Otherwise, vocational training should be the responsibility of TAFE or other advanced colleges carrying out non-academic career training. Certain basic science disciplines such as physics are in decline. The education of physicists needs rationalisation to ensure that the nation maintains a minimum number of high-quality physics departments, both in the capital cities and in major regions. Collaboration between physics departments in the offering of undergraduate majors should be encouraged. Opportunities should be made available for academics teaching physics in universities lacking adequate research facilities to do collaborative research with colleagues in better equipped departments.
Similar arguments apply to earth science departments.
For very expensive equipment, it is necessary to establish national facilities and some priority should be given to the allocation of funds for the purchase and operation of equipment in national facilities. Funds should also be provided so that researchers in Australian institutions can gain access to very expensive facilities in other countries. The Academy believes that student demand and employer needs should be the main factors in determining the courses offered by a university at the undergraduate level. For graduate courses and PhD training, the availability of the appropriate infrastructure will also be important. National needs may require central direction in some circumstances, but, on the whole, individual universities must be in charge of their planning and operations.