Australia¡¯s higher education community is pressing Canberra to push ahead with the Universities Accord reforms following the Labor Party¡¯s decisive election win on 3 May.

Universities Australia said it was ¡°eager¡± to see the accord¡¯s ¡°transformational vision¡± realised. ¡°We must now focus on replacing the Job-ready Graduates [JRG] package,¡± said chief executive Luke Sheehy.

Arts degrees cost over A$50,000 (?24,000) in the aftermath of JRG fee hikes. This runs counter to the accord¡¯s central goal of increasing domestic participation, particularly in disadvantaged communities. Arts degrees are said to be popular with students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, who also tend to be nervous about assuming debt.

The Innovative Research Universities (IRU) said reforming JRG should be an ¡°urgent priority¡± of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec), which the government plans to establish on 1 July.

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IRU published a modelling the expense of several JRG reform options last September. ¡°We are ready to work with government to make sure that the cost of higher education is not turning students away,¡± it said.

Consultant Claire Field said the price of humanities degrees remained a barrier to participation in a period of low unemployment, particularly in outer metropolitan and regional areas where participation was relatively low, but Labor faced a ¡°challenge¡± in unwinding JRG.

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The former coalition government reduced funding for humanities degrees so that it could increase subsidies in favoured disciplines like STEM and nursing, Field explained. Undoing these changes by increasing nursing and STEM fees would ¡°obviously be politically unpopular¡±.

The first task awaiting the re-elected Labor government is to legislate its changes to student loan repayments, including cancelling 20 per cent of graduate debt. Prime minister Anthony Albanese confirmed that the debt forgiveness measure would be the first item on the legislative agenda for his government¡¯s second term, and warned that any senator who ¡°gets in the way¡± would incur the voting public¡¯s wrath.

¡°I am very confident that we have a mandate for that,¡± he said during a 5 May press conference. ¡°We can¡¯t have been clearer.¡±

While Albanese did not say when he expected parliament to be recalled, the debt-wipe measure will almost certainly be legislated retrospectively. It is due to come into force on 1 June, before indexation is applied to outstanding student debt.

A bill to establish Atec will also be high on the government¡¯s agenda, although parliament is unlikely to consider this reform until the second half of the year. In the meantime, accord chair Mary O¡¯Kane and panellists Barney Glover and Larissa Behrendt will lead the body in an interim capacity from 1 July.

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Labor can expect a substantial majority in the House of Representatives and a strengthened position ¨C albeit not a majority ¨C in the house of review. With around five of the 40 Senate vacancies still in play late on 5 May, the upper house¡¯s final composition was unlikely to be confirmed for about two weeks. But indications were that Labor and the Greens together would have the numbers to pass legislation.

That would reduce the government¡¯s reliance on votes from independent senators like David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie. Pocock, arguably the most productive member of the Senate¡¯s Education and Employment Committee, has easily retained his Australian Capital Territory Senate seat after outpolling all his opponents.

Lambie is battling Lee Hanson, daughter of anti-immigration firebrand Pauline Hanson, for the final Tasmanian Senate spot. If Lambie loses, her bill to cap vice-chancellors¡¯ salaries is unlikely to be revived.

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The Education and Employment Committee¡¯s inquiry into university governance, however, appears certain to resume after parliament is recalled. ¡°Given the level of interest in the inquiry and the gravity of the issues raised by submitters and witnesses, the committee strongly supports re?referring the inquiry,¡± it said in an .

Albanese¡¯s ministry may not become clear for a fortnight, because Senate spots must be confirmed before the Labor caucus can convene to elect the frontbench. ¡°We¡¯re going to stick to the rules from day one,¡± the prime minister said. ¡°I respect the caucus.¡±

Education minister Jason Clare is widely considered due for promotion, having performed well in his portfolio ¨C particularly in early childhood education and schooling ¨C and as Labor¡¯s campaign spokesman during the election. However, with no senior ministers having retired or lost their seats, it is unclear what new position he could fill. ¡°We are overflowing with talent,¡± Albanese told journalists.

Former education minister Dan Tehan is among the names being touted as possible replacements for opposition leader Peter Dutton, who has lost his seat.

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com