Response to The Australian article published on 6 August 2026 entitled: 'Shorten criticises Labor uni funding', which inaccurately portrays the University of Canberra's position.
University of Canberra (UC) Vice-Chancellor, Professor The Honourable Bill Shorten has clarified the University's position on university funding as outlined in its submission to the Senate Education Employment Comittee (SEEC) dated 30 July 2026.
The University has publicly acknowledged its support of the Government’s funding policy and is fully supportive of managed growth funding.
The University of Canberra has supported the Australian Government’s establishment of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC).
We have welcomed the appointments of the Commissioners and the work on Managed Growth and Needs-based Funding. The University has been working actively with ATEC around the new funding system, mission-based compacts, and tertiary harmonisation.
Our letter to the Senate Education and Employment Committee raised important information on the specific need to consider ACT students in new equity funding calculations. The University is working constructively with ATEC as it designs and develops these important policies.
We believe that the equity students of the ACT deserve more than clickbait headlines.