The hearing will bring together experts from the humanities and social sciences, language education, and international relations to explore how the Australian education system builds our understanding of and capability to engage with Asia.
Committee Chair Tim Watts MP said, “Australia’s future in our region depends on our ability to understand it deeply and engage with it confidently.
“Humanities and language teaching experts who specialise in Asia understand the importance of interpreting the cultural, social, and historical forces shaping our region’s future, and they play an important role in building our next generation of Asia-capable Australians," Mr Watts said.
“We know our workforce needs a far broader set of skills to navigate the strategic and economic shifts taking place across the region.”
The hearing will form part of the committee’s comprehensive picture of how the education system can drive the development of Asia capability. The committee will identify practical, long‑term measures which can ensure the education system plays a central role in preparing Australians for the opportunities and challenges of a rapidly changing region.
THOUSANDS of casual academics are owed millions of dollars in backpay after a critical intervention from the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) led to a landmark court decision.
The Full Federal Court has overturned a decision from last year, which found that award-covered casual academics could be required to perform effectively unlimited marking as part of the 'rolled-up' hourly rate they receive for lecture and tutorial delivery.
The appeal judgment confirmed universities cannot use casual lecture and tutorial pay rates as a bottomless pit for unlimited unpaid marking work.
The NTEU successfully intervened in the appeal between the Fair Work Ombudsman and Torrens University, with the Full Court adopting the NTEU's interpretation of "associated working time" under the Higher Education Industry – Academic Staff Award.
The Court found the lecture rate compensates a casual academic for one hour of delivery and a limited body of associated work, mainly preparation, and potentially things like marking an assessment administered during the lecture itself.
Ordinary marking of student assessments not undertaken during a lecture or tutorial is a separate activity that must be paid at the separate marking rate.
The ruling also clarifies that how much 'associated working time' a casual academic actually works is a matter for the employee to determine, rather than being something the employer can direct.
NTEU general secretary, Damien Cahill welcomed the decision as a historic win for casual workers across the sector.
"This is a massive victory for the tens of thousands of casual academics who are victims of wage theft from doing hours of unpaid work," Dr Cahill said.
"The NTEU has consistently argued lecture and tutorial rates are not a blank cheque for universities to pile on unlimited unpaid work. Marking is separate work that must be paid separately.
"Last year's decision threatened to unravel a decade of progress on tackling wage theft in our universities. This ruling slams that door shut.
"This decision puts vice-chancellors on notice: the days of treating casual staff as an endless source of free labour are over."
Counsel for Torrens University conceded at trial that, on the correct interpretation of the Award that has now been confirmed by the Court, the university has systematically underpaid all of its casual staff, estimated at more than 1,000 people. Long serving casual staff are owed thousands in backpay.
NTEU Victoria division secretary Sarah Roberts said the decision would make a real difference to thousands of lives.
"Universities have been getting away with this for years -- expecting casual academics to mark stacks of assessments for effectively nothing, buried in a rolled-up hourly rate that was never designed to cover it," Ms Roberts said.
"We already won a landmark case against Monash University last year on unpaid consultation time. This decision builds directly on that.
“Universities should be in no doubt: the law is clear and strengthens our resolve to stop rampant wage theft.”
The Full Court's decision follows the NTEU's successful case against Monash University last year, which found that Monash could not direct casual academics to perform scheduled student consultation as part of assumed 'associated work' linked to a rolled-up casual tutorial rate.
Together, the two decisions confirm rolled-up casual rates are not a substitute for payment for additional work.
Nationally, underpayments across the sector exceed $284 million and universities have made provisions for a further $168 million taking the total beyond $450 million.
The committee will hear from Australian Government departments and agencies, including the Department of Home Affairs, about the vital contribution skilled migration makes to Australia’s economy and how the skilled migration program works to support Australia’s current and future needs.
The committee will also hear from stakeholders about skilled migration in regional and fast-growing areas and communities.
The inquiry is seeking to better understand the enduring economic, social and cultural value of skilled migration to Australia, as well as examine the skilled migration program’s effectiveness in addressing skills gaps and supporting the ongoing needs of Australian businesses.
The committee will also consider the requirements of the states and territories and is particularly interested in how to build public awareness and understanding about the important role of skilled migration in Australia.
Committee Chair, Steve Georganas MP said, “Skilled migration plays an important role in Australia’s economic success by meeting labour shortages and filling skills gaps, as well as supporting local communities and enhancing cultural diversity.
"This inquiry is a valuable opportunity ensure the skilled migration program is operating effectively and that we have the settings right. The committee has received a high number of quality submissions to the inquiry and is looking forward to hearing more from stakeholders across the community to better understand their views," he said.
The committee is intending to hold more public hearings in due course.
Further information about the inquiry, including the terms of reference, submissions, public hearing transcripts and upcoming public hearings, is available on the inquiry webpage.
Public hearing details
Date: Friday, 13 March 2026 Time: 8.30am to 12.20pm (AEDT) Location: Committee Room 1R3, Parliament House, Canberra
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE staff are pushing for a four-day working week for professional staff, a 20% pay rise and new safeguards against artificial intelligence under claims lodged with management.
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) served its log of claims on the university on Thursday, opening negotiations for a new enterprise agreement.
The claims also include enforceable workload protections for academics.
The four-day week -- sought for professional staff without any reduction in pay -- is a key part of the union's push, alongside a demand to strip management of its unilateral power to set academic workloads.
Under the union’s proposal, Academic Workload Committees would be established across the university with majority membership drawn from non-management academic staff and binding authority over workload decisions.
The university would also be required to protect staff against adverse effects of artificial intelligence systems -- reflecting growing concern about how the technology is being deployed in higher education workplaces.
An above-inflation pay increase responds to ongoing cost-of-living pressures.
NTEU University of Melbourne branch president David Gonzalez said staff had reached a breaking point on workloads.
"The evidence on four-day weeks is remarkably consistent -- productivity holds, absenteeism drops and staff retention improves," he said. "The University of Melbourne prides itself on being evidence-led. It's time to apply that to its own working conditions.
"When workloads are set without staff input, the result is burnout, which hurts academics' ability to deliver world-class teaching and education.
"With the pace of AI's development, it's essential we have serious guardrails embedded in the agreement that protect us from harm.
"You can't keep asking staff to do more with less and then offer them a pay rise that doesn't even keep up with the cost of living.
“Staff have done the work to develop serious proposals. Now it’s time for management to engage constructively on a plan to make the university work better for staff, students and the community."
THE Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit has tabled the independent post-election review of the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).
Commissioned by the committee following the 2025 Federal Election and conducted by Dr Martin Parkinson AC PSM, the Review examined the effectiveness and efficiency of the PBO, the appropriateness of its mandate, its resourcing and service demand levels, stakeholder feedback, and the impact of its work on public debates.
Committee Chair, Josh Burns MP, said, "The review makes it clear that 13 years after it was established, the PBO continues to be a highly regarded institution in the public policy landscape, and its work is considered to be insightful and highly credible."
The review found that the PBO’s mandate continues to be appropriate and should remain unchanged, and that altering it could jeopardise the PBO’s established credibility and strong working relationships. It also identified opportunities to further strengthen engagement with parliamentarians, parliamentary parties, and the broader public.
A total of 23 recommendations were made across themes including enhancing credibility, improving transparency, strengthening the PBO’s service offering, and maximising its long‑term impact. Together, the recommendations are intended to facilitate more efficient support to parliamentarians and to strengthen the PBO’s ability to continue delivering high quality, credible support on all dimensions of its mandate going forward.
The committee will further consider the findings and recommendations as part of its ongoing oversight of the PBO. The committee also extended its appreciation to Dr Parkinson and the PBO Review secretariat for their work.
The review is available on the committee’s website.
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