provision of general infrastructure funding by the Commonwealth for Australian universities (Table A providers) over the period 2004 to 2011. It specifically examines general infrastructure development and excludes funding for research infrastructure through the Australian Research Council or…

The concept of academic rights is greatly misunderstood, even among some university academics. This paper provides a summary of the historical development of the academic rights from the Roman to the modern era. Many documents and declarations advocating academic rights have been produced, and this paper presents a discussion of the recent…

Higher education is viewed as part of the national agenda in transforming Malaysia into a high-income nation. This has resulted in a sky-rocketing number of graduates in Malaysia's recent history. Industry relies on higher education as the source of skilled employees, and it is important for industry to attract and retain talented employees…

Although professional staff comprise more than half the Australian higher education workforce, typically research has concentrated on the work of academic staff. Professional staff are increasingly researching the working lives of professional staff, adding to the understanding of the work of professional staff and the contributions they make…

Academics can engage in and contribute to activism in various ways. Some are involved in action groups on issues such as climate change and treatment of asylum seekers. Some undertake research and speak to the media about indigenous, environmental, gender and other issues. Others campaign on matters of concern within universities, including…

In recent years, Australian universities have come under pressure from Government and other stakeholder groups to demonstrate the quality of their activities. The Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) provides a valuable source of data about student satisfaction regarding the courses that they study at Australian universities. It provides a body…