ISSP Post-Implementation Review 2018 discussion paper

The Commonwealth Government wants Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to be enrolling, progressing and completing their higher education studies at the same rate or better than other Australians. This is the best way to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are taking up positions in the professions, academia and the broader skilled workforce, all critical to Australia’s future prosperity.

The Indigenous Student Success Program (ISSP) commenced on 1 January 2017 with the objective of supplementing the Commonwealth’s $17 billion per annum investment in higher education to ensure that mainstream and supplementary funding works together to accelerate improvements in the university enrolment, progression and award completions of Indigenous Australians.

In response to stakeholder requests during the development of ISSP, the Government committed to undertake a post-implementation review to ensure the program was operating effectively and as intended. This discussion paper is the first in a series of consultation processes for the post‑implementation review, offering stakeholders the opportunity to provide feedback on the first 18 months of the program and to inform improvements that might be implemented from the 2019 academic year. The ISSP post-implementation review has three main purposes, to:

• investigate whether the ISSP’s transitionary measures have been successful and whether they need to be extended, modified or discontinued;
• determine whether there are any unanticipated consequences resulting from the design of the ISSP that may need to be addressed; and
• provide an opportunity for universities to share best practice and innovative approaches to the use of ISSP funding with other providers.