The Cultural Studies Association of Australasia endorses the repeal of the Job-ready Graduates (JRG) Package and supports the Higher Education Support Amendment (Reverse Job-Ready Graduates Fee Hikes and End 50k Arts Degrees) Bill 2025.
The rationale underpinning the JRG is flawed – there is no convincing evidence that graduates with qualifications in humanities and social sciences are less employed or earn less from graduated employment than other disciplines.
Several years on, evidence has found the JRG has not significantly influenced student enrolment patterns. The Australian Universities Accord Final Report recommends: ‘The JRG package needs to be replaced. Its purpose of providing price signals to influence student subject choices has failed. Only 1.5% of students applied to enrol in courses they would not have applied for under the pre JRG student contribution arrangements’.
The JRG has burdened students with more and unnecessary debt.
In particular, the JRG creates gender and First Nations inequity as the majority of students enrolled in humanities and social sciences subjects are female and the latter disciplines are where the majority of First Nations subjects are located. The JRG creates obstacles for many components of the Federal Government’s Working for Women strategy related to employment and education equity.
The JRG undermines Closing the Gap targets 5 and 6 as well as the cultural competency required to address health, social wellbeing, and criminal justice inequalities. Making First Nations studies more expensive completely undercuts target 16: ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and languages are strong, supported and flourishing’. Many years of the JRG have potentially set back research and student engagement in language revitalisation.
We support the abolishment of the JRG, more equitable student fees, greater alignment between equity policies and the higher education sector, and sectoral support that does not penalise students for engaging in humanities and social science disciplines.
Associate Professor Holly Randell-Moon
President, Cultural Studies Association of Australasia
