Page 1334 - Week 07 - Thursday, 24 August 1989
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The Government welcomes in particular the recommendation of the committee that the Canberra CAE should be established as a university. This recommendation has the full endorsement of the Government, and I will be discussing this proposal with the Commonwealth Minister for Employment, Education and Training, with a view to the early establishment of the college as a university under sponsorship arrangements.
While the Government is in agreement with the main thrusts of the committee's report, there are two aspects on which we see the need to maintain the position the Government has taken in the best interests of the community and the institutions concerned. The first of these relates to the need for amalgamation of the ANU, the Canberra CAE and the Canberra Institute of the Arts to occur within a period of about three years.
While the report of the committee does not preclude this development, it is necessary in the interests of ACT higher education that this should occur on a proper basis. The Government, therefore, confirms its commitment to amalgamation as an objective to be achieved within a period of three years. The changed landscape of Australian higher education, with the emergence of large, comprehensive institutions, under the new unified national system arrangements in all States, means that ACT staff and students would be disadvantaged if similar developments did not occur in the ACT.
The second qualification relates to the committee's recommendation that the ANU and the Canberra Institute of the Arts move towards amalgamation under Commonwealth legislation. While the Government recognises that the Institute of the Arts needs to amalgamate with another institution, because of the Commonwealth's guidelines for the unified national system, the Institute also has significant educational relations with the Canberra College of Advanced Education and performs a vital role in ACT education and cultural life.
The Government, therefore, takes the view that the amalgamation of the institute with the ANU should not be finalised ahead of a general resolution of further arrangements for ACT higher education. Such resolution should cover the institute's relations with the proposed Canberra university. If amalgamation of the three institutions occurs, as the Government believes should happen, all relationships of the institute will be brought into a proper, formal basis and no legitimate interest will be disadvantaged.
The Institute of the Arts has an important contribution to make to ACT education and cultural life. This includes promotion of the arts in schools, the provision of recreational non-award courses for the community, and the general enhancement of the cultural life of Canberra through its music and art activities. The Government will
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