Education systems are preparing students for forms of work that are disappearing. We focus on solving existing, rather than emerging, problems. Without urgent action, Australia risks being left behind

Politically, I believe it is likely the Senate will agree to the Budget measures, after some arm-wrestling. The groundwork has probably already been done, the flashpoints of the 2014 proposals have been removed, and the feeling that “it could have been worse” will make the proposals more palatable.

Three years after the unsuccessful higher education reforms in the 2014 Budget the government has attempted to clear the decks and start again with a more modest recalibration