Graduate Program in Public Policy, Australian National University
Abstract
In the early 1980s the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission functioned as a relatively independent, self-directed policy arena within the Commonwealth bureaucracy. Policy outputs tended to be consistend and coherent over time. During the last three or four years, however, a number of federal departments succeeded in gaining control over aspects of tertiary education policy. This development was due partly to a changed economic environment which encouraged the growth of crosssectoral programs, and partly to administrative reforms introduced by the Hawke government which fostered increased inter-departmental competition. The outcome was the fragmentation of the tertiary education policy process. The removal of CTEC and the creation of the Department of Employment, Education and Training is an attempt to reimpose a greater degree of coordination and integration upon tertiary education policy procedures
