About La Trobe

• Our Vision
  • Vision 2015
    • Transforming student lives
    • Create new and useful knowledge
    • Support and reward excellent staff
    • Operate sustainably and ethically
    • A living plan
    • Feedback
• Management and Planning
• Our history
• International activities
• Locations and Maps

The Policy Context

Australian tertiary education policy is changing rapidly. The Federal Government has set ambitious targets to expand student enrolment, create a demand-driven student funding system, develop new regulatory mechanisms, and change the funding structure for research. These four policy strands introduce uncertainty about revenue and enrolments, and will create new expectations about the level and consistency of performance in both teaching and research. They will also create opportunities for growth, innovation and structural change in higher education on a large scale.

Australian universities are now even more part of a global ‘market’ for higher education. La Trobe has been strongly committed to internationalisation since its inception and has an enviable international reputation which is reflected in its place in international rankings over recent years. La Trobe’s campuses in Australia are a destination for many students from across the world, and our transnational programs delivered in association with partner institutions in a range of locations enhance the University’s profile and positioning in those countries.

At the local level, students and communities will have increasingly high expectations of universities. Students will seek education which is accredited to the highest standard and equips them to succeed in the most demanding workplaces both locally and globally. Communities and enterprises will seek La Trobe’s engagement as a partner in their broad economic and social development activities. In this new environment there are many possibilities for La Trobe to engage more people in learning; to contribute to knowledge in new ways; and to be an agent of change within our communities.

We have a fundamental responsibility to rise to this challenge. La Trobe University was established ‘to serve the community and in particular the citizens of Victoria by making knowledge available for the benefit of all’ (La Trobe University Act, 1964), and this objective is fully aligned with the Government’s growth ambitions for the higher education sector. Moreover, as a public body in receipt of substantial public funding we have a responsibility to Australian tax-payers to support economic, social and cultural development by providing educational opportunity for individuals, by undertaking research for the common good, and by acting in a manner that helps to sustain the communities of which we are part. 

To this end, the University has decided to expand undergraduate enrolments by 30 per cent between 2009 and 2015 and taught postgraduate enrolments by 50 per cent by 2020. To achieve this will require the development of new entry pathways for students, fundamental reform of the curriculum, major changes to academic support to ensure that students can succeed in their learning, and greater flexibility in teaching and learning. One of the key principles that will inform action on equity of access issues is that the University’s student cohort will be representative of our local communities, and this enrichment of our student cohort will make us a better institution. We are well positioned to provide new educational opportunities for students from regional and rural areas, from low socio-economic status households, and from Indigenous communities, groups who are currently significantly under-represented in higher education. Plans have already been developed and action is under way on all these fronts.

The University is determined to invest in and develop its areas of internationally recognised research. The Federal Government has set an ambitious agenda for building Australia’s research base in order to support the twenty-first century knowledge economy. We currently have more than $500 million of new research facilities under construction on our campuses, and we plan significantly to expand our research capacity through the recruitment of more academic staff and through the creation of more doctoral and post-doctoral positions.

The Operational Context

In addition to government policy, there are many technological and economic forces driving change in the higher education sector. Mobile internet access enormously enhances the capacity of students to learn at a time and place of their own choosing, and at their own pace. This poses a challenge to the place-based, formally-timetabled traditional campus university. We can expect increasing competition from non-traditional degree providers – public and private, domestic and international – who will compete for students on the basis of price and flexibility. We will have to meet this competition directly in three complementary ways. 

First, we will need to sustain and continually reinforce the academic quality of our degree programs, and ensure that students gain maximum educational and social value from their face-to-face interactions on campus with our expert staff and with their peers. Each campus must act as a learning community for all its members. In order to achieve this end we will rigorously promote and evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching and learning support we provide to students, the quality of campus social and cultural life, and the originality and relevance of research. 

Second, we will need to develop further the strong links that already exist between each La Trobe University campus and the local community in which it is located and which it serves. Universities drive economic, social and cultural innovation through knowledge exchange between university staff, students, and the broader community. By supporting and responding to the educational and research needs of the community in which each campus is located, La Trobe will enhance its own strength and reputation, and play a major role in local development.

Third, we must support and invest in our staff – they are the core resource of the University. We will produce excellent research and will provide students with the very best learning opportunities only if we can attract, develop, retain and reward top quality staff who are committed to the educational and research objectives of La Trobe. In an increasingly competitive and internationalised academic labour market, we must ensure that a job at La Trobe is seen as a means of achieving professional success and personal growth. This will require us to support the professional development of all staff, to ensure that staff teach in ways that are efficient and effective as well as rewarding, to ensure activities are allocated appropriately to academic and professional staff, to create the time, space and facilities needed for innovative research, and to recognise and reward excellence.

The University’s Values

La Trobe University was established in 1964 to make a difference – specifically ‘to promote critical enquiry within the university and in the general community’, and ‘to aid by research and other means the advancement of knowledge and the pursuit of the benefits of its practical application’. Over more than four decades the staff, students and alumni of the University have succeeded in making a real difference to people’s lives through research, education and innovation across many areas of scientific, social, cultural and political endeavour.

In order to continue this commitment to the public good, we must ensure that all our students are equipped to think independently, to behave ethically and in a socially and environmentally responsible manner, and that they have a capacity and desire to continue to question, challenge and learn long after they have completed their university studies. We must also support our staff in providing intellectual leadership both within their disciplines and in public discourse. This will require us always to champion and defend the right of academics to engage in rigorous analysis and robust discussion of issues within their professional domain.

The University, in its policies and actions, must adhere to the highest standards of professional integrity. We must promote critical enquiry and the rational evaluation of evidence, even if turning that critical focus on some of our own actions and practices may cause some discomfort. We must support, and where appropriate lead, action to mitigate social harm from environmental degradation, social exclusion, and political and cultural discord. If the La Trobe University community – the students, staff and alumni – can do that, then together we will continue to make a real difference to the citizens of Victoria and to the wider world.


Paul Johnson
Vice-Chancellor and President
August 2011