$50k Arts Degrees Under Job Ready Graduates ‘Out of Step With AI World’ Says Vice Chancellor George Williams
Australian Financial Review
ENRICHED
Details
- Date Published
- 25 May 2026
- Priority Score
- 2
- Australian
- Yes
- Created
- 24 May 2026, 08:00 pm
Description
The federal government has not set a timeline to replace the Morrison-era Job Ready Graduates scheme, which the Coalition now says should be reviewed.
Summary
Western Sydney University Vice Chancellor George Williams claims that Australia's current higher education funding model, which penalizes humanities students, fails to account for the shifting labor market demands driven by artificial intelligence. The article suggests that as frontier AI automates technical tasks, 'human-centric' skills associated with arts degrees will become increasingly vital for national economic resilience and safe technological integration. This debate signals a necessary pivot in Australian workforce policy to ensure the population is equipped to manage and oversee AI systems rather than focusing solely on narrow technical vocationalism.
Body
PoliticsFederalUniversityPrint articleMaani TruuEducation correspondentMay 25, 2026 – 5.00amA Sydney vice chancellor has urged the federal government to urgently scrap a controversial policy that has pushed the cost of some arts degrees beyond $50,000, warning the scheme is out of step with Australia’s skill needs in an AI world.Coalition education spokesman Julian Leeser on Sunday also called for the Morrison-era Job Ready Graduates scheme to be revisited across the board, with Labor yet to act on recommendations that found the policy had failed and should be replaced.Loading...SaveLog in or Subscribe to save articleShareCopy linkCopiedEmailLinkedInTwitterFacebookCopy linkCopiedShare via...Gift this articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? LoginLicense articleFollow the topics, people and companies that matter to you.Find out moreRead MoreUniversityJason ClareALPAIJulian LeeserSydneyMehreen FaruqiWestern Sydney UniversityFetching latest articles