In a 2015 survey of 155 early- to mid-career Australian academics, titled Academic Work/Life Balance: Challenges for Theory and Practice, the average working day for academics was found to be nine hours. The OECD clocks the average working day for fulltime employed Australians at six hours.

The survey also identified the difference in leisure that academics have compared with the rest of the population. In the latest ABS How Australians Use Their Time survey, the average daily leisure time for each Australian was 4 hours 15 minutes per day.

And, unsurprisingly, academics don’t have much downtime. The average leisure time for those surveyed was 2 hours 45 minutes per day. This didn’t distinguish between those who had children and those who didn’t.

Dr Lisa Lines left her position as a history lecturer at the University of New South Wales because of these pressures and due to the lack of support for mothers, like her, in academia.

Lines says almost all academics work more than 40 hours a week, and half work 50–80 hours a week, and that these hours are impossible for academics to sustain if they must also shoulder family responsibilities.

Lines offers some praise to universities for saying they will help caregivers in academia, but “we often feel trapped and constantly struggling, and that the only solution is to give up pursuing a career we love, which we’ve spent years training for”.

“I think they'll have a difficult time achieving the goal. There's a lot of rhetoric around achieving equality for women in academia at all universities in Australia,” Lines says. “There's been some success, but there hasn't been the real institution wide, deep-level change that would be required to allow such equality to exist.”

There are financial pressures too. Lines says it is “quite common” for academics to use their own wage, from the university, to fund the university’s research. She says this is unique to academia, and that the costs skyrocket when an academic has a child because many university grants don’t allow recipients to spend the money on childcare.

This hinders the careers of parents and carers in academia, most of whom are women.

“Academics are routinely expected to work 80 hours a week, and just because of the way society is, it's usually easier for men to do that because women statistically still carry much of the burden for childcare and domestic responsibilities, even when both partners are in fulltime employment,” Lines says.

“It's going to be harder for women to put in those types of hours. That's a huge change that would need to be made for the way academia works to fundamentally change the statistics that we're seeing.”

Lines is now director and head editor of Capstone Editing, a specialised and accredited academic editing company, and she’s putting her business’s money where her mouth is with two grants for women in academia.

One is a $5000 grant for an early-career researcher to assist with all costs, including childcare, associated with a research project leading to journal publication. The other is a $3000 grant for an academic to assist in childcare costs when she has to travel for research fieldwork or present at a conference.

Capstone Editing has also announced a set of four $3000 grants for students in financial distress. Two are for postgraduate students, one a travel grant for conference attendance and the other to spend on a computer and the necessary software for their studies.

Another is a research scholarship for honours students, and the last is a $3000 grant so undergraduates can cover the costs of their textbooks for the duration of their degree.

Releasing a UA analysis that showed universities and students have already contributed $3.9 billion to rein in the predicted $500 billion Budget deficit, the peak body’s chief executive Belinda Robinson said, “Enough is enough. Universities and their students have already done more than their fair share of Budget repair.

“It is difficult to justify further cuts that would affect student affordability and put at risk the quality of education and research on which Australia’s future prosperity depends."

Robinson said these Budget savings have come from 89 cuts to the sector between 2011–12 and 2015–16. Some of these savings include:

• $1.41 billion from the Student Start-up Scholarship.
• $649 million from the Sustainable Research Excellence scheme.
• $699 million by abolishing performance funding for universities.
• $298 million by cutting grants to building works from the Capital Development Pool.
• $91 million from the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program.

Robinson said UA’s analysis didn’t consider the proposed $3.7 billion cut of the Education Investment Fund, and that Australia’s public universities aren’t in a financial position to lose more public money.

“Universities are not-for-profit but they shouldn’t be for loss either,” Robinson said. “Every dollar received is reinvested back into the sector.

“Our analysis confirms that further cuts, whether to government-supported places, funding for programs that help students from disadvantaged backgrounds, the last remaining capital funding program (EIF), or research programs, could push some of Australia’s public universities into a precarious financial position.”

The announcement was made by federal education minister Simon Birmingham.

“Professor Thomas is an experienced university leader with a strong academic background in microbial genetics, environmental microbiology and agricultural biotechnology and she will bring significant teaching, research and commercialisation expertise to the ARC,” Birmingham said in a statement.

Thomas will take up her new role on 3 July 2017. Acting ARC chief executive Leanne Harvey will remain in her current role until Thomas takes over.

“I am delighted with this appointment and confident that the expertise she will bring will enhance the ARC’s ability to remain at the forefront of research funding and policy advice on research matters,” Harvey said.

Thomas has previously held senior positions at Charles Sturt University, Flinders University and the University of Canberra.

Sarah Hanson-Young, the Greens spokesperson for finance, trade and education, said the Greens would refer the inquiry to the Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment when parliament resumes for upcoming federal Budget.

“To stride confidently into the global future, we will need to attract and retain the best and brightest minds to our innovation, IT and education sectors,” Hanson-Young said. “That can only be achieved through careful consideration of policy, not sloganeering and jingoistic hyperbole.”

But the new policy, widely seen as a kneejerk reaction to political pressure from federal Labor and One Nation, is to set to pass the Senate because of the anticipated support of these two factions.

Hanson-Young said the 457 visa should stay and the Coalition should examine 400 visas instead, which allow specialised professionals to work in Australia for three months.

“When only one-in-four working visa holders are under 457s, and free trade deals prohibit labour market testing, it seems the Prime Minister is more interested in peddling dangerous nationalism than fixing our labour market and finding job opportunities for young Australians,” Hanson-Young said.

Universities have widely opposed the abolition of the 457 visa. In a letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, the Group of Eight warned that the changes could lock experts out of Australia. Turnbull announced on Facebook last week that the 457 visa would be replaced with two new visa streams.

Smart devices have been the backbone of the education system for some time, but this year we’ll see many institutions taking this to the next level.

In this article are five of the top technology trends in education for the year ahead.

Everything to become integrated

We’re going to see an increasingly seamless learning experience in classrooms. Students will be able to easily access audio and visual material from past lectures. They will collaborate using technology in and out of the classroom.

The University of Technology Sydney’s (UTS) new Super Lab is a great example from which other institutions can learn. Capable of accommodating up to 220 students, the lab has 26 workbenches with space for up to eight students at each table.

Each bench has touchscreen PCs and microphones, and up to 12 classes can work in the lab together. Half the benches include a demonstration station teachers can use.

This type of learning experience will become the benchmark for organisations moving forward.

Live participation will be embraced

New technologies that allow teachers to seamlessly switch between different education materials and better control student participation in classes will become more popular across campuses in Australia this year.

UTS’s state-of-the-art audio-visual system is a great model other institutions can look to for inspiration. The lab allows teachers to easily switch between different teaching resources, such as video, and tailor teaching initiatives. It also incorporates two-way multi-frequency wireless communication. This supports students who want to ask questions during a lesson.

In the lab, a bollard with a light rests between each student pair. The light turns blue when an instructor starts a session. If a student needs to ask a question, they press a button on the bollard. This turns the light amber, indicating to the teacher the student has a query. The teacher is able to activate the student’s microphone at an appropriate point in the session for the student to pose the question.

It’s a great way for teachers to encourage students to participate, but also maintain control of the classroom.

Online learning to proliferate

Another trend is accelerated adoption among many universities to provide online learning experiences for students. Expect to see institutions offer more of their courses online also, with a rising number of institutions switching to online-only delivery of certain courses.

Research backs this trend. According to the report, Online learning at private colleges and universities: a survey of chief academic officers, 25 per cent of respondents said they offer five or more online programs, up from 15 per cent in 2013.

The move to online learning models is a reason why so many institutions are investing heavily in their technology infrastructure.

There is also increasing demand for education institutions to be equipped with the best teleconferencing facilities, allowing tutors and teachers to seamlessly liaise with remote students over audio or video to allow greater collaboration.

Big data will inform decision-making

Another major prediction for education institutions this year is the growing use of data to drive planning. IT and facility managers of these institutions will draw on solutions that give them full visibility into the technology investments and areas being occupied by staff and students, so smarter, data-driven decisions can be made.

Institutions will be able to capture and collate data from a wide variety of sources, such as enrolment information, usage of workspaces and technologies, as well as student attendance.

This will allow them to better design education solutions that meet the industry’s future training and education needs. It will also allow them to understand what resources and areas are not being properly maximised, and actions can be made so investments in technology and space are better optimised, in ways that meet current student and staff needs.

Campuses should brace for artificial intelligence

Computer-generated learning in the form of artificial intelligence will soon become part of daily life at many campuses.

Students will use chatbots to guide them through processes such as enrolling for class, checking their units and answering all the queries they have about their learning experience.

But what are chatbots?

It’s software that offers a conversational style interface, which simulates a human interaction with the user. Some have artificial intelligence behind them, and some have a database of information with automated responses. The technology allows users to get basic tasks done quickly following a simple series of two-way messages.

Chatbots will release admin staff to work on other areas of university life to ultimately provide better learning outcomes for students.

One example of an early use case in higher education includes AdmitHub, a chatbot created to help new students at Georgia State University, in the US, to navigate the college transition process. This includes applying for student aid, registering for classes and applying for housing.

This year will be the year many moving parts of an education institution’s technology assets come together to provide a more dynamic, interactive and engaging experience for educators and students alike.

Genuine collaboration will be supported by increasingly sophisticated yet easy-to-use technology tools that make learning a pleasure. Think of 2017 as the year technology and education seamlessly mesh for education’s holistic benefit.

Stuart Craig is chief executive Crestron Electronics' Asia-Pacific division.

These facts paint a dystopian picture about the future of public scientific literacy, communication of science, and evidence-based policy. But this Saturday 22 April 2017, hundreds of scientists in 11 Australian cities will join in the global March for Science.

This movement describes itself as an effort to defend science against political efforts to discredit it. Though it seems scientists themselves are struggling to achieve consensus on whether to support this movement.

Associate professor Paul Willis, director of The Royal Institution of Australia, supports the Australian-branch of the March for Science though he has said that the event “appears to be partisan in nature".

Willis said all parties across the political spectrum, “are guilty of cherry-picking the science they like and denigrating or ignoring the science that doesn’t fit their agenda”, and the protest shouldn’t solely criticise the current federal government. He pointed out that cuts to the CSIRO occurred under the previous Labor government.

“The same science that reveals the perils of climate change and overpopulation also supports the safety of vaccines, genetically modified organisms, the nuclear fuel cycle and unconventional gas extraction,” Willis said.

Willis said a movement “worth marching for” would be a demand that all political parties develop and implemented for real issues identified by science.

Professor Les Field, secretary for science policy at the Australian Academy of Science (AAS), said he and the AAS supports the movement. But Field is sceptical over what it will actually achieve.

Professor Paul Young, a March for Science Brisbane organiser and head of the School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland, said the protest is necessary because the facts no longer speak for themselves.

In a letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, the Group of Eight lobby group representing the Universities of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Queensland, Western Australia; Monash University; and the Australian National University wrote that the 457 abolition could put “at risk” the 130,000 jobs which are supported by international education.

The letter, penned by Go8 chair and UQ vice-chancellor professor Peter Høj, argued the replacement Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) and Employer Sponsored Permanent Skilled (ESPS) visas could jeopardise the internationalisation of Australian higher education.

The letter pointed out professionals like archaeologists and biochemists could previously come to Australia on 457 visas for longterm stays. Now these professionals are now only eligible for shortterm visas of two years with no permanent residency pathway.

Professionals defined as University Lecturer/Tutor, by the federal Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIPB), have also been shifted to the shortterm visa stream; a move that has raised the ire of the Go8.

The Go8 also warned that the age cap of 45 for ESPS visas, which comes into force in March 2018, will inhibit the recruitment of university executives from overseas. The Go8 also flagged that the two years’ experience requirement for TSS visa, “would seemingly prohibit the recruitment of newly graduated PhD students”.

In a statement yesterday evening, Universities Australia chief executive Belinda Robinson said the peak body is seeking the removal of the work experience requirement and to restore University Lecturers/Tutors to the medium-term skills list.

UA also warned that changes should not undermine Australia’s international education sector. Though Robinson said she held “constructive discussions” with the federal government on Thursday 20 April 2017.

“UA has been assured that the changes are not intended to deter the best and brightest academic talent – including the world’s leading new PhD graduates – from contributing their unique and special skills to Australia’s innovation agenda and future national prosperity,” Robinson said.

But the Go8’s letter reads that the “mere suggestion” of Australia impeding academic mobility would be extremely damaging to universities’ recruitment efforts.

“This is a particular issue at a time when there are opportunities for recruitment in the US and UK and initiatives such as the recently announced Go8-India taskforce tasked with developing PhD and research mobility between Australia and India,” the letter reads.

DIPB figures show that 2,646 university lecturers and tutors came into Australia on a 457 visa since 2014. The department’s minister Peter Dutton has assured current 457 visa holders will not be affected by the federal government’s decision.

Under the current scheme, famous academics like ANU vice-chancellor professor Brian Schmidt would only be allowed to stay in Australia for two years, and wouldn’t have had enough time to complete his Nobel Prize-winning research into the discovery that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate.

DIPB statistics also reveal that less than 1 per cent of the Australian workforce holds a 457 visa, though this figure doesn’t include international students, backpackers, and temporary migrants. Furthermore, the number of 457 visa holders decreased from 104,750, in June 2015, to 94,890 by June 2016.

Key facts about changes to skilled migrant visas

• Australia’s 457 temporary foreign worker scheme will be scrapped and replaced by two new visa streams.
• The 95,000 people already in Australia on 457 visas will not be affected.
• The 457 scheme will be replaced by two new temporary skilled worker visas: a short and medium term program.
• The short-term, two-year visa will have an optional two-year extension available before a visa holder must leave the country to apply again.
• The short-term visa program will offer no prospect of permanent residency.
• The number of occupations targeted under the scheme will be reduced by 200 compared to roughly 650 classifications included in the 457 visa program.
• A medium-term, four-year visa program will target higher skilled workers from 183 classifications.
• These workers will be able to apply for permanent residency.
• The four-year visas will require a higher standard of English language skills.
• All skilled worker visa applicants will need to pass criminal checks.
• Two years work experience will be required for both visas, which is not the case at the moment.
• In the majority of cases, mandatory labour market testing will be required.
• Applications fees of $1150 for two-year visa and $2400 for four-year visas will apply

The Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA) has also criticised the policy. Karen Cochrane, SUPRA co-vice president said while the 457-visa, lacked legal protections against worker exploitation, it shouldn’t have been cut.

Cochrane said common forms of exploitation are employers silencing workers who argue for better working conditions. She said student visa holders also need their legal protections strengthened.

“These workers should be protected and encouraged better, not maligned by the likes of [federal immigration minister] Peter Dutton with comments clearly designed to denigrate,” Cochrane said.

Dutton’s rhetoric on the matter has an ‘Australia first’ narrative.

“I think Australians would accept the default position for business to seek out an Australian for a job before you employ somebody from overseas,” Dutton said.

SUPRA international student officer Dhaval Sanath Shukla said language used by government politicians when discussing this announcement is prejudiced against foreign workers.

“Unfortunately, it is little wonder that [One Nation leader] Pauline Hanson has claimed credit for the government’s 457 policy,” Shukla said.

Shortly after Turnbull announced the end of the 457 visa on Facebook, Hanson tweeted that the government was following her lead.

Federal education minister Simon Birmingham tweeted last night that student visas will remain unchanged.

Speaking about a new partnership his company signed with the University of New South Wales, Brimo said: “The issue at the university, at the moment, is that people think of it as uploading a document, but you don't learn by reading someone else's document. You learn by doing activities and projects.

“What our team does is actually work with the academics to convert their knowledge and documents and slides into a series of different learning activities where students are actually creating something, sharing, discovering, and collaborating on different activities.”

Brimo’s agreement with UNSW is part of the university's strategic plan, which involves bringing in more online education. Brimo said 600 courses at UNSW are being redesigned to compute with OpenLearning.

“In the platform, there are many ways to design activities that involve integrating community features like discussion, sharing, collaboration, with the content, itself,” Brimo said. “The tools we have actually enable you to design activities that have both some content, they have places to post things, places to share things, all kind of fused together. We also integrate a lot of third-party tools, so everything from programming activities to different types of interactive widgets.”

Professor Merlin Crossley, UNSW deputy vice-chancellor education, said: “Technology is improving rather than replacing traditional university education".

Of the many new deals – forged by politicians and vice-chancellors – most focus on international education and research collaboration.

“Why should we force students to get all of their education in one place, in a particular discipline, when we know the future with the connective world, with automation, with artificial intelligence, that our educated people are going to have to be multidisciplinary, and have a range of skills that enable them to communicate across cultures, within cultures,” said Deakin University vice-chancellor professor Jane den Hollander, one of 120-strong Australian delegation who made the trip.

Speaking to Campus Review from India, den Hollander explained why India is full of opportunity for Australia’s universities.

As president of the RMIT University Student Union (RUSU), she describes her professional relationship with her vice-chancellor, professor Martin Bean, as “incredible".

“When I say it to a room of my peers, I'm often looked at like some kind of traitor because the relationships between Australian vice-chancellors and their student unions is traditionally more adversarial,” Dove says.

Dove also has Bean’s personal mobile phone number, “which, I can assure you, I use very sparingly”. Though Dove says this doesn’t mean, as critics might speculate, that she is simply a front for Bean’s on-campus agenda. Rather, she says, their working relationship helps the RMIT chancellery and student union to work together in “legitimate partnership".

“Legitimate partnership requires the expectation of conflict, to feel comfortable to challenge those who … hold far more power than you do,” Dove says. “It requires legitimate decision-making power, voting rights, sign-offs, working groups, [and] explanations of history and terminology.

“It requires a level of the playing field, to a degree, and, most importantly, it requires trust.”

Dove also says simply consulting students after a decision has been made, or putting a student on a committee as a token gesture isn’t legitimate partnership. It’s, Dove says, involving student leaders in all levels of decision-making.

For example, Dove says RUSU provided RMIT chancellery, at the beginning of the year, a list of the top 20 changes that the union would like to see.

Every three weeks Dove says she sits down with RMIT deputy vice-chancellor (education) professor Belinda Tynan to work out who in the university has the power to change an area, how change could the enacted, and the expected date for that change. Dove also receives progress updates inbetween meetings.

Dove says collaboration rather than conflict has helped to get things done at RMIT.

“We changed things like special consideration policy [and] reducing the wait times at counselling centres,” Dove says.

“This year we're working on a review of the university's policy and processes in regards to handling sexual assault and harassment, disability, specific academic progress policy, and we're also getting a student bar.”