Much has been made of the fact that Australia has escaped the worst of the global financial slowdown over the past year but there remains a critical challenge to its long-term economic stability.
In short, the problem is this: there are too many students studying at university for the Australian economy to realise its potential, and there is an urgent need to redress the balance.
Our fortune in avoiding the worst of the global financial crisis is not only due to our relative geographic isolation from other countries or economies; nor is it because Australia is a nation in overall long-term growth.
Quite simply, our nation's overall stability involves one particular key ingredient: human capital. Having a skilled and diverse workforce is, and will forever continue to be, a critical factor in this country's ongoing economic development. Australia needs skilled workers armed with useful, practical vocational qualifications as much as, if not more than, traditional higher education qualifications, otherwise our economic growth and prosperity will stall, or even go backwards: hindered by too few skilled workers in areas such as agriculture, personal services (aged care, child care etc), building and construction and traditional trades.
Which is where Australia's higher education sector, and in particular the private education and training sector, comes into its own.
Students today want choice, flexibility and quality. They want to have the choice of studying at a quality private institution, a niche industry provider, a TAFE college or an enterprise organisation as much as an established public university.
Private higher education is thriving. Students are modernising their interpretation of higher education: already one in 10 tertiary qualifications is delivered by private higher education institutions and this percentage is increasing in line with student demand for innovative, non-conventional higher education delivered through non-university institutions.
As the Federal Government continues with its higher education reform agenda, it is important to ensure that the model of tertiary education evolving in Australia has student outcomes as its core focus.
As well as choices about where they want to study, today's higher education students - be they domestic or international - also want choice about how they study: they want to have the flexibility of courses that can be delivered online, by correspondence, in real-world industry settings or in traditional classroom environments. Or indeed a combination of all these models.
Most of all, students want a quality education that they know will equip them in the best way possible for a rewarding career and with the most relevant skills for their chosen career.
Whoever said universities were the only way we could provide all Australians or international students with the skills they needed and the education they wanted? The Australian Council for Private Education and Training has long advocated a single national tertiary system that encourages institutions to tailor and deliver innovative courses, using both academic and vocational education strengths.
Such a system would remove artificial barriers to entry that favour one type of institution over another or one type of student over another, and adopt a single national regulatory framework that does the same.
The key tests for education providers in Australia should be based on student outcomes, not delineated by public or private business models.
It is also critical that government policy does not stifle the innovation, industry focus and flexible delivery that students want and which has clearly been the area in which quality private institutions have taken the lead.
This means that all institutions, private as much as public, must be supported in their commitment to greater access and equity in tertiary education.
It means that quality private institutions need equitable access to government funding for infrastructure so that they can maintain their investment in Australia's human capital.
Standards must be developed afresh to recognise the true nature of higher education delivery in Australia rather than focus solely on outdated university-centric notions of teaching and infrastructure.
Quality training and education is the cornerstone of improved productivity, quality of life and better life prospects.
It builds our nation, shields us against the worst of global recession and improves the opportunities available to all Australians.
Fewer students in universities is a good thing for the country and a good thing for the economy.
