Australian Universities Accord Discussion Paper Submission: Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS), 11 April 2023
About CHASS: we are a peak body with a membership of over 50 humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS) organisations, including academic discipline associations, universities and members from HASS associated industries. Our aim is to communicate the value of HASS and its crucial role in building a thriving, prosperous, sustainable, and equitable Australia.
This submission focuses on HASS disciplines and on four main themes from the terms of reference.
This submission is on behalf of the CHASS Board. Many member organisations contributed to a discussion that informed this document, but the submission does not necessarily represent the views of these groups.
Meeting Australia’s knowledge and skills needs, now and in the future
Recent policy (Jobs Ready Graduates [JRG]) has aimed to actively dissuade students from taking humanities, arts and social sciences offerings. There is no good reason to discourage students from taking subjects like criminology, history, or philosophy. Doing so runs counter to an emerging consensus that current changes in the labour market make the skills learned in HASS more valuable and fails to recognise the broader purpose of education and the unpredictability of future societal needs.
Some of the fastest growing jobs for university graduates are in new fields and many of these emerging roles have HASS-related skills and knowledge at their core. HASS degrees, or other study pathways incorporating a HASS component, provide a foundation for working in a changing economy and provide a solid foundation for lifelong learning that will address changing individual and collective needs over time.
