The Ownership of Knowledge in Higher Education in Australia 1939-1996 Hannah Forsyth Doctor of Philosophy The University of Sydney, 2012 Declaration of Originality This thesis contains no material that has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or institute of higher learning. I affirm that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work. I certify to the best of my knowledge that all sources of reference have been acknowledged. ................................................... Hannah Forsyth 2 Abstract This thesis traces transformations in the history of higher education in twentieth- century Australia from the perspective of the ownership and regulation of knowledge. Using primarily archival sources from universities and government, I argue that after the Second World War, the university’s place in society and the economy was radically altered because of challenges to its authority over knowledge. In the 1940s and 1950s, the Australian government increased its interest in research. Among political and tertiary leaders, this led to questions about the role of research and higher education for society, resulting in uncertainties about the ongoing independence – and thus reliability – of university knowledge. A growing reliance on higher education to support government aims linked the growth of universities in Australia to nation-building and the government’s economic strategies. But in the 1960s and 1970s, a small but influential group of university staff and students resisted the connection of higher education in Australia to established goals and values, exposing the university’s vested interests in society and its role in legitimising and perpetuating social and economic injustices. As a result of mounting questions about its integrity, in the 1980s, the university’s authority waned. This opened the door to increased control by government, who confronted changing economic priorities. Facing new pressures, university leaders sought to regain their standing in society by reconfiguring their task in commercial terms. By the 1990s, the question about the role and autonomy of higher education had developed into a significant contest over the ownership and control of knowledge as a form of intellectual property. Unlike the public institutions they had been in the 1940s and 1950s, universities were treated as an industry, competing with others for government support and commercial revenue. 3 Acknowledgements Sincere thanks are owed to my supervisor, Stephen Garton, whose insightful, disciplined and generous guidance kept me from becoming too absorbed in details, distracted by tangents or impatient with tasks. I owe him an enormous debt. As associate supervisor, Geoffrey Sherington not only shared his encyclopaedic knowledge of educational history but also kindly gallanted me to conferences and dinners, offering supportive comments at every step. I am so grateful to both. I should acknowledge the significant support of Julia Horne, Richard White, Mike McDonnell, Alison Bashford and Penny Russell of the Sydney History Department. Several people reviewed drafts and gave advice. In particular, thanks are owed to Lewis d’Avigdor, Peter Hobbins, Terry Irving, Mary Jane Mahony, David Rolph, Blake Stephens, John Hirst’s writing groups and to my very generous proof-readers. At conferences and in coffee shops, scholars from a variety of disciplines gave advice and commented on my ideas: they are too many to name, but I appreciate them all. Julia Mant at the University of Sydney archives deserves significant thanks. Thanks also to staff at the National Archives of Australia and the Australian National Library. I am grateful to university archivists at the ANU, CSU, RMIT, UNE and UNSW as well as the Universities of Adelaide, Melbourne, Monash, Macquarie and Wollongong. Thanks too, to the NTEU for granting permission to access the FAUSA archives and to Don Aitkin, David Penington and Robert H.T. Smith for interviews. Most of all, I am grateful to my partner Thomas and my son Cooper. Their roles were the most difficult and their support the most important. Both were wonderful. 4 Contents DECLARATION+OF+ORIGINALITY+................................................................................................+2+ ABSTRACT+.........................................................................................................................................+3+ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS+.................................................................................................................+4+ CHRONOLOGY+OF+HIGHER+EDUCATION+IN+AUSTRALIA+.....................................................+7+ INTRODUCTION+...............................................................................................................................+8+ LITERATURE+REVIEW+........................................................................................................................+10! APPROACH,+METHODOLOGY+AND+SOURCES+.....................................................................................+40! THESIS+STRUCTURE+...........................................................................................................................+50! CHAPTER+ONE:+KNOWLEDGE+AND+TECHNOLOGY+1939D1957+......................................+55+ UNIVERSITIES+AND+THE+‘WAR+OF+EXPERTS’+.....................................................................................+58! TECHNOLOGY+AND+THE+IDEA+OF+THE+UNIVERSITY+...........................................................................+66! THE+RISE+OF+THE+TECHNOLOGICAL+UNIVERSITY+..............................................................................+75! UNIVERSITIES+AND+ECONOMIC+DEVELOPMENT+................................................................................+87! CONCLUSION+......................................................................................................................................+91! CHAPTER+TWO:+KNOWLEDGE+AND+THE+NATION+1945D1967+.......................................+95+ UNIVERSITIES+AND+THE+AUSTRALIAN+FEDERAL+GOVERNMENT+.....................................................+99! MARTIN+REVIEW+OF+TERTIARY+EDUCATION+.................................................................................+113! NATIONAL+KNOWLEDGE+IN+THE+ATOMIC+AGE+...............................................................................+116! ACADEMIC+FREEDOM+IN+THE+COLD+WAR+.......................................................................................+122! CONCLUSION+....................................................................................................................................+136! CHAPTER+THREE:+KNOWLEDGE+AND+REVOLUTION+1967D1975+................................+138+ UNIVERSITIES+AND+CLASS+POWER+..................................................................................................+141! UNIVERSITIES+AND+THE+‘ESTABLISHMENT’+....................................................................................+148! UNIVERSITY+AUTHORITY+OVER+KNOWLEDGE+.................................................................................+155! STUDENTS+AND+SOCIETY+.................................................................................................................+167! CONCLUSION+....................................................................................................................................+174! CHAPTER+FOUR:+KNOWLEDGE+ECONOMY+1975+D+1989+.................................................+176+ 1975D1983:+THE+FRASER+RESPONSE+..........................................................................................+184! 1983D1987:+SUSAN+RYAN’S+APPROACH+......................................................................................+189! FREE+MARKET+CRITICS+...................................................................................................................+195! THE+DAWKINS+REVOLUTION+..........................................................................................................+202! THE+UNIVERSITY+RESPONSE+...........................................................................................................+209! CONCLUSION+....................................................................................................................................+220! CHAPTER+FIVE:+KNOWLEDGE+AND+PROPERTY+1986D1996+.........................................+223+ THE+EMERGENCE+OF+INTELLECTUAL+PROPERTY+............................................................................+225! RESEARCH+POLICY+AFTER+DAWKINS+..............................................................................................+233! RESEARCH+COMMERCIALISATION+AND+THE+INTELLECTUAL+PROPERTY+MARKET+.......................+241! INTELLECTUAL+PROPERTY+POLICIES+1986+D+1996+.....................................................................+249! TIME,+LABOUR+AND+ACADEMIC+FREEDOM+.....................................................................................+257! BEYOND+INTELLECTUAL+PROPERTY:+OWNING+KNOWLEDGE+.......................................................+261! CONCLUSION+....................................................................................................................................+267! EPILOGUE:+UWA+V+GRAY+..........................................................................................................+272+ BIBLIOGRAPHY+...........................................................................................................................+279+