Opinion: Universities must be reimagined for the AI age
The following opinion piece by Western Sydney University Chancellor, Professor Jennifer Westacott AC, was first published with full links on The Australian Financial Review(opens in a new window) (subscription may be required).
Of the four themes the government’s Economic Reform Roundtable will cover, two – economic resilience and productivity – will be key drivers of our nation’s future competitiveness and prosperity.
We need a resilient economy with greater diversity, dynamism, expanded access to supply chains, and new, value-added markets.
We also need improved productivity across sectors – to drive innovation, lower costs, increase wages, boost competitiveness, and lift living standards.
Economies and supply chains are increasingly driven and differentiated by the skills and capabilities of people. To make Australia a more resilient and productive country, we need a rethink of our tertiary education and skills systems.
Generative AI is disrupting markets, occupations, and entire industries. In every workplace, AI capabilities will be essential.
To give Australia a competitive advantage in a more complex, AI-driven world, AI must be embedded in everything we do. Australia must have the agency to participate in AI transformation. That means treating AI as a national skills imperative and making a shift from viewing AI as just a learning tool to positioning Australian students as not only AI-capable, but AI-superior.
“This new generation has entirely different expectations of universities.”
This is not just about access to technology; it’s also about building, across the population, deep digital capabilities and skills in critical thinking, teamwork and complex computational analysis so that we can take advantage of the opportunities AI presents. Reinvigoration of the humanities will be an essential ingredient.
This will be a national competitive advantage, so we can leverage the opportunities AI presents.
Within universities, AI is changing how we teach and how students learn. We are contending with how to best equip our students for careers and industries that haven’t even been imagined yet, and how to best meet the needs of students who are digital-first, connected, and tech-savvy.
This new generation has entirely different expectations of universities. They expect flexibility and choice. They want to learn in ways that reflect the realities of modern work – cross-disciplinary, modular, personalised, and on-demand. They expect to work and learn simultaneously, and have that employment recognised as part of their qualification.
To remain relevant, the tertiary education system must evolve to meet the needs of learners who move seamlessly between university, TAFE, private providers, and workplaces – assembling and applying their qualifications rapidly, across domains, and in ways that reflect their individual goals and the demands of the labour market.
The tertiary system needs to move away from rigid accreditation and occupational models, and toward a framework that enables lifelong learning, rapid upskilling, and meaningful and ongoing transitions between education and employment.
This calls for a system built on interoperability, personalisation and skills-first thinking. This is not about asking for more funding or lamenting policy settings. It’s about doing more with what we have and doing things differently.
To make our skills system fit for our nation and institutions, we specifically need:
- Policy settings to move to a skills-first model.
- Qualification frameworks that allow for modular, rapid skill acquisition; microcredentials; and recognition and accreditation of course structures across the tertiary system, and then over time look at the fee structures that prevent movement across the system.
- Modes of learning that are personalised and accessible.
- A national AI compact that embeds AI capability across all levels of society.
- Support for international education as a strategic workforce development and export opportunity.
- A supercharge to the industry skills councils, to drive collaboration between industry and education providers.
At Western Sydney University, we are not waiting for change – we are leading it. We’ve restructured our academic model, consolidating twelve schools into three faculties to enable cross-disciplinary learning and better reflect the realities of the future workforce.
We’ve placed students at the centre of everything we do. They will have personalised, tailored experience with digital AI leadership embedded in their education. Our ambition is that every student will have access to paid employment opportunities – real, recognised, work-integrated learning – as part of their qualification.
We are shifting from preparing people for static occupations and are building a platform for lifelong learning – where students can return, reskill, and adapt throughout their careers.
We want our students to leave university as digitally advanced, work-ready and value-driven graduates.
The future won’t wait. AI and technology will change everything we do. If we fail to act, we risk missing out on the opportunities AI offers and risk falling short in our responsibility to manage it wisely.
Australia’s competitiveness depends on how quickly we can align education, technology and workforce development with the reality of the world we are in and will be in. The roundtable is our chance to act decisively – to get the settings right with and get the first advantage – not chasing from behind. Our future living standards depend on it.
ENDS
19 August 2025
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