The Northern Territory’s only university faces a premature renegotiation of its funding agreement with the provincial government, as the aftershocks from a training “bungle” rumble on.
The territory’s education and training minister, Jo Hersey, has vowed to amend the Charles Darwin University (CDU) Act and rewrite the two parties’ “partnership agreement”, which was not scheduled to expire until mid-2029.
The new agreement will include key performance indicators (KPIs) based on “outcomes rather than untied funding”, with the university set to lose revenue unless it achieves the new targets. “If KPIs are not met I will look to divert resources to other training providers,” Hersey warned.
“We must have accountability for Territorians’ money invested into our training providers. It’s just too critical that we get this right.”
CDU is one of Australia’s six dual-sector universities, which have both higher education and TAFE (technical and further education) divisions. Hersey’s threat follows the February revelation that skills assessment had not been conducted properly in three CDU carpentry subjects, leaving around 130 graduates at risk of having their qualifications ruled invalid and forcing some to redo training and assessment tasks.
