OVER 2022 AND 2023, THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT INVESTED $2.7 MILLION TO conduct a review of Australia's higher education as part of the Australian Universities Accord. The Accord's objective was to 'devise recommendations and performance targets to improve the quality, accessibility, affordability and sustainability of higher education, in order to achieve long term security and prosperity for the nation' (Australian Government Department of Education). The Australian Universities Accord: Final Report, released on 25 February 2024, mentions the word 'equity' two hundred and twelve times, and the word 'disability' sixty-two times. A focus on equity is one of twenty-nine findings in the report. This finding states:
IN AN ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH BUDGET LIMITATIONS FORCE GOVERNMENTS TO CHOOSE between a selection of public services for preferential funding, public-service providers are under pressure to demonstrate 'value', especially if they require public funding. To justify the direction of public funding, governments mandate providers to conduct cost-benefit or social return-on-investment analyses to demonstrate the return on a dollar invested in a public service. This creates an environment in which providers are required to engage in an exercise to gage the dollar-value of the public service.
