My mum was an academic and a hugely passionate one. Consequently, I spent most of my holidays, many evenings, and countless weekends perched beside her at her desk at the Queensland University of Technology Gardens Point campus.

Like any child of a shopkeeper or restauranteur, I spent holidays, weekends and evenings either helping in the family business or doing homework at the corner table. Our family business was academia.

My parents grew up in rural western Queensland, and are the first in their families to attend university. It was a slog for them to get there, and a slog for them to complete their degrees. But both did. They met each other during their years at the University of Queensland, and supported each other to complete their undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications, so they could each go on to build solid careers.

They’ve been divorced for 20 years, so it’s not an idyllic romantic tale. But, it is a love story about university. University was the making of both of their lives. It let them dream bigger and opened doors. For my dad, it was his ticket off the land. For my mum, it was her everything.

My mum’s profound appreciation for the transformative impact that university education had on her life led her into academia. This also meant that in her work as an academic, she was deeply committed to helping others have the kind of transformational university experience she’d had.

During my early years and into young adulthood, I would’ve met close to 100 students and colleagues my mum championed and for whom university unequivocally changed their lives. Higher education pulled them out of difficult circumstances and gave them social mobility, cultural capital, diverse connections, and opportunities that wouldn't have been available to them if they had not undertaken higher education.

This is why I thought universities were so magical. I saw first hand how life changing and truly transformative they could be.

I understood that accessing university was more challenging for some people. Still, I believed, for a long time, well into my university career, that once the barriers to access were removed, then the transformation could begin. I didn’t understand that for many people, opening the door to university is just the first barrier, and there are multiple other hurdles from there.

It won’t surprise you to learn that, to date, most of my career has been in universities. I worked for over 10 years in professional staff roles – positions focused on student support, international development, engagement, and events. I then into the academic space for several years as a casual research assistant and tutor.

Looking back now, I am deeply embarrassed at my naiveté and my blinkered, privileged perspective. I always existed in university culture, and tertiary study was just a given, natural next step in my life. I could live at home, work casually and study whatever I was interested in. For many of the early years of my career, even while working directly with students, I still knew very little about the complex, intersectional barriers people face in seeking the educational opportunities that were so readily available to me.

This doesn’t mean that studying at university was easy for me. It was just hard in the right way.

University is meant to be challenging. The content should stretch and provoke minds, expand knowledge, skills, and abilities. University often involves long hours, an annoying commute, and juggling study and work. But these are ‘normal’ challenges – the difficulty and complexity everyone faces when pursuing higher education.

This is not the inequity and systemic exclusion that equity groups - Indigenous Australians, people from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and people living with disabilities - face, that is intersectional inequity and systemic exclusion.

Universities are aware of inequity and exclusion. Most have substantial equity, diversity, and inclusion policies and committees. Many develop research on migration, social cohesion, economic participation, diversity, and inclusion. And most universities would argue that they exist for the public good.

However, students, staff, and communities from equity groups are not seeing changes from these policies, nor the beneficiaries of this research. They are still struggling to overcome barriers that go further than juggling a casual job and an annoying commute.

Paraphrasing Sally Patfield’s excellent article in The Conversation – access to higher education study is vital, the growing parity of equity groups numbers is ambitious, and developing policies and programs to connect with those equity groups is essential. Those connections might even open the door to a few more prospective students from underrepresented groups. Still, more policies and programs will have little to no impact on equity if the sector is not listening and responding to the needs of these cohorts. It's time to take appropriate action to remove barriers, address inequity, and change the university system.

I will further discuss this at HEDx's ‘Changing Higher Education for Good’ conference in Melbourne on Thursday, alongside my colleague, former University of Melbourne People of Colour Committee officer Mohamed Omer. We are appearing on a panel called ‘Accelerating in our pursuit of social justice and equity’ with several other excellent speakers, thinkers, and innovators who advocate for access and equity across different spaces.

Mohamed and I will speak on issues of systemic racism and exclusion that culturally diverse people (including international students) experience in university education; whether that be accessing uni, balancing studying or seeking post- study support and opportunities.

As universities and the broader higher education sector explore the recommendations of the inclusion-focused Australian Universities Accord, Welcoming Universities recommends that a culture of welcoming all students and cultivating a sense of belonging for disadvantaged cohorts is placed at the centre of all Accord reform efforts.

Welcoming opens the door, invites students in, and helps them overcome hurdles. Belonging is the next step. Belonging ensures that everyone “feels valued, connected and able to be their authentic self”¹.

Through extensive consultation with students and communities facing barriers to accessing, completing, and working in university education, the Welcoming Universities network offers actionable ideas, approaches, and measures of success that puts inclusion at the centre of universities.

My hope is that conversations like the one happening at HEDx next week, along with the work of Welcoming Universities, along with other equity work such as the disability-advocating Universities Enable initiative, will restore the magical possibility of universities I saw as a young person.

I truly believe that university and higher education can be even more transformative if people from all backgrounds and communities are welcomed and allowed to belong.

Cate Gilpin is the coordinator of Welcoming Universities, an organisation that advocates for an inclusive culture in tertiary education where every student is made to feel like they belong. Several universities, including Charles Darwin University, the University of Melbourne, UNSW, the University of Wollongong (UOW) and Western Sydney University have signed up to participate in Welcoming Universities initiatives.

As chancellor, Mr Thodey will chair the university’s senate, its highest governing body, a position similar to the chairman of a corporation. He said he looked forward to continuing Ms Hutchinson’s work “in striving to ensure the university is known for creating a world-class teaching and learning environment and a wonderful student experience”.

Mr Thodey comes into the top position at a time when the University of Sydney has emerged ­financially strong from the ­pandemic, after managing to retain its lucrative cohort of Chinese students who studied in their homeland during the period of border ­closures.

The university is by a clear margin the most financially strong Australian university, ­reporting a $1bn surplus in 2021, followed by a $300m surplus in 2022.

University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott, whose position is effectively CEO of the university, said Mr Thodey was a renowned leader across a broad range of national life. “His career has changed the lives of millions of Australians through telecommunications and digital technologies,” Professor Scott said.

He said Mr Thodey brought to the university “an extraordinary background that demonstrates a commitment to community, innovation and public service – as well as, of course, his extensive leadership and board experience across research, technology and telecommunications”.

Mr Thodey was Telstra CEO from 2009 to 2015 and then chaired the CSIRO board from 2015 to 2021. He chaired the 2019 Australian Public Sector Review and is chair of Ramsay Health Care and accounting technology company Xero.

He signalled he would be focusing on the university’s ability to create valuable applications from fundamental research. “Research translation for real-world impact is what great universities do, and that will continue to be a priority at the university,” he said.

Mr Thodey also said he would pay close attention to people and the composition of the university.

“We know our community thrives through inclusion and diversity and this will also continue to be our focus as we commit to ensuring the success of a greater diversity of students and staff at Sydney,” he said.

Professor Scott thanked Ms Hutchinson for the key leadership role she had played as ­chancellor since 2013, a position that she had performed without remuneration.

“It goes well beyond our campuses, helping us to reach government, donors, business and the broader community,” he said.

“The improvement she has made to the governance of our university cannot be understated. Her vision, hard work and clear focus have been key to our success, making us financially strong, improving risk management and setting us up to become one of Australia’s most successful ­universities.”

Ms Hutchinson said the university campus was now a very different place to when she commenced as chancellor 11 years ago.

“While we have more to achieve, we have made significant strides,” she said.

“Today, women make up over half of our student community. And by focusing on a series of targeted mentoring, sponsorship and network programs, women now represent more than half of our senior executive leaders.”

Live from the foyer of the Universities Australia (UA) Solutions Summit in Canberra, this special episode shares the immediate reactions of tertiary education leaders to the Universities Accord final report.

Featured in this episode are vice-chancellors Deb Terry from the University of Queensland, Renee Leon from Charles Sturt University, Chris Moran from the University of New England, Clare Pollock from Western Sydney University, Simon Biggs from James Cook University, Theo Farrell from La Trobe University and Alex Zelinsky from the University of Newcastle.

Host Martin Betts from HEDx also interviews sector leaders including chief executive of UA Luke Sheehy (pictured), UA former chair John Dewar, higher education commentator Andrew Norton, and others.

The solutions summit ran over two days on February 27 and 28.

How can university leaders promote innovation and growth in a complex multicultural settings while addressing social change with evolving forms of cultural, social and emotional intelligence?

Professor Ghassan Aouad is a Muslim leader and chancellor of Abu Dhabi University in the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi University is one of the UAE's leading universities, with over 7000 students of 100 different nationalities.

He talks to HEDx's Martin Betts and Professor Christy Collis of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) about his leadership style.

Prior to taking up his role at Abu Dhabi University, Professor Ghassan Aouad worked at universities across the UK and was president of the University of Wollongong's Dubai campus.

Professor Christy Collis is a counselling researcher and higher education specialist. She is the Queensland treasurer of HERDSA, Australasia's peak professional association for higher education research, and Provost at the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors.

In this podcast chief executive of Year13 Will Stubley joins Melbourne Business School chief learning innovation officer Dr Nora Koslowski and Martin Betts in the HEDx studio to discuss alternative options to the traditional Year 12 to university pipeline.

With the skills the Australian economy needs changing, how can universities keep up to deliver education that is relevant to those changes?

For instance, assuming all bright young students want to study at university might be outdated, and could be one of the reasons why domestic enrolments are declining.

TAFE and vocational education are being mentioned more often in strategies that aim to improve the skills crisis, and their role will likely be discussed in the Universities Accord Final Report.

The vice-chancellor of Western Sydney University, Barney Glover, will begin his new role as the Commissioner of Jobs and Skills Australia in April (whilst remaining VC of WSU).

His appointment has been criticised by some who question how relevant universities are to the future skills agenda.

The extent of the skills growth needed can't be delivered by universities alone, we discuss how the traditional 'Year 13' expectation might be changing for good.

Will Stubley is the chief executive and co-founder of Year13, a wellbeing and career advice website for young adults. The ed-tech company, that aims to improve the school-to-work transition, was founded after one of Mr Stubley's friends committed suicide due to pressures of finishing school. This tragic event motivated him and his co-founders to grow a business that now helps millions of young Australians plan their careers in a way that best suits them.

Dr Nora Koslowski is the chief learning innovation officer at Melbourne Business School. She is in charge of working with ed-tech startups and industry to power online programs and learning innovations at the school.

In this episode, the vice-chancellor of the UK University of East Anglia, David Maguire, joins UK director of Online Education Services, Andrea Burrows, to give an overview of the current university financial crisis in the UK. 

Universities in the United Kingdom are struggling to afford to enrol their own home students ever since tuition fees were frozen in 2017 at £9,250 a year despite a growing 18-year-old cohort, rising inflation and increasing teaching costs.

Professor Maguire has worked at at eight universities since starting his career, and been vice-chancellor at four since 2017, when tuition fees were frozen.

He suggests one reason a university might fail financially is when its student numbers are falling faster than its competitors, damaging its reputation.

To overcome this, universities need to find a point of differentiation to avoid relying on a perception of prestige. His own university lives by the motto 'do different'.

Professor David Maguire is the vice-chancellor of the University of East Anglia in the UK. He has researched and worked in the fields of geographic information systems and higher education policy. The professor was vice-chancellor of the University of Greenwich from 2011 to 2019, interim vice-chancellor of the University of Dundee in 2020 and at the University of Sussex from 2021-2022.

Andrea Burrows is the UK managing director for Online Education Services (OES), an education body that partners with universities across Britain and Europe to create 'student-centric' online learning. She has a professional leadership background in marketing, advertising and digital transformation across higher education, finance and professional service sectors.

The advisory council is chaired by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the deputy chair is the Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic.

The council is comprised of six scientists, along with Australia's Chief Scientist and the chief executive of CSIRO, and informs and advises the prime minister and government on current science and technology issues.

Professor Bolt is a proud Yuin/Wandandian and Ngarigo man who has studied health science, micro-sociology, business administration, media arts and identity studies; and is passionate about improving education outcomes for Indigenous peoples.

"It is important we look to how western knowledge and Indigenous knowledge can come together to make change, particularly with the challenges Australia and the world are currently facing,” Professor Bolt said.

“There is a lot of wisdom and traditional knowledge in our communities and our scholars.

"However, the key is to find the ways that this knowledge and wisdom can be heard by the right people, at the right time, particularly those that have the power to influence change for the betterment of our communities."

The professor was also the first Indigenous person to graduate with a PhD at the University of Sydney’s faculty of Health Sciences.

He joins the council alongside other new members including Professor Mahananda Dasgupt, a nuclear physics academic from the Australian National University, and Professor Mark Hutchinson, an Australian Research Council Future fellow from the University of Adelaide's School of Biomedicine.

Professor Bolt and Professor Hutchinson will fill immediate vacancies, joining Professor Genevieve Bell, Professor Brian Schmidt, associate Professor Jeremy Brownlie and emeritus Professor Cheryl Praeger.

Professor Dasgupt will replace Professor Schmidt when his membership expires on February 18.

It is orientation week at many universities across Australia, where staff and students tell new students fond stories of how their 'uni experience' transformed their lives. Not everyone has such stories to tell.

Welcoming Universities is an organisation that advocates for an inclusive culture in tertiary education where every student is made to feel like they belong.

In this week's podcast, coordinator of Welcoming Universities Cate Gilpin and former University of Melbourne People of Colour Committee officer Mohamed Omer tell their startling experiences of being a at university.

They share times where racist, discriminatory behaviour overwhelmed their university experience, in the hope they can help make campus a more welcoming place.

Several Australian universities have signed up to participate in Welcoming Universities initiatives including Bond University, Charles Darwin University, Latrobe University, the University of Melbourne, UNSW, the University of Wollongong (UOW), Victoria University and Western Sydney University.

The Australian Universities Accord consultation conducted throughout 2023 has set out to improve equity, but their processes may be flawed.

Its interim report consultation period was over three weeks mid-semester when most students and staff were too busy to participate.

There were also no students on the report panel, which was a mistake at worst and an oversight at best.

Many tertiary institutions enforce a 'zero tolerance' policy of discrimination, but until disadvantaged students are at the forefront of those conversations, little is likely to change.

There is real concern that when the final report is released this later this month, not much will change to help promote and welcome diversity on campus.

Professor Scott, a non-academic who was a newcomer to higher education when appointed to lead the University of Sydney in 2021, is well practised in dealing with government after previous stints as head of the NSW Education Department and managing director of the ABC.

The Go8 will have a source of continuity in chief executive Vicki Thomson, who has been in the role since 2015 and been reappointed for the next five years.

The final report of the government’s Universities Accord review of higher education, to be released late next month, is likely to put a tax on universities’ international student income – which Go8 institutions rely on to fund their research budgets – and also slow-walk calls to boost Australia’s research spending.

Professor Scott said an international student tax would be a “dangerous and short-term policy intervention”.

He said that national research performance – in which the Go8 universities dominate – was a standout area of Australian educational achievement compared to, for example, the poor participation rates for early childhood education or lacklustre school performance.

“So I think it would be very short-term for any government or policymaker to turn around and say, ‘We will target the one area where the country has been doing exceptionally well in global terms’,” Professor Scott said.

“Revenue from international students has provided the investment that has been necessary in research in this country that has come at the same time as government … and business investment in research has been in significant long-term decline.”

He said he understood why the government’s work on the Accord had focused on increasing the number of disadvantaged students who get a university education and ensuring graduates have the skills required for modern jobs.

“But to focus on those things does not take away at all from the importance of research … particularly for the long-term strategic growth of the country,” Professor Scott said.

“We shouldn’t be in a position where we’re sacrificing our strength in one area to make further investments in others.”

In a submission lodged this week to a Senate committee examining a bill making changes to the Australian Research Council, the Go8 urges that 65 per cent of ARC grant funding to universities should be allocated to basic research.

Professor Scott said a commitment to basic research was a necessary foundation for future success. “Unless there is a guaranteed investment in basic research now, there’s nothing to translate and commercialise in five, 10, 15 years from now,” he said.

Professor Scott’s two-year term as Go8 chair takes him up to 2026, when the group will admit the new Adelaide University, a merger of the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia. Because UniSA does not have a high concentration of research, the newly merged Adelaide University will not, at least for some years, fit the research-intensive profile of Group of Eight members.

The University of Adelaide, a Go8 member, will cease to exist and Professor Scott said the group had debated whether to admit the new Adelaide University.

“We decided we wanted to keep that important university in South Australia in the Go8. I think there’s an expectation that its research performance will improve over time, and that will be a focus,” he said.

He succeeds the former chair, University of Canberra vice-chancellor Paddy Nixon, who was meant to be chair until 2025, but who resigned earlier this month.

The group, which includes Flinders University, Griffith University, James Cook University, La Trobe University, Murdoch University, the University of Canberra, and Western Sydney University, is dedicated to building inclusive education and better research capabilities among the campuses.

Professor Biggs said he is committed to continuing the IRU's achievements after it celebrated its 20th anniversary last year.

"I’m honoured to be named as the Chair of the IRU, with its commitment to equity and innovation," he said.

"I’d like to thank Paddy for his leadership in 2023 and I’m looking forward to continuing the IRU’s values-based work in our communities, around Australia, and the wider Indo-Pacific."

Executive director Paul Harris said this was an important time to lead the university group.

"This is an important moment for Australian universities and for higher education policy, as we await the final report of the Universities Accord panel," he said.

"I look forward to working with Professor Biggs over the next two years as the IRU continues to engage constructively with government on evidence-based policy reform that will maximise the contribution of our universities to the Australian economy and society."