Australia must radically overhaul its university system by breaking the monopoly of the default three-year bachelor degree, former Labor leader Bill Shorten has declared in a speech saying reform of the tertiary sector is key to “national survival”.

Shorten, who began as vice chancellor of the University of Canberra this year after retiring from politics , said Australia’s research excellence often did not translate into commercial success, calling the country’s economy “dangerously simple” because it failed to produce a range of sophisticated products.

Shorten proposed the dismantling of the current “analogue structure” of university degrees and replacing it with faster learning pathways. Credit: Oscar Colman

“The structural fragility of our economy is the single greatest threat

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