Australia¡¯s universities are highlighting their role as employers in their own right as well as backbones of employment, as they make the case for a policy makeover under the recently elected Labor government.

In a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra, Universities Australia (UA) chair John Dewar was due to point out that in addition to educating the graduate workforce, member institutions are ¡°often the largest employer in town¡±.

¡°Where there is a university, there is work for locals ¨C lots of it,¡± Professor Dewar was set to say, according to excerpts of his speech obtained by?Times Higher Education. ¡°Administrators, security staff, cooks, cleaners, baristas and IT technicians ¨C we employ them by the thousands.

¡°The role of universities is particularly obvious in the regions, especially those with economies and communities in transition, in need of new skills and careers for their people.¡±

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The 6 July press club appearance serves as a curtain raiser to UA¡¯s first national conference since the change of government. The summit is likely to provide a taste of the new administration¡¯s plans for the sector, with education minister Jason Clare scheduled to address an opening-day conference dinner at Parliament House.

Shadow education minister Alan Tudge is due to address the forum the following morning.

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Professor Dewar, vice-chancellor of La Trobe University in Victoria, was also expected to press for a higher education policy reset to recognise universities¡¯ role in a transformed nation. He was set to invoke recently released statistics from last year¡¯s?census?to show how profoundly the sector¡¯s mission has changed in recent decades, with about one-third of the adult population now holding degrees ¨C up from about 6 per cent in the 1980s and 1 per cent in the 1960s.

¡°The millennials, who now outnumber the baby boomers, are the most highly educated generation in history,¡± his speech says. The 2021 census marked a ¡°significant milestone¡±, with the degree-educated proportion of women aged between 25 and 34 ¨C the reference age group for the last Labor government¡¯s university attainment target ¨C edging over 50 per cent.

Professor Dewar was also set to lobby for the research system to be put on a more ¡°sustainable¡± footing, blaming Australia¡¯s flagging productivity levels on declining investment in research and development.

Every dollar spent in university research delivers a fivefold return, he was due to say, adding that a 1 per cent increase in higher education research and development investment would add A$28 billion (?16 billion) to Australia¡¯s economy over 10 years.

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Every dollar spent on university teaching produces benefits worth $3, he was expected to add, saying extra funding of university places would help address crucial skill shortages.

Professor Dewar was also expected to discuss the?Job-ready Graduates?(JRG) reforms to university funding, which the ousted Liberal-National government pledged to review 18 months after their implementation in early 2021.

Mr Clare has committed to press ahead with the review as part of a ¡°university accord¡± the government plans to develop over the next few months.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com