Australia’s universities are joining business and industry leaders across the economy to cut unnecessary regulation by 25 per cent by 2030. Because right now, excessive red tape is slowing down the institutions educating Australia’s future workforce, driving research and innovation, and supporting national productivity.
Universities are dealing with a growing web of duplicated, overlapping and inconsistent reporting and compliance requirements across governments and regulators. Some universities face more than 300 separate regulatory and reporting obligations. That is time and money diverted away from what matters most – teaching, research and innovation.
Red tape is holding Australia back
Regulatory compliance is estimated to cost the Australian economy $160 billion every year – almost six per cent of GDP. That is more than the federal government spends on Medicare and school education combined.
Universities are experiencing this burden firsthand. Every unnecessary form, every duplicated report and every overlapping compliance process. It all adds up, and it all comes at a cost.
What red tape really means
Universities are buried in layers of regulation, reporting and compliance. This isn’t a small issue – it’s system wide. Some universities are dealing with hundreds of separate regulatory and reporting requirements – in some cases more than 300. They operate in one of the most complex regulatory environments in the economy, navigating:
- national regulators
- multiple Commonwealth departments
- state and territory requirements, and
- research, safety, integrity and funding frameworks.
More red tape ultimately means:
- less time educating students
- less time delivering research
- less time partnering with industry
- less time solving national challenges
Every hour spent on unnecessary compliance is an hour not spent delivering for students or Australia.
This is not about deregulation
Good regulation matters. It protects students, ensures accountability and safeguards standards. But when regulation becomes duplicative, fragmented and unnecessarily complex, it stops protecting the system and starts holding it back.
What we’re asking for
ºÚÁÏÀÏ˾»ú, along with business and industry partners, is calling on governments to:
- commit to a 25 per cent reduction in unnecessary regulatory burden by 2030
- conduct an economy-wide stocktake of overlapping and duplicative regulation
- improve coordination across jurisdictions and regulators, and
- streamline reporting and compliance requirements across higher education.
Because less red tape means…
- More graduates
- More research
- More innovation
- More productivity
- More growth
- More results
Australia cannot afford to let unnecessary red tape hold back one of its most important national assets. Universities power Australia’s economy and future – educating more than 1.6 million students each year, producing new ideas and supporting the development of new products and industries that drive innovation and lift productivity.
Unnecessary regulation is slowing them down. It’s time to cut the red tape and let universities deliver.
