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Mission based compacts are a key way for the ATEC to build long-term, meaningful relationships with higher education providers. They are intended to balance institutional mission and system-wide goals, helping ATEC guide the higher education system that is diverse, high performing and responsive to national and local needs.
Purpose and approach
The purpose of each compact is to clearly set out a shared understanding between the ATEC and each provider about the provider’s role within the tertiary education system. Compacts will support providers to pursue their unique goals and mission, while also making clear how they will contribute to key priorities, support diversity within the system and deliver strong outcomes for students and local communities.
ATEC will set overall system priorities for higher education through a Statement of Strategic Priorities. Providers will engage with these priorities in ways that make sense for their own goals, mission, strategy, and operating environment, identifying where objectives align and where providers make distinctive contributions. This means each compact will reflect differences in institutional focus, size and student cohort.
Pending changes to the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and the ATEC’s enabling legislation, compacts will also provide the mechanism through which providers may seek additional Commonwealth Supported Places. These changes are also intended to allow the ATEC to allocate international student commencements, when directed by the Minister for Education. Proposed allocations will be considered as part of compact negotiations. It is intended that performance against compact commitments will inform future student place allocations, supporting targeted and sustainable growth aligned with provider and system priorities.
Development
Each compact is negotiated between the ATEC and an individual provider. For 2027, the ATEC will enter into a ‘foundation’ compact with each provider that will cover the 2027 calendar year. Subsequent compacts will operate on an up to four-year cycle, with the next compact commencing in 2028 and covering the period from 2028 to 2031.
Providers will prepare a draft compact using a template provided by ATEC. The compact will describe how the provider plans to contribute to strategic priorities as well as how they will advance their institutional mission. Performance domains will outline ambitious and achievable commitments, supported by performance indicators to measure progress and impact.
Each year, the ATEC will consider a provider’s progress in delivering the commitments set out in its compact, as part of its ongoing role as system steward. Assessment will allow the ATEC to understand how providers are contributing to national and local priorities and to ensure these priorities are being achieved across the system as a whole. The ATEC’s assessment also allows providers to showcase performance against expected outcomes.
To support transparency, the ATEC will publish compacts on this website within 28 days after the compact comes into force.