Higher education policy and cultural change in universities

Over recent decades, there has been a shift in the perception of the purpose of universities, and this has been accompanied by substantial cultural, academic and management change. In Australian universities, the discarding of the old view of 'The University' can be given a date, more-or-less. The Australian Commonwealth Government's policy document of 1988, the White Paper1, foreshadowed many changes in universities. The ideas in the White Paper had been around for some time and can be traced back to the sixties. Pressures for change came from business and from economic and cultural changes in society. New technologies contributed to change and to the need for people trained to deal with a greater complexity in society.