The Northern Territory Government has provided a one-offfunding contribution of $7 million to Charles Darwin University, following anindependent review of the universitys delivery of Vocational Education and Training (VET).
The CDU 2018 annual report, tabled in NT Parliament thisweek, confirmed the education provider recorded a $21 million deficit last year.
The university commissioned professional services firm EY to undertake a review of its VET delivery earlier this year.
The report made seven recommendations CDU shouldimplement over a three year period to improve its fiscal position.
One of those recommendations was that the university askthe NT Government to financially support the actions it needs to take to addressthe deficit.
The $7 million one-off funding contribution from theNorthern Territory Government for VET delivery comes in addition to the $65 million in ongoingannual funding the government provides to CDU, predominantly for the delivery of VET courses.
Quotesfrom Minister for Workforce Training, Selena Uibo.
The Northern Territory has one of the highest rates of VETengagement in Australia and CDU is our largest provider of these courses,including in remote communities.
We want more Territorians, particularly AboriginalTerritorians and those from remote communities, to continue to have highereducation opportunities.
In line with recommendations from the EY independentreview, we have provided a one-off funding contribution tosupport the university’s continued delivery of VET and ensure its long-termviability.
The Federal Governments Mid-Year Fiscal and EconomicOutlook in 2017 froze funding to universities without warning. This hit regionaluniversities such as CDU hard.
The Territory Labor Government recently launched aseven-year international student strategy that aims to quadruple the populationof overseas students by 2025 and boost the markets current $91 million contributionto the Territory economy to more than $300 million.
Key to this plan is a new CDU city campus, which was securedunder the Darwin City Deal. It will not be affected by the universitys currentfinancial situation.
