ACS Joins Outcry Against HECS Changes
Monday 19 August 1996 - The 16,000 strong Australian Computer Society has joined Australia's major professional societies in calling for the repeal of the Government's three-tier Higher Education Contribution Scheme.
The ACS, which is the professional body for Australia's Information Technology and Computer sectors, said the proposed systems have the potential to damage Australia's economic well-being.
ACS President, Tom Worthington, said the government is penalising the very people who are best able to contribute to Australia's economic growth.
"The IT sector in this country is worth about $30 billion per annum and there is a steady demand for graduates," said Worthington.
"However, the new HECS systems will encourage students to enrol in those courses with significantly lower HECS contributions, reducing the standard of technical course intakes."
Apart from the general question of equity, which is of significant concern, the Society also wants to draw attention to the economic threat this action poses.
Director of the Society's Computer Systems and Software Engineering Board, Associate Professor Karl Reed said Australian trained IT and computing graduates are world class and have contributed significantly to developments in the country's IT sector.
"It is not widely known, for example, that Australia is ahead of the US in terms of undergraduate software engineering education. This builds on the previous history of IT education and has been a major factor in the growth of specific sectors like the Software Industry."
According to Reed, the volume and quality of Australian IT graduates has been a major factor in attracting a number of major IT Research and Development centres to Australia, and various State governments are relying on this to attract further activities of this type.
Australia's international IT profile will gain a significant boost on 2 September when the Governor-General opens IFIP96 - the 14th World Computer Congress in Canberra, before representatives of the world's computer and telecommunications societies.
The ACS is hosting IFIP96 on behalf of the 65 member International Federation for Information Processing. Senior Australian politicians and business leaders, as well as IT experts from around the world will address issues vital to Australia's economic future.
This media release is available on the Web at: http://www.acs.org.au/news/hecs.htm
ENDS
Media Enquiries:
Caroline New, Caroline New PR, Tel: (02) 9630 2108 or (0411) 889 456, Email: cnew@acslink.net.au
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