The Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success acknowledges Indigenous peoples across Australia as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which the nation’s campuses are situated. With a history spanning more than 60,000 years as the original educators, Indigenous peoples hold a unique place in our nation. We recognise the importance of their knowledge and culture, and reflect the principles of participation, equity, and cultural respect in our work. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and future, and consider it an honour to learn from our Indigenous colleagues, partners, and friends.

Enter website
Back to Publications
You are reading: The Best Chance For All: A Policy Roadmap for Post-Pandemic Panic

Sally Kift, Nadine Zacharias and Matt Brett

Originally published in Student Success 
30 August 2021

Abstract

The Best Chance for All was developed in 2018 as a long-term policy vision for student equity in Australian tertiary education. We argue in this article that COVID-19 has exacerbated the issues that the policy vision sought to address and has increased demands on and of post-secondary education. Specifically, we argue that the magnitude of the social and economic challenges presented by COVID-19 warrants holistic policy responses that enable the transition to a connected tertiary education system; one designed to deliver choice and flexibility for lifelong learners. A roadmap for this transition exists in the form of The Best Chance For All. The vision can be actuated through demand driven funding arrangements across tertiary education that are coherently aligned to optimise the performance of both the higher and vocational education sectors and are underpinned by sustained investment in equity outreach and support.

Read the full article.

Content reproduced under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

General Journal articles
The Best Chance For All: A Policy Roadmap for Post-Pandemic Panic
S Kift, N Zacharias, M Brett, 2021
Featured publications
The Intersection of Geography, Topography and Mindset
Susan Webb, Reshmi Lahiri-Roy, Elizabeth Knight, Paul Koshy ​ , 2024
A Nuanced Understanding of Regional, Rural and Remote Students’ Tertiary Participation in Australia.
Regional, rural and remote
Regional and remote
Equity Policy Options: Parity Targets, Final Report
ACSES​ , 2024
This report outlines policy options in relation to parity targets for four priority equity groups in Australian higher education – students from low SES backgrounds, First Nations Australian students, students with disability, and students from regional and remote Australia.
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
Disability
The Critical Interventions Framework Part 3: Programs and approaches that enable equity in higher education
Anna Bennett, Ryan Naylor, Jo Hanley, Jo Lewis, Cheryl Burgess​ , 2024
The Critical Interventions Framework Part 3 (CIF 3) focuses on evaluative studies which provide details of the impacts of specific interventions on equity groups in relation to access to and success in higher education.
General
Indigenous
Student’s reported satisfaction at University: the role of personal characteristics and secondary school background
Ian W. Li, Denise Jackson, Paul Koshy ​ , 2024
This study addressed this topic in the Australian context using data from the annual Student Experience Survey (2016–2020 waves) with linkage to administrative records for 24,292 students from seven higher education institutions.
Featured
Journal articles
More publications
The Intersection of Geography, Topography and Mindset
A Nuanced Understanding of Regional, Rural and Remote Students’ Tertiary Participation in Australia.
Regional, rural and remote
Regional and remote
Journal articles
Equity Practitioners
Equity Policy Options: Parity Targets, Final Report
This report outlines policy options in relation to parity targets for four priority equity groups in Australian higher education – students from low SES backgrounds, First Nations Australian students, students with disability, and students from regional and remote Australia.
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
Disability
Indigenous
Low SES
Low socioeconomic status
Regional, rural and remote
Regional and remote
The Critical Interventions Framework Part 3: Programs and approaches that enable equity in higher education
Anna Bennett​ , The University of Newcastle​
The Critical Interventions Framework Part 3 (CIF 3) focuses on evaluative studies which provide details of the impacts of specific interventions on equity groups in relation to access to and success in higher education.
General
Indigenous
Low SES
Regional, rural and remote
Research Reports
Feature article
Student’s reported satisfaction at University: the role of personal characteristics and secondary school background
This study addressed this topic in the Australian context using data from the annual Student Experience Survey (2016–2020 waves) with linkage to administrative records for 24,292 students from seven higher education institutions.
Featured
Journal articles
Equity Practitioners